Inauguration

"Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes the times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with him..."
- Daniel 2:20-22

Whew! What a day. Is it me or is Barack Obama being hailed as some sort of messiah? I get that he's the first black president. I get that he's taking over for a regime viewed widely as corrupt and/or evil. I get that the economy he's inherited is in the tank and we are at war on multiple fronts. I understand all that, and I think I appreciate the significance of it all. But it seems like he's receiving alot of accolades for his first day as president.

I think this could have one of two different effects:
1) President Obama could feel an enormous amount of pressure (more than the typical first-day president). After all, he's expected to deliver us from multiple systems-level problems. I'm not sure how realistic these expectations are. He did make some hefty "promises" during his campaign.

2) President Obama could feel no pressure (or, at least not as much as we would expect). After all, he's following GWB, who might go down as the most harmful president in US history. Really- he could accomplish very little during the presidency and still get re-elected just by throwing GWB under the bus again.

I don't know what's going to happen. But I feel pretty confident that I can predict one thing: the people who were chanting O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA, are a fickle lot. Everyone hailed this guy as a messiah, but I anticipate they'll turn on him eventually, if not rapidly. The same people who sang his praises will besmirch his name and throw him under the bus.

That's the problem with mobs, nowadays- they just aren't prone to reasoning.

But what a burden to bear. What expectations! What pressure! I think I just have to remember that there is a God behind the curtain, pulling all the strings.