President Obama.

The first thing that brought me to tears today was a comment from someone on MSNBC, that when the Muslim world heard Barack Hussein Obama take the oath of office, how could that not speak to them in such a profound way? He bridges gaps before he even speaks a word, just by virtue of his name and skin color. And then he speaks...and well, he had us at hello, right? I want to call him Prince Obama! I loved this from his speech today, more than anything else:

"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history."

So being a progressive doesn't mean you trash all tradition. This was so meaningful to me, as a person who tends to always look for something new, something better, on the horizon. But really, as a mom, I intuitively feel that all I need to thrive was already there from day one...my (and our) inborn desire to love and be loved, and all of the good qualities that stem from that. These things are old. And they can and will sustain us.

Another observation...when Obama speaks, he appears to be looking toward something beyond the audience, as if he is visualizing what he speaks of, on the horizon. Contrast that with Bush, who always seems to be looking inward, self-consciously, and sees nothing beyond his own skin.

It's a beautiful day!!