Today

Today is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade: On Jan. 22, 1973, the Supreme Court decided in Roe vs. Wade to legalize abortion. Hooray for progress, however slow it may sometimes seem.

I liked this New York Times op-ed, which included heart-warming global reactions to President Obama's taking the helm:

“Let the remaking of America begin today,” declared The Guardian, in Britain. The Independent called Inauguration Day “a day for hope.” In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of “a truly great hour for America” that offered “a multitude of opportunities.” The Times of India welcomed “a new beginning.” In Northern Ireland, The Belfast Telegraph asked: “Can Obama save us all?”

I feel like, if I get any more optimistic, I'm going to explode into shards of light, like Neo in "The Matrix." Thank goodness, as I remember the old days well.

(Let's hope those days are behind us now.)

The aforementioned op-ed also gets bonus points for quoting The Onion articles, "Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job" and "Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace and Prosperity Is Finally Over'."

The new first family is much more representative of the diverse U.S. population now (click image for link to larger original).

And in case you missed it, here is President Obama's speech at Lincoln Memorial, delivered on January 18th. I liked his inaugural address, but I connected emotionally with this earlier one. Another op-ed discusses why Obama, who can clearly 'make us weep' when he chooses to, used his inaugural address to call for an 'era of responsibility' instead.

P.S. My student said she thought Justice Roberts and President Obama should have practiced the oath, and I agree. You'd think, with something this important, they would have run through it at least once. Well, no worries-- they've fixed it with a 25-second do-over. Just in case. In any event, I still think the minor flub was sweet-- like excitement and nervous laughter mangling wedding vows a bit.