For Linda

Having successfully cajoled our friend Linda into keeping a regular blog (http://lindaunderground.blogspot.com/) it is incumbent upon me to respond in like fashion to her request for a blog about the inauguration of Barack Obama, where I know she would have rather been...maybe...probably...

I will forego the intricate details of travel, and crowds, and long ass coffee lines and attempt to get to the heart of the matter-that matter being the very clear possibility that perhaps we do all share a common hope, a common vision, for what we can be as a society and as free people. And that maybe, possibly, there is the strength in us to demand what is right and good and honest, rather than just acquiescing to the lie that has become comfortable.

Standing amidst the millions, there was an undeniable energy, a palpable sense of promise for who we can be as a people and for who we can be as people. There was a renewed joy in participating in the civic life of our society. There was the very real sense that many who have been marginalized now have not only a voice, but a reason to believe that their voice is powerful.

I recalled on Tuesday, a brief conversation I had a few days before with a friend who wondered if everyone had the same opportunities in life. At the time, my answer was no, not everyone has the same opportunities, whether by blood, or chance, or geography, not everyone has the same opportunity. And I tried to imagine what it would be like, to know that my opportunities were limited, that all I could ever want would be dependent upon the will and power of someone else.

Then, standing there, in the National Mall, watching as Obama took his botched oath, it occurred to me that now, everyone does have an opportunity, that the power hierachry has shifted significantly...and those who have felt to be at the whim and last thought of another are now able to see their power and their privilege.

Though some may doubt, I believe that great and good change is imminent, that government as usual, life as usual, will not be the same. That spirit of hope, that belief in the possibilities and the opportunities, coursed through the moments and persons on the Mall-it was felt collectively and individually-that change was afoot, and no matter how difficult, now matter how hard the process, no matter the cost, this change will be for the better.

In this, we can trust.