With the inauguration a little less than two weeks away, it seemed like an appropriate time to fire up the Inside/Out blog and beat the drum for the incoming president. On a personal note, it is really, really wonderful to be able to refer to the president as PRESIDENT Obama, instead of all the goofy euphemisms I had to think up (President Weenie, The Selected President, George the Lesser, et al) because I refused to call the fool that sat in the White House for the last eight years the president.

Last May I wrote with some heat that I thought that America was incapable of electing a person of color to the highest office in the land. I am happy to have been proven wrong about that. President elect Obama has made a profound impression on the American psyche. He showed himself to be smart as a campaigner, shrewd as a debater, and gracious as a winner. He won with a hefty majority, and that winning seems to have energized many parts of an America reeling from war, unemployment, and recession. I wrote that heated blog post out of bitter disappointment that Hillary Clinton had lost her bid in the primaries for the presidency. Now that Hillary has been picked as the Secretary of State, it appears that things may be looking up in the world of diplomacy.

And, God knows, the world needs some diplomacy now.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to rage, incurring civilian and military casualties. (Yesterday, January 6, 2009, Staff Sgt. Anthony D. Davis, 29, of Daytona Beach, Fla died in Northern Iraq from enemy fire. Think of that. Nearly five years and our kids are still dying for a lie.) In Gaza, the Israelis are hurrying while the First Fool is still in office to inflict as much damage as possible on the Palestinians. (At this writing, 680 Palestinians are known dead since the fighting began on December 27, and some 3000 are believed wounded. There is also the staggering humanitarian problem of food, water, and sanitation for nearly three quarters of a million people in the Gaza war zone.) If there was ever a time and place for strong diplomacy, it is NOW in the Middle East. It will not be easy to knock some sense into Israel. The Israeli lobby here is powerful and rich, and many, including Hillary, are beholden to them. It will take courage to stand up to them and make peace with both sides.

Perhaps even more challenging are the economic woes here at home. Today the Dow dropped 245 points on news of more job losses and declining oil prices.

The hard work of governing looms ahead for President Obama. He will have will have to make many hard choices, many of which will cause pain for someone or other. He will need our good will, our prayers. We can only hope, in a time when hope maybe the best medicine we have, for wisdom.