the Earth is lighter

For all the pomp and circumstance, the millions of people gathered, the events, the exuberance, and the elation that yes, the guy I voted for, who I supported from the beginning of his candidacy, who I actually LIKE, becoming President of the United States and delivering an impassioned if perhaps not emergently quotable speech, two words unspoken by anyone on the dais were the loudest.

It's over.

It had been by the time Yo-Yo Ma and three talents of a similar caliber sat down to play. The torch passes no later than noon.

Holy fuck.

I can't tell you accurately just how much of my personal identity can be traced to that avatar of cruel ignorance and failure. Being politically aware on a full-time basis started for me eight years ago today. My initial thirst came from the hope and desire to learn that my hatred for the man was irrational.

The answers I found are now irrevocably engraved in our history.

The anti-Bush rant has become a genre in and of itself among bloggers, opinion makers, and the rest of humanity. It's something you could bang out in a few minutes time whenever you were angry. It flows easily, and you can say fantastically vile things without a trace of remorse. He was and is, after all, The Enemy. Richard Nixon in cowboy boots. Herbert Hoover minus even the stated desire to "put a chicken in every pot" Marie Antoinette, except he actually meant "let them eat cake" To recount the entirety of the clusterfuck would be superfluous. But if you must hear it:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I believe that this can be the start of something great if we, the people are willing to invest in it. Of course, none of us can know what began today.

But at the very least, we know what's come to an end.

So drink deep. Here, at the end of the world, we must be sure to celebrate when we have cause.