I missed the opportunity to travel to DC to see President Obama accept the battered torch of leadership from President Bush, and renew his commitment to inspire us all to"... lift ourselves up, and dust ourselves off."  I was working, so had to YouTube it yesterday evening, but I got to see it. 

So I take this opportunity to declare my intention to continue to serve and commit myself to service to our nation -  in any way necessary to help our President and our fellow citizens obtain the true promise of change.

President Obama, we are all ready to work.

Though I may have been absent from OS for a while, I remain resolute in my desire to do more on the part of my fellow Americans. The effect/influence of the spirit of service embodied by President Barack H. Obama upon me has neither waxed, nor wained. 

Seems to me that after some initial jitters shared between Justice Roberts and now President Obama, he hit the ground running. 

His speech was at once humbling and inspiring; demanding grace and strength - of the kind our President has embodied throughout the campaign as well as post-election. 

We have both granted ourselves permission and demanded plainly, that our position as world leaders is verifiable and immutable. 

We the people accept the challenge to our liberty and the values upon which we draw to secure its preservation. 

Our historical leadership around the globe is humbling, and looking forward, our will to carry on must be "self-evident;" and our resolve to not only preserve, but to uphold our ideals as both personified and exemplified by our freely elected leader, our 44th President Barack Hussein Obama. 

President Obama is not fearless, nor is he infallible. That he has embraced the mantle of change through representing his fellow citizens and upholding the rule of law is awe inspiring.

That he has pledged to serve for the benefit and ideological emancipation of all, is also an act of service, and serves to empower us to unite, emboldens us to abandon 'the low road'; to will ourselves to in word and in deed, be all we can be once more. After 8 years of much indifference to our legacy, this about-face is will be at first jarring, shocking even.

Ours is a change of the guard we embrace because it is rooted in a return to our best traditions, and whose source of audacity is the fiercely burning eternal flame that is in the hearts and minds of our sea of citizens and its righteous aspirations.

Our unity of purpose validates the audacity of hope that brings the change we crave, paving the way for fulfilling the potential of our great nation. 

Thank you to all my friends here on OS, and I know I'll see some of you soon in the trenches  : ).