End's Beginning

Inauguration.
I must admit, I've let this day catch me a bit by surprise. This would, of course, be a golden opportunity to write a scathing rant about the last four years and set my own personal tone for the next four. But it seems to be a recent habit of mine to ignore events that were marked on the calendar months in advance, as if such behavior will delay their arrival. Then naturally they hit me like a ton of bricks, leaving me unprepared and standing agape while I'm buried.

But I've no recourse but to dig my way out. And so must we all.

We have to roll up our sleeves, suck in our guts, fix our make-up, wipe the drool of our chins, and hey, do the damn laundry you f*cking slob. Because the fight starts again now. Hear that noise? That was the bell for the second round - now go out there swinging. We each have to fight this fight according to our own talents. We must support the causes we believe in, and make those beliefs known to anyone and everyone who will listen. Whether that means protesting the visit of a B*sh cabinet member to your town, donating money to Moveon.org, or introducing your catholic grandparents to your lesbian partner, we need to open the eyes of the nation, dammit.

Yes, you can make a difference. Run for public office in your community, go out and get that electric car you've been looking at, discourage the death penalty to your fellow jury members, smuggle prescription drugs in from Canada, sell your Halliburton stock along with your automatic "hunting" rifle and proudly consume products with the word "French" in them. Fight the f*cking power for crissakes.

If you don't like my plan, you can always look at it this way: in the direction this president has us headed, what are the odds we'll all even live to see four more years? Abysmal. So we may just be well over halfway done with this joker. That makes this the home stretch, my friends. If you like, you can just kick back and coast your way to an early grave. Sounds kinda nice, doesn't it?