Moments ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. Many of you love him, many others hate him, and some of you are probably ambivalent like me. Whatever you think of him though, at least we can finally send Bush back to clearing brush on his ranch and we can only hope that he won’t find a way to do any further damage in the world.

Having passed the first hurdle, with Obama not coming out in his speech as a Muslim intent on instituting Sharia law or destroying the US, I think that even the conspiracy theorists can start to calm down, at least a little. The fact is, he is a man like any other. A politician, yes, but not a demon, and he probably is what he appears to be. He will not fix all of the problems of the world, but he won’t bring about the end of the world either.

Fortunately, I don’t think that most people believe the worst about him, but I do still see too much distrust and fear of Obama and the election process. I was a little disturbed this morning when I heard a couple of people, people who had voted for Bush in both of his highly questionable elections, saying that this election was flawed or rigged.

Perhaps they couldn’t believe that a black man could be elected in this country? Maybe they finally see the danger in the haphazard and untraceable election systems we have scattered throughout the country? I’m afraid that is probably not the case, and it was just a couple of bitter old Republicans angry at their party’s loss of power. If we’re lucky though, thoughts like these (however unfounded they may be) will motivate more people to ensure that future elections are fair and trustworthy.

Either way, the election is over. Obama is our new president, and from what I’ve seen he won fairly in the least questionable election we’ve had since 2000. He’s not perfect, but he’s not the anti-Christ and he’s not likely to destroy the country. Even if he tried he would have a hard time doing worse than Bush did, so don’t you think we should at least give him a chance?

I don’t expect Obama to work miracles, and I’m sure that many people will be disappointed when they see that he can’t, but despite my inherent distrust of politicians, I am optimistic. We have a chance to turn things around and get back on the track to freedom, prosperity and peace, all three of which were trampled under the boots of Bush’s minions for the last 8 years. I hope that Obama really is dedicated to the goals of undoing as much of the harm that Bush caused as possible and moving forward to make the United States and the world a better place.

Good luck, President Obama.