For the past couple of days, I've just about completely missed all the coverage of the pre-inaugural celebration, save for about 2 minutes of NBC News that I just watched.
This wasn't by design -- it was a function of a my continued focus on the project I've referred to before, which I expect to be able to finally explain later this afternoon, and on spending Saturday accompanying a friend to some family functions, and then driving down to San Diego with her.
But while I know that I missed a beautiful concert today, for me personally, this short break from the pomp and circumstance has helped remind me of the extraordinary magnitude of what happened on November 4 when this country elected Barack Obama president.
Imagine for a moment that America had rejected Barack Obama on the basis of race, and instead elected John McCain. Obvioiusly, that type of discrimination would have been painful for Obama. But the country would have suffered even graver consequences by arbitrarily dismissing a candidate on the basis of skin color.
Fortunately, that's not what happened, and now one day after the day celebrating the life and vision of Martin Luther King, America will inaugurate it's first African-American president. And the story here isn't just about a black man being given the opportunity to be president -- it's also about a nation giving itself the opportunity to get back on track by electing the best person for the job, regardless of their race or gender.
© Jed Lewison