On Tuesday (January 20) around noon (Eastern Time) Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. This is an historic occasion.

Obama will be our country’s first African-American President. He will place his hand on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible as he takes the oath from Chief Justice John Roberts. Billions of people around the world will be watching.

The Oath (Article II, Section I of the Constitution of the United States of America):

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Is this a great country or what?

Every four years we have the right to vote (or not vote) for the person who we think will be the best leader of our country. Sometimes our candidate wins, sometimes they lose. In our country, some people will spend the next four years trying to destroy the person because they did not vote for him or her. We saw it with President Bush. It takes a lot of guts to be President of the United States. It’s not a job for someone who can’t handle criticism.

The next House and Senate elections are a little less than two years away and, after that, we’ll have another Presidential election. The democrats, led by Obama, Pelosi and Reid, now control everything in Washington, D.C.

These are tough times, so it would be nice if the partisanship would take a back seat for a few months. We all need to work together to get through this mess. There will be a honeymoon period, but since times are tough, it may be cut short.

A great thing about this country is that we get to complain, gripe, and voice our views on the current state of affairs in this country and that is fine. Personal attacks and vile hatred for the man holding the office are not fine. During the last eight years, the personal attacks went too far. Let’s hope that President Obama will not suffer the same.

Things like security, healthcare, taxes, immigration, energy, and infrastructure repair need some help. Plus, we have two wars. The plate for President Obama will be full. I will be praying for him, his safety and that of his beautiful family during this term. Best of luck President Obama.

I appreciate the work that President George W. Bush did for our country. He kept us safe and guided our country through some of the tougher times I have seen in my lifetime. He is a man of principle and that may have been his downfall with some. Although President Bush’s job approval rating was low (but not as low as Congress), I think he was the right person at the right time in our country’s history. Thank you President Bush.