I drafted this on January 21 and apparently didn't publish it

We have a new president.

Just in case you didn't notice, I thought I'd throw that out there. Just in case you are unaware of how I feel about our new president, I thought I'd fill you in.
I watched the inauguration of our 44th president in the Student Center on campus yesterday (1/20/09), along with many fellow students and instructors. I am amazed me at how many [young] people were there. Clearly, this younger generation is much more informed that my own older, wiser generation - and I don't say this merely because they were there en mass. The evidence of their knowlege has shown itself as I sat in classes, in the library, walked around campus, with these kids. It seems they have an opinion, they know how to back that opinion up, and they move forward in doing something about the things they care about. Adversely, a lot of my friends, family, and acquaintances seem uninformed and unmotivated.
When I was a teenager (sounds like something an 80 year old would say, huh) I worked in the county elections office. I was registered to vote at 15 (ok, I filled out the registration card and the head elections clerk held onto mine, as well as my best friends, who also worked there with me). I looked forward to turning 18 and being able to vote. I voted for Ronald Reagan that year - which was 1984. Admittedly, I probably wasn't as informed as I should have been nor as I have strived to be since, but I voted and I cared.
Back to the uninformed and unmotivated people ... everyone has an opinion. Everyone has a right to an opinion, which goes back to that whole electoral/democratic process. However, my biggest pet peeve is that there are so many people who feel they have a right to express said opinion without any foundation or actual argument to back up the opinion AND the fact that many of them didn't vote! ARGH! My younger brother, who is an extremely intelligent man (he has an MBA to prove it) was of the opinion that Obama would turn us into a muslim nation and there was nothing we could do about it if he was elected (so he didn't vote). It's probably a good thing I heard this second hand through our mother. He wouldn't have lasted 10 minutes with me ... as it was, my wonderful mother simple sat and listened to me rant about the process and the fact that we have a 3-tiered government and that it would take more than one man (regardless of office) - even if Obama were elected president (this conversation took place sometime in October) we have a congress in place as a checks and balance for that esteemed office. See ... here I go again on a rant. I'll just say this. Being the fabulous mom that she is, she asked me why I felt as strongly as I did about Mr. Obama, and of course I obliged. One does not need to listen to the rhetoric of the media, etc., although it is good to listen with one ear to understand some things better; however, since I do research for a living I tend to fall back on it whenever I have a question. I formed my opinion on my own by doing my own research ... and also by participating in some conversations.
The thing that gets me now that President Obama has taken the Oath of Office, is the lack of respect. I understand that not everyone is in favor of [him] or his processes. My problem comes with the lack of respect for the office. Regardless of the person filling the shoes, the office demands a level of respect. For those of us who supported Mr. Obama in his quest, we see him as a change; change is generally a good thing - if nothing earth-shattering happens in the process, hopefully something useful has been learned. Those nay-sayers have this way of thinking that "we" (supporters) see him as a savior ... the man who is going to fill in the hole that we, as a nation, have dug ... and that he will fail, at which time they'll jump up and down and celebrate [his] failure. How can they not see that his failure would be our failure?
Just my opinion.