Constrained Bliss Point

Today is a big day for America and the world and for Barack Obama too. It seems like humanity collectively decided to throw a party on Jan 20. I still kind of can’t believe we’ll be looking at a President Obama in less than an hour.

To me the “it’s a historic day / moment / time” message not nearly as weighty as the “President Obama will likely ban torture, unrestrict funding for stem cell research, and repeal the global gag rule within a few days of taking office” one. Just giving the White House a change of face from the Bush Presidency is kind of a big deal, and the smart money is on some epic changes to the way government functions. And I don’t know how we can overstate the importance of not torturing people.

For some reason, the part of the inauguration I am most looking forward to is seeing Chief Justice John Roberts. It’s a big day for the Chief Justice: this will be his first swearing-in of a President, which not many people get to do. With everyone so hyped up about President-elect Obama, we forget about other awesome people a bit too easily. Not least of all John Roberts is an intellectual beast — and a good looking guy, in my opinion — and from what I hear he is firmly on our side in the battle for awesomeness.

Probably my favorite executive power is the appointment of justices to the Supreme Court. That gives me the most hope from the soon-to-be Obama Administration, because the liberal wing of the Court is going to need some reinforcement in the coming years. As ridiculously fabulous as Justice Stevens is, he’s not going to be around forever. The conservatives are significantly younger than the liberals. Balance must be restored.

Here’s looking at a frigging awesome time for the foreseeable future.