Good Morning!

My, my...look at the time! Well, by the time most of you read this, I hope to be well into Connecticut, or even past New York City already.

Funny thing, that. This is the second time in 2 years we're driving down the coast. There's only a finite number of ways to get from Boston to New York City. This trip, I'm scouting out the "western route"...heading down I-90 to 84 to 684 and finally over the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Although I usually prefer to stick to the mainline, that is, I-95. Many have derided this road as the "superslab", but I actually like to drive down it. There's something about it, connecting all the major cities of our founding. Boston, Providence, New York, (a spur to Philadelphia), Baltimore, Washington, Richmond....

All important, significant cities in the history of these United States.



Although we can never know the exact route, this road is essentially the oldest throughway in the US. Many of our forebears traveled this way. Washington came to Massachusetts to defeat the British; Minutemen and Patriots moved back and forth among the important cities of the revolution, and the Adamses, Calvin Coolidge, FDR, and even Lincoln and now Obama traced it's route to the White House.

Sure, it's traffic, noisy, congested, and busy, but it's a part of our history as much as Faneuil Hall or the Liberty Bell.

So as we head south this morning, I've been pondering the end of the Bush presidency. Not so much the foibles, follies, and infuriations, but what it means to me personally.

I consider myself a child of the 80s; my first presidential election was 1984, and I did indeed vote for Walter Mondale. I remember not liking Reagan very much, but I wasn't overly passionate about it. It was 1988 when things really took off for me. I railed against Papa Bush, and was infuriated the night he defeated my Governor Dukakis. It sure was a good thing to have Clinton in the White House...since I was a child during the Carter presidency, I didn't really remember a democratic president.

Which now brings me to George W. Bush. 8 years is a pretty long time...doing the math, that's approximately 19% of my entire lifetime, if I get the math right. Counting from 1988, though (my 'coming out' politically, as it were) Bush has been president for 40% of my political life.

I surely hated him in 2000; remember I went so far as to cross the line to vote for John McCain in that primary. But since 2004, and especially since Katrina, my personal loathing for the current resident of the White House has increased exponentially.

Ever since the campaign started, it's been pretty much all politics all the time in my house...nearly two years of constant reading, writing, preaching, cajoling, and who knows what else. I've certainly had my share of tangles with both blood relatives and inlaws these past months.

But that all comes to an end Tuesday.

What a feeling...it's a tremendous weight lifting, and truly hope for the future now. I'm glad that competence is returning to the White House. I'm glad that a grasp of the English language is returning; I'm glad for so many things.

Ever since November 4, I've dared to let myself listen to music again, without the internal guilt that I shouldn't be enjoying this; there's work to be done, blogs to write, news to find, and people to convert.

That first week...I nearly shed tears over the symphony because I could enjoy it again. I'm hoping for that same feeling someday soon when I can board a plane again without being branded a terrorist simply because I want to fly.

But all that is water under the bridge. Tuesday at noon, I'll be there along with my dear friends Bob and Raine...our loyal and longtime supporters Scoopster and Wicked Pam, and millions of others, just to celebrate, think, cheer with relief, and ponder the future.

It's our moment. Celebrate hard...but know that much work still needs to be done.

It's truly a new day in America.


With much peace and love to everyone...I remain,

Your Loyal TriSec.