A New Era Begins

Today was officially the first day of Barack Obama as the forty-forth President of the United States of America. Today was President Barack Obama's Inauguration day. And today, 'the world has changed,'.


What a day it turned out to be.

Americans, of all walks of life, near and far, gathered around the capital to share a moment of history. Gathering up to two miles off U.S Capitol at the Lincoln Memorial, people braved the cold winter month of January, and still felt, as much as any where else, part of the grand event.

Others who couldn't make it to D.C fought off internet traffic in attempts to watch the Inauguration video online. The online video of the Inauguration set records in internet traffic as millions tried to gain its access. The overwhelming demand meant most had to settle down for other means of media to witness the coverage. Some of the luckier ones managed to get glimpses of frozen images of what what was going on.

The frenzy doesn't stop there. The Inauguration also prompted more than a million status updates on Facebook. Read more about that here. People all over wore shirts bearing support for the new president. Read other interesting stories of Inauguration Day events here, here, here, and here. Or heck, just Google it.

So as America, and practically the whole world, nurse the hangover from such a historical and significant event, the question arises: How long will the Obama honeymoon last, if there is to actually be one, of course. Will the economy spring back to life?, will the world change it's views on America?, will the wars stop?, will there be more stability in America?, and etc. Just how much time are the people willing to wait to see these changes?


And as Muslims, one of our greatest hopes for this new President is to resolve the matter in Palestine. Will he have the guts and courage to go the extra distance in finding a resolution to finally stop the blood bath in the Holy Land? He is the closest a president can be to a Muslim without actually being one. If he won't do it, no one will.

Like he always says, 'Change has come to America,'. Let's now hope that he can bring that change to the world. Read his Inauguration speech here.