Happy Good President Day

It's the day after Obama's inauguration, and I stole that title from Jon Crawford's gmail chat heading. Like many liberals, I'm almost ready to exhale, but don't believe it's safe yet. I feel depressed a lot, and I'm always wondering whether is has a chemical cause, or rather what part part of depression is externally imposed, a natural reaction to unpleasant circumstances. Scientists are constantly finding new biological determinants of depression (and love or other emotions for that matter). Yet clearly it's not all biology, just a predisposition. There have got to be social factors that play a role, not to mention the constraints and small oppressions of daily life. I'm likely to blame modernity and capitalism, the break-down of traditional social support and community activities, the tendency to place people in small confined spaces without a lot of exercise for days on end. Or is it just a matter of having a bad attitude and not willfully imposing a sunny outlook onto every situation?

I guess my point is that for the last 8 years I think it was natural for liberals to be in a state of depression, given the resounding trampling of civil liberties, lack of global cooperation and support and the inept and self-profiting government we had somehow elected into power. How could we hold up our heads when our people elected this old-boy crony with so little regard for the rule of law and the moral imperative? It spoke poorly of the American populous and by extension ourselves. In the past few years I felt alienated, angry, and helpless. Hearing the president speak cogently about things that I care about has eased these negative feelings a bit, reinforced the things about America that are admirable and I think it's evident in a brighter mood among the people of San Francisco.