Today is the inauguration of George Bush to his second term and I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to say about it. Around the country, there are vigils against the war. Some people are vowing not to spend any money today. Some websites are wearing black today as a sign of mourning.

I believe that Bush’s foreign policy, economic policy, and domestic policies have significantly damaged our country. They have damaged our reputation abroad, they have created massive governmental debt and they have loosened the protections that are so important to our citizens. I see no reason to rejoice about the re-election or ‘honor’ what George Bush has done.

This provides an interesting backdrop to the blog I visited this morning. The Natural Medicine of Humor is a blog by a Kentucky based psychiatrist which is well worth reading. I am particularly interested in Sigmund, Carl and Alfred have to say about Cliff Kuhn, M.D.

One of his ‘commandments’ is to celebrate everything. For me, at the surface level, it is hard to find things to celebrate about the inauguration today. Yet if we dig deeper, I think there are things worth celebrating.

Today, we can celebrate democracy. Yes, it isn’t perfect. There are questions about how accurate voting counts were in different localities. However, we had elections without violence. Today, we celebrate Freedom of Speech. I am blogging. I turn on the TV and as many stations are broadcasting the inaugural address, C-SPAN2 has a teacher from Baltimore addressing a protest against the inauguration and a local public television station has Teletubbies on.

Some conservative bloggers criticize people like Senator Boxer and Senator Kerry for voting against Rice to be the next Secretary of State. That is part of the freedom of speech that these bloggers have, just as Senators Boxer and Kerry have the freedom of speech and the responsibility as elected officials vote in a way that matches their convictions and their constitutes needs and desires.

So, yes, I am disappointed that Bush is starting a second term. I am disappointed with conservative bloggers that don’t respect people who practice their freedom of speech to speak against conservative viewpoints. Yet I do rejoice in the freedoms that I see, especially the freedom to protest either as a Senator or as a citizen on the street.