The Miracle of Inauguration Day!

Today we swear in a new President of the United States. That's a big deal.

I don't mean it's a big in the the "Oh thank GOODNESS that bad man is out of the White House!" either. Getting a new head of state is a big deal, all on it's own. Regardless of how the last one was.

It's a big deal because it'll happen without civil war.

The fact that we in the United States get a new chief of state peacefully, through a series of rules and elections...is a miracle I don't think we ponder enough. We take it for granted. In the vast majority of the world, the idea of a sitting ruler just packing up and moving out of the Presidential Palace would be a joke.

Think of all the news stories you hear about dictators holding elections, being voted out of office...and staying in power. We don't have that here.

Think of all the times an opposition party loses an election, and then starts a civil war. We don't have that either.

It's one of the key elements that makes America great. Even when democracy is broken (think the 2000 Presidential election), we turn to the rule of law and then follow it. A judge, not a general, decided that Bush won the 2000 election. A ruling based on law was the deciding factor, not the level of firepower or brutality.

So amid all the hoopla today, take a few moments to think about how truly incredible it is that for the past 200+ years, Presidents have been letting go of their power without so much as a dirty look at their successor.

It really is a miracle.