Congratulations, Mr. President

Barack Obama took the oath of office shortly after noon (EST) today and became the 44th President of the United States.

At 12:03 p.m., WhiteHouse.gov transitioned from Bush administration content to content provided by the Obama administration. The new WhiteHouse.gov has the feeling of a Blog. There are prompts, for example, that say “Read this post.”

Freedom-loving people worldwide embrace the peaceful transfer of power, regardless of the party of the incoming president. Democracy is an imperfect form of government — not that a perfect form exists.

But Democracy, despite its problems, is the hope of the world.

We are Americans, proud of our country — and never more proud than on a day such as today.

President Obama and former President Bush embraced — first on the inauguration stand, and again just before former President Bush boarded a Marine helicopter for a short flight to Andrews Air Force Base.

There he boarded Special Air Mission 28,000 for the flight home to Texas. Because he no longer is president, the aircraft cannot be called Air Force One, but it is the same aircraft.

We offer warm wishes to former President Bush and thank him for his service to our country. We always felt your decency, Sir, even though we did not always agree with you.

And we offer warm wishes to President Obama as he presides over the nation’s affairs.

Thank you, President Obama, for your service. We feel your decency, too, Sir, even as we acknowledge we might not always agree with you.

So much history was made today, and Americans are justifiably proud.

Congratulations, Mr. President.