Today George W. Bush is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. Let's take a look back at this great man's accomplishments, as we look forward to the future:

"I'm disappointed that Iraq hasn't turned out better. And that we weren't able to move forward more meaningfully in the Middle East peace process."

Then, after a minute's pause, he adds a third regret: "The biggest regret is that we didn't stop 9/11. And then in the wake of 9/11, instead of redoubling what is our traditional export of hope and optimism we exported our fear and our anger. And presented a very intense and angry face to the world. I regret that a lot."

- Outgoing Deputy Secretary of State Dick Armitage
via The Australian

Sure, okay - things could be better in Iraq. But why don't we take a moment to remember how we liberated Afghanistan - now a democratic land of opportunity, especially for all those Afghani women we heard about during the campaign:

Most of the pupils in the Laila (Tulip) school in the north of the city attend as an alternative to government schools. Their parents banned them from making the journey to and from the state school because security is still bad in their part of the city. Parents fear their daughters will be kidnapped on the way to or from school - the girls attending the Tulip school all live within a couple of streets of the classroom.

The teacher, Rahela, started lessons seven years ago. "I would like to teach in a government school and perhaps when security conditions are better I will do that," she said.

"But God knows when that will be. We still haven't seen democracy in our land."

...

The appointment of three new women ministers to the Afghan cabinet last month was dismissed as window-dressing of a government dominated by conservative old men, many with fundamentalist leanings.

Ms Ismat said: "We saw in the election many women who were proud to vote, but we do not think this new government will help women much.

"Hospitals for women are terrible, commanders can still force girls into marriage, and there are hardly any jobs for women. Unfortunately we are not hopeful about the future of Afghanistan. There are some open-minded men here, but most are still very backward."

- via The Independent

Okay, okay. Foreign policy is tough. But let's bask in the glow of our booming economy, feeling the warm rays of our fiscal strength:

Jan. 17 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar dropped to a five-year low against the yen as some traders declined to bet on an advance in the U.S. currency before a Treasury Department report tomorrow on foreign purchases of American assets in November. The dollar also weakened versus the euro.

- via Bloomberg

Actually, we can't really expect to know what's going on with the economy since this administration learned how to keep books from their friends at Enron and Arthur Anderson.

Well, happy inauguration day, my fellow Americans! You wanted him, you got him!