Today, God willing, the highest ranking office in our government will pass peacefully from one man to another - and not just from man to man, but from political party to political party, and under circumstances that would have been unfathomable just fifty years ago.

In 2000, when the election results were decided after a wearying month-long court battle, the results thrilled some and infuriated others. Those results are still disputed. But I recall feeling very proud of my country, because although emotions were running high, there were no riots or flag-burnings, and nobody burned the Supreme Court down. A peaceful transfer of power in the midst ofheated disagreement is something that not many around the world get to experience.

Reason to hope #2:

In my grad school media theory class this fall, we spent a lot of time discussing the power of social networks, which are still in their infancy, and particularly the networks set in place by the Obama campaign that translated from the Internet into real action. We wondered collectively what would happen to these networks once the election was over. Would they be abandoned, since the campaign got what it wanted? Cynical, perhaps, but that's the way we've been used to being treated by political parties and people.

But then last week, I found out that the soon-to-be-president put out a call to these networks to spend today, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, in service to their local community. That seems to me to be a fine way to use these grassroots networks - especially since many people have today off from work. It's also the first time in my rememberance that a president has used his influence to ask people to serve their neighbors in a very specific way. (For those who are older than I: what other times has this happened, besides the efforts during the World Wars?)