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Thanks so much for that lovely nostalgic Barney and Beasley Christmas scene. Sigh. Barney will turn 11 years old in 2011. As President Bush observed in his first Inaugural Address, the years and changes accumulate. I'll bet Barney has gray in his eyebrows and beard now.

Once again I want to quote my favorite passage from one of his speeches:

Inaugural Address, January 20, 2001, President George W. Bush
After the Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia statesman John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson: “We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?'”
Much time has passed since Jefferson arrived for his inauguration. The years and changes accumulate. But the themes of this day he would know: our nation's grand story of courage and its simple dream of dignity. We are not this story's author, who fills time and eternity with his purpose. Yet his purpose is achieved in our duty, and our duty is fulfilled in service to one another.
Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew that purpose today, to make our country more just and generous, to affirm the dignity of our lives and every life.
This work continues. This story goes on. And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.

Even though my family and I are ‘on the road’ for the holidays, I wanted to stop by and wish all of my DOSE friends a VERY blessed and Merry Christmas! — you’re the best!

And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm.

It is my favorite GWB quotation, and I'm counting on Our Lord's guidance and protection for this nation!