By Scott Shephard

I don't venture into politics in this blog very often but given that today we swear in our 45th president I thought I would repost a photo I took the day President Obama came to Watertown. I remember worrying that an arena full of conservative South Dakotans would be less than welcoming. I was even more worried about that when he was an hour late to the ceremony. But then he spoke. What he said was spot on and brilliantly delivered. I remember asking a student after the ceremony what he thought and the response was, "He isn't as bad a person as I thought he was."

Obama was vilified during his eight years in the White House. ("He's a Muslim." "He's the anti-Christ" "He's a communist" etc.) He even had his legitimacy challenged by soon-to-be 45 ("Have you seen his birth certificate? Is he really an African? You tell me. . . .")

He had flaws like any other human. But at his core he was a good, caring and empathetic president. Our country saw 11 million jobs added. Our world standing was elevated in the eyes of many outside of the US. There were no major scandals or gaffs in all of the eight years of his presidency. Finally, 20 million Americans have health insurance who didn't have it before.

You are free to think and feel as will. But I simply say, "Thanks."

Canon 5DIII 1/180s f/3.5 ISO800 200mm