The eve of a new era?

So we've got about 48 hours before Barack Obama's inauguration as President of the United States Savior of Mankind, and things are already starting to look crazy. Examples:

• Driving home last night from the airport in Richmond after returning from the west coast, I saw a car with the license plate "NOV0408". Maybe it was the brain damage caused by watching Nights In Rodanthe on the plane ride home, but it took me a second or two to make the connection to Obama's election date.
• All those big lighted traffic information signs on I-295 and I-95 between Richmond and Fredericksburg had messages warning motorists of Inauguration Day traffic. A hundred freakin' miles south of Washington.
• Need a hotel room anywhere between Washington and the area south of Richmond for the inauguration? Fuhgeddaboudit.
• Want a lasting - as in permanent - memento from the big day on Tuesday? You can get an Obama tattoo.

OK, yes, it is a big deal that we're about to install our first black American president. But an Obama tattoo? What if he turns out to be a bigger crook than Nixon and gets his ass impeached? Aren't a lot of people setting themselves up for a huge letdown no matter how Obama's presidency plays out?