IT was a bad day to be a cynic, wasn’t it?

Barack Obama’s inauguration was one of those rare occasions when you can forget the grit and grease in the engine we call democracy and marvel, instead, on its capacity to inspire people.

Looking at the scenes in Washington, I couldn’t help contrasting them with something like the State Opening of Parliament.

On one side, open spaces and open air; on the other, the cosy, club-like world of the Commons and Lords. In the US, crowds of ordinary people in everyday clothes; in the UK, invited guests, finery and flunkies. An elected president speaking plainly, and in very human fashion fluffing his lines; a hereditary monarch reading impeccably from a prepared script.

The difference isn’t just between stage management and spontaneity. It is about two political traditions. I am not dewy-eyed about the American system. Its faults are manifest.

Nor do I dismiss the many strengths of our own system. But, I just wish we could take some of their enthusiasm and optimism and inject it into our own system.

A lot of that optimism stems from patriotism, the Americans’ genuine love of country.

I know that has its unpleasant side too.

It can degenerate into naive, my-countryright- or-wrong bullying. But ask yourself if it’s any better than the long, cynical sneer with which we’ve looked at our own country over the past 50 years. I don’t think it is.

I know that in a few years’ time we may be looking at Tuesday’s footage while a voiceover asks: “Where did it all go wrong?” Just look at the fate of recent presidents. Kennedy’s end was tragedy; Nixon’s disgrace; Carter and Johnson were broken by events; and Bush Snr barely escaped the same fate.

Only Ronnie Reagan rode off into the sunset with a reputation more or less intact. I still can’t think of Gerald Ford as a president.

Bill Clinton marred a great public record by private stupidity. As for George W Bush, I’ll only say that his departure is probably the best thing for his country, the world – and most of all, the English language.

Obama faces challenges in the economy, environment and foreign policy that dwarf those of his predecessors. The expectations of him are cruelly high. However, there is the grim, but realistic view that whatever happens, he can’t make things worse.

We hope that he does more than that, and that he maintains the furious pace of his first days in office. After all, he could be our last chance.

IT was business as usual nearer home, of course, with the latest twist in the sorry saga of MPs’ expenses.

As I was writing this, it seemed the Government had dropped its plans to exempt MPs from the Freedom of Information Act and open them up to public scrutiny.

I am pleased it is so, but disappointed it was the breakdown of a behind-the-scenes deal with the Opposition, as much as ordinary citizens’ anger, that forced its hand.

MPs should be rewarded properly for a thankless job. They should be paid more than they are and most probably need both somewhere to live in London and a constituency home to do their job properly.

But it is more important that they give the public, who pay their wages, the full facts so they can evaluate, critically, but hopefully in a fair way, if they provide value for money.

If they do that, they may not get the kind of adulation Mr Obama is currently receiving.

But they would earn our respect. That would be a start.