Let's face it, there is only one news story today. We have a new POTUS. The Grind, like everyone else, has been watching the news all day. Frankly, the best part is already over. The ceremony and speech is what we like most, not all the parties and balls. Who wants to watch politicians getting hammered on taxpayer dollars? The ritual is what makes us feel most connected to history; the pageantry of the peaceful transfer of power, and an oratory addressed not to voters on the campaign trial, but to the world and to history.Obama's speech opened on a somber note; "That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood," and "Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred."
"Network" was an interesting choice. Bush, for instance, might have said we are at war with a "ideology."
"Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age."
A fine example of the careful balancing act of political speechwriting. "Greed," here means "Wall Street." While "irresponsibility" is people who bought homes they couldn’t afford. In the question of What Went Wrong with the Economy, Obama is offering a little sop to both sides of the partisan divide. It's a theme.
"The state of our economy calls for action: bold and swift. And we will act not only to create new jobs but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together."
Translation: The stimulus package I'll send Congress will be really freakin' huge.
"We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise healthcare's quality."
We are moving left on biomedical ethics issues, like stem-cell research and genetic engineering.
"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works… Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched."
"I'm not a Marxist. Seriously."
"The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good."
But we are going to get national healthcare.
"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake."
We won't be water-boarding.
"With old friends and former foes, we'll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet.
The "nuclear threat" is, obviously, Iran. What's interesting is that he chose "the specter" of a warming planet, as oppose to a planet that is actually warming. It's a step back from the "rising seas" intensity of his campaign rhetoric.
"We will not apologize for our way of life nor will we waver in its defense..."
This was our favorite part. Too many people see America as the cause of all the troubles in the world. Time for that to stop.
"… And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass…"
We got over our own nasty civil war, and it was less than 200 years ago. Maybe it's time for groups like the Sunni and Shiite, who've been fighting for 1,000 years, to let it go and move on.
"And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty…"
We're not going to be paying for everything like we have the last eight years.
Finally, Obama wraps up hitting his major theme, a call to serve.
"It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate."
That is, "there are a lot of parents not doing a very good job."
"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world…"
Here is the core of his message. While we could expand upon the complex idea of "duty to ourselves our nation and the world," the sentiment might be best, or at least most bluntly, expressed as "America needs to get serious."
The Inaugural Address concluded with a demonstration that although Obama is a product of the Civil Rights movement, as yesterday's celebrations highlighted, he is now the president of all the people. Invoking Valley Forge, and choosing the dated, even sexist phrase "George Washington, the father of our country," Obama embraces the spiritual continuity of the Presidency and places himself firmly in its line. He declares himself the rightful heir and caretaker of what the Dead White Males who founded the nation created.
The tone was confidence, not deliverance, but it was an extraordinary well-crafted speech, delivered beautifully. How President Obama performs on policy will be the subject of enormous debate over the next four years, but no one can deny that the man is already enormously attuned to the symbolic deamnds of the job.
