My Thoughts On The Inaugural Address
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Barack, History
Not surprisingly, the parts that resonated for me the most were the ones that spoke about putting all of the pettiness aside so we can finally move forward. Because that’s what Obama’s entire campaign was about and it’s one of the most important changes he can hope to deliver to the country and Washington in particular. Basically, if he can set a new tone for political debate and continue to carry it throughout his governance, it’ll be one of his most enduring legacies.
Also, when he spoke about responsibility it really struck a chord. Especially when he reframed the debate from the fight between small government and big government to government that works against government that doesn’t. This was particularly noteworthy because he was saying that his administration has a responsibility to make sure that government is actually held accountable. I know my libertarians friends will take exception to the idea that government actually works at all, but if Obama can actually trim the fat from entitlements like Medicare and Social Security, you can’t tell me you won’t be somewhat happy.
Some other memorable lines were directed at our enemies. The line about their citizens judging them not by what they can destroy but what they can build was particularly powerful. And when he said that if these countries will unclench their fists, we will reach out our hands, well, that’s a welcome change to the fiery rhetoric we’ve heard the past 8 years.
All in all I thought it was a very good speech and it takes its place alongside many of the best inaugural addresses.
Hail to the Chief.
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January 20th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Disclaimer: the views I express are in no way the views of the United States Air Force or the Army’s Command and General Staff College.
I am an officer in the United States Air Force and I am currently attending the Army’s Command and General Staff College. I enlisted in the AF at age 18 and received my commission 12 years ago. For the last 19 plus years I have been honored to serve our nation. Today my classmates and I watched President Obama’s inauguration and discussed our thoughts about what he had to say. Our members in the military are from very diverse backgrounds and truly represent all walks of life….a true make up and product of our society. This evening as I scanned some blog sites it made me reflect on how we are blessed to have the ability to express differing views with one another.
It also made me think about President Obama’s remarks….
“…..they embody the spirit of service: a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.â€
It appears that some people just don’t get it and what President Obama was trying to say. “Weâ€, as citizens of the United States, can make a difference if we set aside the labels, open our eyes to different viewpoints, and come together as a nation. Whether you are a cook, banker, taxi driver, conservative, liberal, politician, athiest, black, white….â€we†are all Americans.
My classmates and I all hope that President Obama’s leadership can guide “us†in the right direction and down the path to accomplish great things. But the key is “weâ€, Bush didn’t put us where we currently are on his own and Obama can’t do it alone.
God Bless.
January 21st, 2009 at 1:06 am
Major Wilkins, you are an Honor to the USA. I never respond to email and blogs, heck, I hardly know how to use a pc. But I do tell you with all my heart…Thank You for being the American You are. Men and Women such as yourself are the backbone and future of This Great Nation. In your own words, ” Hail To The Chief!” and We Will Have A Greater Tomorrow. Trese SP
January 21st, 2009 at 3:41 am
“trim the fat from entitlements like Medicare and Social Security”
**WHAT** fat?
People on Social Security are literally starving out there because they cannot afford to pay the rent AND buy groceries AND afford their vital prescriptions! There’s just not enough to afford all three.
You seem to think people on Soc. Sec. just sit around in Barcoloungers all day , sipping mint juleps in front of 60″ Plasma TVs.
Being an elderly and/or disabled person on Social Security is a brutal, ugly, vicious existence that’s one misstep away from becoming completely homeless. It’s already a dire struggle just to stay alive with what little there is from Social Security each month, and yet you want to cut them back even more and be happy about it??
I’d really let you know what I think about that sort of callous, inhuman attitude you have there, but this is a family website.
January 21st, 2009 at 9:37 am
Well stated.
We have lived in a label-environment far too long. The labels allow us to group people into easy categories, but also allow us to ignore the gray areas outside the label. Labels allow us to fight one another without consideration to the people we’ve put behind the label.
Thank you for your thoughts.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:49 am
Major Brady Wilkins,
Thank you so much for your thoughts. It’s exactly that type of spirit we need to harness in the years to come.
MiHi,
I’m not talking about cutting off benefits for folks who absolutely depend on the services. But right now EVERYBODY gets Soc. Sec. and we may need to ask some to sacrifice their benefits if they don’t need them and already have plenty of income to survive on. We may also raise the age a couple years since the 65 year number was chosen initially because that’s when people died.
So, respectfully, on this site I would ask that you don’t assume the worst about what I’ve said and work yourself up into a frenzy. Because if you knew my politics, you never would have made that comment in the first place.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:20 pm
I realized something when I saw all those celebrities pining on stage and millions of people enraptured by Obama, even though his speech wasn’t that great and they couldn’t find an inspirational line to memorize.
The counterculture is dead. Those who have been protesting “The Man” for 40 years now have their man in the white house, and they don’t realize yet that he is not going to be the president they hoped he would be…but they won’t care. They won’t even notice.
Obama will not socialize medicine, he will not bring back the welfare state, or dismantle our nuclear stockpile. He will continue detaining terror suspects in secret prisons and drop bombs from predator drones on terrorist hideouts killing women and children in the process. Global Capitalism will expand greater than ever before, and he will not be able to actually reduce greenhouse emissions. There will be no FOCA or card check or “patriotic corporations list,” or mandatory security service, or gay marriage.
He will govern like Clinton, relying on those former administration officials to tell him what to do because he knows nothing about how an economy works or how to wage a war against terrorists. He will not be a left-wing ideologue.
The difference is, nobody on the left will be able to protest him! He is their guy, a cult of personality whom most on the left will follow and obey. Do you expect to see effigies of Obama burned in the streets of San Fransisco at the next WTO conference? Look how his supporters have done an about-face on campaign finance, actually supporting corporate donations and defending Obama’s decision to reject public financing in the name of democracy and populism.
Where do the hard-core leftists go from here? Conservatives will stay where they are because they never bought into this “lightworker” nonsense.
The counterculture put all their faith in Obama. The problem for them is that he doesn’t appear to be one of them. Will they dissent on these issues or will they go along for the ride, and abandon everything they believed in because their messiah wants to take them in a different direction? My guess is the latter. His charm is too great.
In an indirect way, Obama might actually be the nail in the coffin for the progressive movement in America. Someone call Rush Limbaugh.