Along with most Americans, I wish Barack Obama well as he takes on an awesome task of being our president at a time when we are heavily in debt, fighting two wars, threatened by terrorism, in an economic meltdown, facing a world with many countries fracturing into chaos, questions of climate shifts, and on the list goes. There are massive problems on the home front and abroad. If he does well, nobody will say he inherited an easy road. No matter what he does, he will have a lot of people complaining.Already there are gripes about the cost of this Inaugural. Too much money when the times are tough. Then come the complaints he got money from the rich which means they will run the country (not bad if you can get that for a mere $100,000). It even displeased some that he did a piece for Parade magazine on his family. Wasting time they say. Wasting money they say.
Well I say that the Inauguration is a celebration for the people, and Obama is using it to make people feel good about this country again. Good feelings won't solve all of our problems, but they are a start. Lack of trust has broken our system. Trust is what it has been based on.
We are better as a people than it has sometimes seemed-- and I don't mean just the right or the left but all of us together. The recent plane crash in New York City was a reminder of that as people rushed to help others, as the system worked as well as it can in a disaster. This celebration is another.
If you watched the gala on Sunday, you saw artists coming together to praise love, family, and country. That program was not without a purpose! This Inaugural isn't money wasted. Between the attack of 9/11, the failures after Katrina, the war in Iraq, using torture against all international conventions, abuse of the Constitution, the world has doubted us, and we haven't felt very good about ourselves; what better place to begin re-inspiring us than a big celebration from the small to the powerful-- music and words to remind us of from where we have come and where we want to go. Obama has always says he can't remake our families, our system by himself. His goal now, as it has been all along, is for us to make it happen.
The stock market falls when people leave it due to loss of faith. Stores go broke when people don't buy. Jobs are lost when people can't spend. It's a vicious circle. No bank has the money to give everyone the money they deposited. People have to trust that it's there or it goes bust.
Right now Americans, the world for that matter, are not feeling very trusting. This celebration has been and is about beginning to restore that trust. Obama is no fool and this Inaugural isn't just for him. If you watched his face during the Lincoln Memorial Celebration, you saw it. This was done for all of us.
Then there has been fear about the money a few wealthy gave over the supposed limits, gave because the 2002 McCain-Feingold bill allowing it, but gave in the open-- no paper sacks. It was beggared by the amount given by the average people. Donations came from all economic levels.
Obama has been saying it all along-- this victory belongs to the people and from all walks of life. People gave according to what they could afford and for some that might have meant $100,000 and for others $25. He valued all those gifts because people voted with their actions, not just their words.
His poll numbers are sky high right now, but they won't remain there. He knows that. He speaks of it every chance he gets. From the start, he has said it will take all of us and that's the real question. Will all of us keep working for this or sit back, turn on our TVs, and wait for somebody else to do it?
To analyze what Obama's chances for success are, what skills he brings with him, Andrew Sullivan wrote a powerful piece. It is what I also believe:
After this big celebration is over, Obama is going to do what he can. From everything I have seen of him, he will do his best. There might be mistakes. He says there will, but he says he is doing this for us-- from the rich to the poor, the red and blue states, all races. The Inauguration has been a joyous testimony to that. Enjoy it. It's not wasted money. It's a start for what needs to be done. This is a guy who 'gets it'.
The photo is of our flag, given to us by my mother. It's getting old, but I fly it for various important times. This is one. She would have been proud to see this day!
39 comments:
Lovely post. I wish Obama nothing but well today, and I hope that he is able, through hard work, time, and vision, to help repair our battered and bruised nation.
It's nice to see that old flag flying on this new day in our country.
Well said: I will pray and try to do my part !
I think that Barak has a unique opportunity and is well prepared, as far as I have seen, to be an awsome president. Can he deliver? Only time will tell. He did well by staying out of the lime light until he came to office. Now we will see and hopefully rejoice at what a hopefully strong president can do. There is a lot of hope out there. I hope that the hope can be realized!
As for trust? Financial trust, nothing to do with Barak yet, how can people trust the financial community when it was the financial community that betrayed the people's trust? How can the securities sector expect anything different from distrust. There were supposed safeguards in place to assure that violations did not occur yet they did. I am all for prosecuting the violators to the hilt. Those that stole should have their assets frozen until they can be cleared, although that goes against our legal system, innocent until proven guilty. I truly hope for a thrust of support for our new government administration.
And now for our states, who mimicked the feds and also find themselves in dire straits.
Change we CAN believe in!:
http://i39.tinypic.com/eafnn9.jpg%20wdith=
So NOW you fly the flag???
Anonymous, I fly it a lot as you would know if you read anything I said here, looked back through my blogs or even looked at the photo of it. I got it new. It's been up frequently over the years as I believe in this country. Do you on the right really believe you have the exclusive right to patriotism? To me the right has abused patriotism in the name of power. Hopefully that is finished.
As to the countdown, May, we did that for Bush and it didn't do much good but welcome to giving it a try. We thought they can't possibly elect him for real in 2004, but they did; so I understand how people feel who didn't want a change of direction, who think the economy is great or want to blame someone else for it, who thought torture protected them, who liked secret prisons, valued wars with no purpose for our country. But it's a new day and we'll see how long it lasts. My hope is that it will lead to better times. All Americans should likewise want that as I did back when Bush was appointed and then elected. I hoped he'd do well but didn't believe he would. Turned out I was right. You should hope Obama will do well even if you likewise have no faith in him. It's what our country needs that should be the priority.
Sorry, but the left treated Bush terribly. YOU all had the opportunity to do different, but didn't.
We must ensure that Obama is not treated any different...it would be unfair to President Bush to do otherwise.
The ghost of Mary Jo Kopechne has her day:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/01/20/kennedy-suffers-seizure-inaugural-lunch/
You do what you believe is best to help this nation, May. It's what patriotism is all about-- putting aside what we might like for ourselves for the good of this country. When someone dislikes the policies of any leader, it's right to speak out against those policies, in fact it is a patriotic need, which is what I did with Bush as you know if you have read here long.
If I think obama is wrong on policy, I will do likewise. One thing I learned from Republicans is their desire to defend their leader no matter what he does seemed to me detrimental to the country and even the man. I think we should separate the man from the policy in doing it though which is what I tried to do with Bush. I don't wish him bad and hope he has a good life in Texas. It was rather sad today to see him as doubtless he thought he did what was right-- whether it was or not.
As long as people post respectfully here, dissent is welcome. If it gets nasty, I'll have to go to moderation. So far so good.
Frankly I do not plan to be posting much on politics unless something comes up as I am more than sick of it. There is a lot in life that is more enjoyable to think about like nature, mysticism, love, dreams, even the aging process. Building up my own karma sometimes requires speaking out even when I'd rather not but mostly I prefer to think about how beautiful life can be, look to solutions that make things better for everyone, and hope that soon we will see our country rising up and things better for those who are suffering now. Call me a pollyanna but why wish for less.
There were many times during Bush's tenure that I thought that the left was being overly critical of his policy. In many ways, with the desire to believe in the President, I took his side; many attacks were fruitless and rumor mongering, least of all by Michael Moore, Gore, and my favorite whipping boy, John Keary. He still reminds me of Fred Gwen when he played Herman Munster.
then, the big betrayal and the unfolding of the crime scene in the home loan and securities fiascos. Bush was the fall guy because he was the president, but shame on the politicos and the greedy. They broke the back of the world economy and our government needs to take swift action to break their backs by taking back the ill gotten gains that they made. There were control boards put into place were mainly Democrats, although there were Republicans there also. They turn their heads while the greedy feasted. These people need to be relieved of their positions. This will never happen because of the good ole boy attitude of politicians. They cannot clean their own house. By the way, this is my opinion. You can agree or not. I am just using this as a forum because Rain and I have history of these discussions elsewhere and I value her opinions whether I agree with them or not
Blogger just lost my comment. I hate it when that happens. Let me try again from memory.
Hello Pollyanna. I wish Barak all the best and hope he does a good job for all Americans.
I am a little concerned that race seemed to be such a large part of the day's festivities, but I know this is a big day for African-Americans so we will see how that goes.
I thought it was totally classless the way people booed President Bush when he was introduced and then chanted hey hey good bye as he went to Marine One. You did not see Reagan supporters doing that to Carter or Bush supporters doing that to Clinton. So for Obama supporters to do that today was just disgusting.
I hope that expectations are not so high that the new administration will not be given enough time. The problems are enormous and we can't expect a quick turn around. It took years to get into this financial mess and I am sure that it will at least take some months to get a good start at working our way out of it.
Obama called for reconciliation today.
May we all do the same.
http://www.woodka.com/2009/01/20/a-national-day-of-renewal-and-reconciliation/
I swear I commented here earlier but I guess not!
Amen!!! Amen!!! As usual, you said it well!
I couldn't agree more, Rain....'m one of the ones who happily gave $25. And MORE than well worth it...These last days have been a breath of fresh air...and I look forward to more of that, even though I know the road will be hard.
This was a glorious day!
Actually a lot of times you didn't see the protesters because they were not permitted. I think they are always there. There is like 20% on each side, the fringe, who support their person (and find fault with the other side) no matter what either does. In those 20% there are always some really rude ones and a few worse than rude. It's not like only the right wing has wackos.
I value all thoughtful dissent and Bernie and ingineer often provide it. The big thing is that we do think and watch. What the last Congress did is no more impressive to me than Bush. They have nothing to be proud about. We shall see what comes up now. Giving away all that money with no oversight, even how they signed to let Bush invade Iraq if he wanted with no oversight (Republican control then but dems voted for it also), none of it makes me feel about the lot of them. It is a new day though and we should want Obama to do well because it's us who will be hurt most if he fails. Just as a lot of us with no faith in Bush did 'want' him to do well because it's always the little people who pay. These presidents go off to lush retirements creating presidential libraries to brag about their accomplishments, and secret service protection (used to be for life and now for 10 years). It is a very tough world for the rest of us without protections.
I read a book recently and will be writing more about it but there was one quote in it that I am still debating with myself and will probably write about in a blog. Basically it was to not ask for power but for luck. Power has something over others, but luck is a gift that you use for a time. So maybe what we want as a nation now is a lot of luck!
No one doubts that President Obama has inherited a huge mess. The problems seem endless,but he is aware of the difficulty.
I know there will be mistakes, but not because he isn't sharp enough to find a solution.
Lets hope that the petty men (Think Mitch McConnell and Bonieur {sp?})in Congress don't thwart him at every turn.
I wish BHO well, but the tasks ahead of him are fraught with danger Rain.
May he have wisdom and good common sense ! Now everyone will want a piece of his action.
I thought this was supposed to be a "green" inauguration??
http://wjnoblog.com/2009/01/washington-mall-now-covered-in-trash/
I did hear about a green inaugural ball but don't know about the rest. I do know, living in the country, that a lot of humans are pigs. They trash their own roads. Like when they throw out that pop can instead of keeping it in their car until they get home, don't they see it again as they drive down the road? I would guess not. And worse are the ones that throw plastic wrappers into our fields which the cows sometimes swallow and die. That doesn't worry them either. Don't get me started on humans and garbage strewing. It's beyond my understanding.
So much for small donors. They had to close one runway at Washington Dulles Airport to have enough room for all the private jets to park. There were 600 private jets in DC yesterday. All the Hollywood fat cats and lobbyists vying for position.
Meet the New boss, same as the old boss.
The only thing green about the inauguration was the stacks of money that was spent on it.
Ingineer, you are wrong as there were also tons of cars, people on buses and trains arriving for it too. Of course, you have the rich. Wasn't the Republican party afraid Obama hated the rich? Isn't this the country of both rich and poor? One of the things Obama said is we won't apologize for our lifestyle. So you want him to start doing that since you didn't like the idea of others criticizing us for our way of life?
Give me a break and give this a chance to see what he does. I know for a fact a lot of small donors gave money. In our family we all gave and farm boss gave almost the maximum both for the campaign and the primary. We poured way more than was comfortable for us into that election and a lot of people we know did likewise. We got invited to come. We have been invited to meet Obama. Big donors aren't the only ones who got that honor.
You guys can't have it both ways. Do you want him to hate the rich or love them too much? Celebs and big shots will always be at such events-- unless they don't like who won and sometimes even then. Can people just wait and see what he does before they complain?
I see these ugly cartoons about him, questions that have been answered over and over circulating again through email and in right wing blogs. If you try to respond to what they say or bring up issues, they attack your character.
Some are saying, egged on by Rush Limbaugh that Bush got a bad deal from the start and it's why they are doing it (Rush of course makes his fortune getting people mad. If everybody was happy, he'd be out of a job and retiring on his millions), and Bush got it because Clinton got it. I am sorry but does anybody put the country first? Find fault with what obama does but for pete's sake having rich people as friends should not be among the gripes unless you have the attitude that all rich should have taken away what they own and that sounds remarkably communist to me.
The worst part of all that trash left behind is the fact that much of it was American flags thrown on the ground.
Should we be surprised? Not.
Ingineer will like this:
http://i39.tinypic.com/eafnn9.jpg%20wdith=
They are already popping up around town!
Private jets...hmmm...not too "green"!
Change we can believe in!
I know that plenty of regular folks donated and attended yesterday. One of my best friends was there with his son. And I am probably one of the most optimistic people in the Republican party hoping for Obama to do a good job. I like that he is young and I like that he is mixed race and I like that he is from Hawaii. Now we will see what he does in the first 100 days.
What I do not like is the hypocritical talk from super rich folks like Kennedy and Kerry talking about how republicans do not care for the common man. I think the republicans do more for the working class and middle class than the Dems do. They seem to be the party of the super rich and the welfare class. That is just my opinion.
Well you didn't hear that from Obama, ingineer, and it's why he's the president and not them. He sees the damage of pushing one group at another and how it doesn't serve the ordinary people. But like you said, now we'll see what he does. The party is over and the work begins.
Biden is gonna make life rough for our president...you can tell he is irritated by Joe's remark:
http://www.freedomslighthouse.com/2009/01/vp-joe-biden-makes-fun-of-chief-justice.html
Well one thing, he can't say he didn't know about Biden as he's famous for the goof-ups. I hadn't seen the video. It's always hard to tell what Obama thinks but I read today he may have to retake the oath according to some constitutional scholars. Weird as some said Tuesday he'd be president at noon whether he took it or not and now others say if it wasn't in the proper order, he should redo it. Maybe Roberts could read it next time :)
they said he could redo it privately though; so wouldn't have to be a public thing. If he does, we may never know he did as this was an embarrassment to Roberts
It wasn't all Roberts tho...Obama flubbed up the first part when he couldn't spit out his name.
I watched it yesterday but looked a it again just now to be sure I remembered right. Obama started to speak his own name before Roberts was through speaking and whether that has been done differently other times, I have no idea. Obama recognized Roberts goof, on where he put faithfully but smiled and went along with repeating what Roberts said which is where they say he may have to redo the order to take care of the naysayers who don't want him to be president to begin.
This blog doesn't do cartoons which ridicule Bush, Obama or anybody else. I don't find them funny and there are plenty of sites that have that kind of stuff to satisfy anyone who does. (explaining a rejection of content)
I read on Fox News.com so it must be true that they do not have to re-do it and if anyone challenged the legality of an Obama Presidency it would be decided by Robert's Supreme Court. And since it was Robert's goof he would very quickly decide that Obama is legally president. Obama said all the words and meant the intent of the oath so that is good enough for me. But it would not surprise me if they did it again in private.
But I did hear that on the radio yesterday during the inauguration that some people were saying that he was automatically president at Noon since the actual swearing in was running behind schedule. I am not a constitutional scholar but I am pretty sure he is not president until he takes the oath. That is why LBJ took the oath on Air Force One in Texas in front of a judge that they grabbed off the street.
I agree that O is an old soul. I don't envy him the task he has shouldered, but I feel so very hopeful that if anyone can even make small turn-arounds, it will be him and his team.
So out of an abundance of caution and because it was so much fun the first time. Roberts and Obama did the oath of office again this evening. Apparently two other presidents have had to do the oath twice because of similar circumstances.
I saw that and they did it with good humor. Considering how Limbaugh is trying to stir up his ranks with he hopes Obama fails and hence the country goes down with him, Roberts and Obama were wise to redo it to leave as little out there as possible for a troll to hang something on.
I had to use comment moderation for the first time since the election. I can always delete what someone says after it gets published but I'd rather the mood here stays civil. I am assuming that will settle down and I can take it back off (especially since I have no interest in writing more about politics for awhile). Moderation frankly is a pain to do and for the most part this blog gets nice people who while they might disagree, they do it civilly. That's the only way there is real discussion because when names are called, the thinking part of the conversation is over.
Post a Comment