been prouder of my country or of my fellow countrymen than I am today.
I stand here, humbled by the greatness of our democratic experiment, humbled by the wisdom of its founders, and grateful for the fortune of my birth into it.
I stand here with tears in my eyes, watching a wonderful, articulate, brilliant man take the oath of Office of the President of the United States.
I know some find this faith, this exultant joy, to be mysterious. They feel our faith is both unfounded, and grounded in a lack of fact or wisdom.
I counter that it is they who profoundly underestimate the pride, patriotism, and resolve of those who backed Barack Obama. In truth, our joy stems from the fact that for eight years we were excluded, for eight years our wisdom was discarded, our intellect ignored, our opinion dismissed and even more often demeaned. They do not understand the pent-up frustrations at watching the compassion of a nation go squandered, moved upward, and shipped off. They do not understand the pent-up frustrations of watching our national reputation and integrity get traded away for an ephemeral peace more true in words than in fact.
So today, our frustration is released, our hopes renewed, our faith endures and we feel has been rewarded that what we know to be great about America, its decency, its common purpose and willingness to meet a common need, has been restored again, refreshed again. We are more wise than our critics ever understood, and as facts bore out, that this nation does best when we do not set out dividing lines, looking to the welfare of a few, but rather when we stand up for the rights of all. Today the inauguration of Barack Obama is less about the man, than the restoration of decency and honesty and most of all common ground among us. I invite his critics to grasp and accept we are not naive', but instead fair minded and impatient for this country to carve out the path again it started down 222 years ago.
What is naive is to suggest that carrying on in the manner we were (for as long as we did, under the last president) was a pragmatic method of creating future prosperity at home and future goodwill among our very, very necessary friends and allies abroad. It was, of course, something very different from pragmatism; it was the definition of the word "naive."
ReplyDeleteWhat is most certainly not naive, however, is the fact that we just inaugurated two of the smartest guys in the room (so to speak) to lead us in uncertain times. Though there are bound to be disappointments, doing what we have just done has given us a better chance at future prosperity at home and good will abroad (which are increasingly interlinked, of course).
Mr. Penigma, I too am proud of my country today.
The US is now waking up from an eight year nightmare which I think history will eventually call the tyranny of George Bush. If one looks at some of the abuses that the American colonists claimed King George III of England was guilty of, many of those abuses were committed by Mr. Bush, or by others with his tacit approval.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, we have no one but ourselves to blame. We elected Mr. Bush not once but twice. We elected a Republican controlled rubber-stamp (read: congress) not once but three times.
Although Messrs Bush, Chaney, et al should be prosecuted for their crimes committed while in office, ultimately, it is we the people who are responsible for putting them there and allowing their abuses to continue.
Yet, I am convinced that the US, as it awakes from this long nightmare, will rise to the challenge and will restore our economy, our international standing, our science and our national pride.
As someone who did not vote for Obama I still think this is a great moment for us, one that happens every 4 yrs. No matter how much we attack the other side in the press and on the campaign trail on Jan 20th we have a smoother transition of power than any other country. I wish Obama the best and for at least the next 4 yrs he is my president whether I voted for him or not.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good wishes Pen.. :D
ReplyDeleteGiGi