The Inauguration-Wednesday Morning Quarterbacking
In no particular order:
1. Chief Justice Roberts was clearly, consciously or not, bearing a grudge when he swore in the new President. He’d probably rather have sworn at him. Obama opposed confirming Roberts during the Senate hearings in ‘05. Roberts, rather than feeding the President conventional, easily digestible sound bytes (think “I pledge allegiance……..to the flag……..”), initially gave him a long and awkwardly worded phrase that the Chief Justice himself had trouble repeating when called upon to do so. The Harvard righty tried to sneak a curve ball by the Harvard lefty. The lefty didn’t swing. Ball one.
2. Not surprisingly, after Obama, quoting Scripture, implored us as a nation to “put aside childish things”, Rush Limbaugh claimed that Obama “botched the oath”. This while Rush was playing with his rattle, sterilizing his pacifier, which spends way too much time out of his mouth, and was otherwise obsessing on things childish. Sooner or later his listeners will wise up to the fact that he’s a great entertainer, not a provider of information or opinion that’s going to lead to better lives for them.
3. I thought O made an error of omission when referring to the sacrifices made by Americans in times of war, as he didn’t refer to Desert Storm or the Iraqi offensive/occupation in his list of sites where these sacrifices throughout American history occurred. He dealt with them a bit later in the speech and later on in the day, but the omission was pretty glaring, and surprising considering how he and his team attempted to touch all the bases.
4. It saddens me to say so, but he overestimated the state of the American people of 2009 when he said we’re no less capable than past generations. Past generations weren’t distracted by Wii and wrestling, which allowed them to concentrate on innovation and perseverance.
5. No doubt there will be right wing pundits connecting the 300 point drop in the Dow yesterday with Obama’s inauguration. If Bush were still in office, the damage most probably would have been worse. Banks worldwide took it on the chin on Monday, a market holiday for us, and no one will know how much lower indices might have gone were it not for the distant wail of rescue vehicles moving, however slowly, into position.
6. Finally, I think Barack and his brain trust decided to modulate the tone and content of the inauguration speech so that the nation didn’t expect too much, too soon. He wasn’t lowering the bar for himself, just being realistic about how quickly any nation with a checks and balances system like ours can dig out of the massive pit that W left in the backyard before flying off into the distance. Clearly Obama’s oratorical skills and mastery of the language have been demonstrated countless times before, but this was not a time to showboat, and it was not a time for high drama.
It was a time to hear the alarm clock, wake up, and get down to work.
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You think “i barack hussein obama do solemnly swear” is a “long and awkwardly worded phrase”? That’s the standard opening to any Oath, and the same opening line from every oath of office I can remember. Obama did screw that up. It was a simple mistake though (bush senior did it to a lesser degree as well), and so was Roberts’.
Here’s the thing no one seemed to notice. After the initial awkwardness of the opening line, obama paused, and there was an almost concerned air about him. Why was that? Listen closely in the background and you can hear sirens.
It wasn’t a matter of either of them faltering as much as it was both of them recovering poorly after a distraction. Obama didn’t pause to debate how to say the next line. He paused because he wanted to make sure Secret Service agents weren’t rushing in to escort him away to safety.
BTW the sirens also sounded during the prayer, and it was the one time Obama opened his eyes and looked around.
“It saddens me to say so, but he overestimated the state of the American people of 2009 when he said we’re no less capable than past generations. Past generations weren’t distracted by Wii and wrestling, which allowed them to concentrate on innovation and perseverance.”
It saddens me that you underestimate the state of the American people. You don’t think that past generations had their own fair share of distractions? We live in an age where more goods and services can be produced quicker and faster than ever before so even if they are goofing off a few hours a night, a lot of them will have probably earned it.
What exactly do you think is lacking in terms of innovation and perseverance? America has the craziest working conditions of anywhere in the world – 50/60 hour weeks are not uncommon with often only a two week vacation every year. How much more are you looking for?
I get that not everybody’s into working hard to make cool new stuff happen, but why not focus (like Obama is) on those that ARE into it (and are doing it) instead of taking cheap shots at those that aren’t.
It’s easy to tear down, my man. It’s a lot harder to build up. You could start by looking for the best in people.