Inauguration Day I
Some thoughts from Andrew Sullivan on the meaning of this day and what Obama may say:
It will be about the moment. What Obama understands – and it’s worth reiterating – is that his presidency is a unique combination of one man and one very specific moment in time. We are witnessing the collapse of an old ideological order, the end of the 1960s, and the implosion of conservatism as an intellectually coherent governing philosophy. Into this wasteland, created by some hideous combination of evil enemies abroad and clueless leaders at home, this man arrives. Without the events of 2003 – 2006, Obama would not be president. And after the Bush catastrophe, we are immensely lucky he is. Alone, he is impressive – and would have made a good president at any time in the next few decades. But now, in this moment, with this set of gargantuan problems, at a time when Americans need desperately to believe again in their country and their constitution and theor president … well.
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I don’t really believe in any grand idea of providence, and don’t believe that America is somehow more blessed by the divine than any other (that notion is absurd to my Catholic mind). But this week is testing my agnosticism.
January 20th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Some of the callers to my favorite radio station were miffed that Obama praised the Founding Fathers without even alluding to the fact that many of them were slave-owners, especially considering his ‘historic’ accomplishment as the first African-American president. People would be wise to keep in mind that not only is our new president not descended from former slaves, but it is quite likely that he is a descendant of slave-owners. To expect him to condemn our FF simply because of his race would itself appear to be a racist supposition.