January 24, 2009
This week was an emotional tidal wave – watching that patch-quilt array of Americans hungry for a new start, gathered in our nation’s capital on Tuesday. It was more than exhilarating.
Like most of my friends, my joy was accompanied by tear. I cried when I saw the new first family making their first entrance, proud and beautiful… I cried when that classical musical interracial quartet, most likely best heard in an intimate salon proudly shared their talents with the world. And I cried when the new President took the oath of office and again when he watched his high school band from Hawaii march past the reviewing stand.
Why all the emotion which I knew was not mine exclusively?
Much of it was because this handsome brown-skinned man told the world that the
United States was starting to live up to its promise…that the sweat and toil of Frederick Douglass, Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman and millions of others was coming to fruition…and that Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday we had celebrated the day before, was a dominant presence in the history-making pageant on Tuesday of this week.
The election of the 44th President of the United States had historic and symbolic significance…and at once elevated us in the eyes of the world. Nations which had been disenchanted and perplexed by the inadequacy and incompetence of our leadership in the past decade, once again were looking to us for moral guidance and strength.
There was something even deeper in the air on Tuesday. This bright, energetic young man who is set to lead us, reminded many of our deep love of country. We have been challenged and vilified for the last 8 years. Listeners to this station have heard the vacuous Go to Cuba, you Commie-outbursts…but you have been spared the anonymous, off-the-air phone calls that are racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic…sometimes all at once.
Television viewers have witnessed those expressing anti-war sentiments being accused of being anti-American and even the GOP candidate for Vice-President made desperate smear attempts at her opponents, suggesting that they travel with terrorists and failed to support our troops.
Our new President was elected because he inspired us and reminded us that love of country could include advocacy for justice and peace, and acknowledgement of our most gifted artists and respected scientists; that clean air and stem cell research are issues to be embraced; that health care was for everyone – not just a chosen few; and that we all have a stake and an assignment in fulfilling the dreams that make us America.
We, who criticized the ineptness and deceit of the last 8 years did so because we wanted the best for the country that we love.
I watched Sean Hannity on Fox TV this week. He – who is now a poster boy for the America we are leaving behind, is man who found little fault with a war created on lies, a city sunk into the mire of the bayou, and an economy devastated because of greed mixed with government failure to supervise – was yapping like a Pomeranian puppy about the failures of the new administration…a day before it took office.
I thank Hannity for that moment as he reminded me that there will always be malcontents – or in his case, a profiteer for being the negative norm – who like his frequent guest, Ann Coulter, feel the need to shock us with outrageous allegations in order to justify their existence. Limbaugh said on his radio broadcast – and it has often been repeated on the news reports – “I want this President to fail!” The cruder the criticism, the more attention they get. But now…their criticism could be labeled disloyal.
The real answer to Fox TV’s half-empty glass theorists is best revealed by our new President, who at the legislative luncheon on inauguration day embraced conservative Utah senator Orrin Hatch with the same warmth that he hugged Senator Teddy Kennedy.
There will be no red state - blue state, Karl Rove machinations to define and motivate this administration. And folks on the left who might get momentary gratification from revenge and sticking out your tongues had best listen to the words of the new President.
His approach is exemplified by Edwin Markham’s reflection which I often I paraphrase:
They drew a circle and closed us out
But love and I hath a wit to win…
We drew a larger circle and brought them in
When we begin to understand this the squealing sounds of discontents will begin to fade away.
As the days go on, I can hardly recall what Dick Cheney looks like. I am experiencing too much joy and hope from the man who is our 44th President.
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