Obama’s Inaugural Address.

Just finished watching Obama’s inaugural address (couldn’t see it live because my internet connection to the streaming feed was so painfully slow and disrupted, so I watched it on YouTube). I’d like to share a few quotes that particularly moved me.

“The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born.”

O, no, wait. That was George W. Bush at his first inauguration back in 2001. But here’s a powerful statement:

“When our founders boldly declared America’s independence to the world and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change. Not change for change’s sake, but change to preserve America’s ideals–life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless.”

Shoot, that was Clinton, in 1993. But who can forget this inspiring part of Obama’s speech:

“My friends, we are not the sum of our possessions. They are not the measure of our lives. In our hearts we know what matters. We cannot hope only to leave our children a bigger car, a bigger bank account. We must hope to give them a sense of what it means to be a loyal friend, a loving parent, a citizen who leaves his home, his neighborhood and town better than he found it.”

Or this part:

“We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we are in a time when there are no heroes just don’t know where to look. You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates. You meet heroes across a counter–and they are on both sides of that counter.”

No… wait a second, that was Bush, Sr. in 1989, and Reagan in 1981.

But this had to be one of the best:

“The American dream endures. We must once again have full faith in our country–and in one another. I believe America can be better. We can be even stronger than before. Let our recent mistakes bring a resurgent commitment to the basic principles of our Nation, for we know that if we despise our own government we have no future. We recall in special times when we have stood briefly, but magnificently, united. In those times no prize was beyond our grasp.”

Or was that Carter in 1977?

 

Anyway, it was a great speech, whatever it was he said.

I’m just glad he didn’t rail against demonized Enemies as though they were homogeneous (“for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you”) or portray hope and fear, conformity and chaos, in a reductionist linear view that provides no realistic alternatives (“we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord”) or imply that the militarization of society is a wonderful example of “civic duty” and service towards others (“we honor them not only because they are the guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service”) or suggest that justice can possibly be upheld when failing to hold past leaders accountable for their criminal actions (“we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas”) or state outright that, regardless of any superficial changes, that “we will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense.”

What do they say in France? Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. Damn the French. What do they know? I mean, at least Obama’s black, right? That’s enough change for most of us.

~ by Ali on January 20, 2009.