Starting Anew

Well, what did you think of it?   I must say, that with all the hoop-la following Barak Obama’s election victory last November, and the feeling in some quarters that he can pretty much walk on water and solve the nation’s (no, make that the world’s) problems at a stroke, that during his Inauguration he would have to have, in the style of Ancient Rome, someone standing close behind him whispering “Remember, you are only mortal. All this shall pass.”   However, for all the hyperbole, yesterday’s ceremony was fitting, restrained, and undeniably mortal.

We went to an Inauguration party at a local restaurant.  There must have been about 200 of us, and the atmosphere was euphoric, optimistic and just plain fun.  It felt strange at first to be applauding a TV screen, but after a couple of times, it was just the natural thing to do.  Just as natural as when Bush appeared, to join in singing "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye!" 

So, we got a fairly brief ceremony, complete with singer, chamber orchestra, poet and two priests.   The actual moment of the two handovers was relatively brief.  For a couple of minutes, Bush was still president and his Vice-President was Joe Biden. (Here’s a question for all you Americans from a puzzled Brit:  The presidential oath of office is very brief, so why is the vice-president’s oath such a long, rambling declaration about mental reservation etc?  Can anybody tell me?).  The Chief Justice flubbed the presidential oath, probably because he tried to do it without notes, but with a couple of smiles he and Obama got there in the end.  (I prophesied that before the day was out, conspiracy theorists would claim that Obama deliberately stumbled over the oath because he didn’t really mean it, or because he really wanted to take it on the Koran, or some such drivel. And I was right).

Obama’s speech was well crafted, to the point, and full of indicators of the future. Not Churchillian,  not even FDR, but uplifting and optimistic.  Science no longer to be marginalized, care for the poor at home and abroad,  recognition that the people who actually make things are to be admired and that the idle rich, who contribute nothing, are not.  Help to poor countries, a real partnership with the other prosperous countries in this world.  A search for alternative sources of energy rather than for more oil.  Here is a president who intends to bring America into the twenty-first century, and not a moment too soon.  And how nice to have a president who is at ease with oratory – not one who ends up sparring with, and invariably losing to, the English language!

It was unfortunate for the poet that she had to follow Obama’s speech.  I found her irrelevant and dull, and judging by the swell of conversation in the restaurant, so did most people.  While she was reciting, people took the opportunity to order more coffee or ask for the check or simply to chat to their neighbours.  We all shut up, though, for the final benediction when the second priest (In a nation where supposedly the church and state are separated, God certainly manages to stick his oar in on these occasions!) shuffled up to the microphone and, wheezing and slightly breathless, gave a solemn but witty and merry benediction – a fitting end to this happy occasion.

Now I know that this man is not the cure for all ills.  There are forces ranged both within and without this country, dedicated to thwarting his plans.  The moneyed and powerful do not easily surrender their influence and their ownership, imagined or otherwise, of the nation.  So if President Obama does not manage to achieve all his ends, we must not be too surprised.  But those of us filled with optimism yesterday must be ready to support him once the honeymoon is over, the novelty of a black president has worn off, and we have begun to forget what is what like under the old regime.  Obama has ahead of him not just a few strokes of a magic wand but years and years of very hard work.  But as one British poster wrote on a BBC vox pop site about the Inauguration: "Welcome back, America!  We've really missed you."

**  A slight quibble.  In his speech, Obama remarked that he was the forty-fourth person to take the presidential oath of office.  In fact, he is the forty-third.   The 22nd and 24th presidents were the same person, Grover Cleveland, who so far was the only one to serve two non-consecutive terms

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I watched this clip on the BBC a short while ago.  It seems that Obama is starting as he means to go on.  I expect this brought howls of anguish from lobbyists, whose job is to bribe influence politicians.   It’s good, too, that he is restricting government workers from jumping ship and becoming lobbyists themselves, using their contacts and knowledge to advance the cause of whatever business interest they work for.  Most interesting, I thought, was at about 6 minutes 21 seconds, when he says that the Freedom of Information Act will be even more strongly applied so that if he “or a former president” wishes to withhold something from the American people, they will have to show very definite cause to those charged with applying the Act.   A former president.   Whom does you imagine he had in mind?
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Comments

[J]

I think the most dangerous thing about America is our horrifically short memory. I also worry that we will all too soon forget what it was like to open the paper every day and see some idiotic, dangerous, terrible thing being done in our name, benefiting the rich and robbing the rest of us of our money, our liberties, and our pride of country.

Obama most certainly will not be able to cure all the ills of our country, even with an enthusiastic Congress in his corner. But here it is, only his first day in office, and it's already a better country than it was yesterday. Keep it up, Barry!

[J]

Oh, and regarding the oath...it's the same one for VP and members of Congress. The one the President uses is part of our Constitution, while the other is not. Why? Don't know.

[Thorne]

Great post, Nick! Had I tried going to a local bar to watch in my lil corner of the desert, I might've been stoned. Like, not gotten stoned, but actually been stoned. LOL
I loved the prayer at the inaugural concert. (here http://thornesworld.wordpress.com/2009/01/19/rev-gene-robinsons-prayer-at-barack-obama-inaugural-concert/)

We'd all do well to remember this:
"Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah."

[samulli]

I also watched some footage of the inauguration day last night on t.v. Actually, I feel a little sorry for Obama, because there's no way he can fulfill all the expectations that people have of him, even if many of them say now that they will be patient. I'm sure their tune will sound very different in a couple months' time when not all of the problems simply vanish overnight.
But he certainly seems to make an effort right from the start, for which one can only applaud him.
Was I the only one who felt a bit tense when he and his wife got out of their car and walked a bit of the way on the way to the White House? Must have been a nightmare for the secret service agents around him. :)

[Sharyn]

Apparently, Obama became president during the chamber group's performance, which lasted until about four minutes after 12. The oath, while mandated by the Constitution, is a formality. Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office on a plane from Dallas to Washington, even though he became president the instant JFK died.

[bellamocha]

This is so well written, Nicholas, thank you! I enjoyed every minute of it, although I felt that neither the singer nor the poet weren't as lively and enthusiastic as I felt they should have been, given the enormity of the occasion!

I realized later that although I had watched the Inaugurations of Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush Jr., (not sure where I was for Bush Sr)this one felt very different for me. It was as if I was watching it with different eyes because this is my adopted home-land. Taking a real, genuine interest, I suppose!

Bella :)

[julia]

I'm still feeling the euphoria, Nicholas. And it's not about to wear off anytime soon.