Tuesday, January 20, 2009

"...we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

There is so much to say about today, so much I'm feeling right now, so much I weeped about today that I am practically speechless. Which, if you know me well, is making your jaw drop about now. But, no worried my friends, I will brave past this feeling and write something.

First, yesterday was a wonderful day. I was so excited to sit my girls on my lap in front of the computer and listen as a family to Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" Speech. It literally brought tears to my eyes as I watched Cailin soaking in every word of that speech. As I helped her memorize my favorite line "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." As we talked about the significance of that speech, of that gathering. The significance of those masses standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial. That this historic day would not be happening if that historic day had never occurred. The impact of that thought is so incredibly grand.

On to today's events. I was so tempted to keep Cailin home from school. I didn't because I was convinced by friends that they would be watching the inauguration in their classrooms. Why oh why do I fool myself into putting more faith than deserved into the public school system. Cailin's class watched 10 minutes. Blah, unacceptable. I should have kept her home. Anyways, we will Youtube it later this week.

Huge moments for me:

His denouncement of
"petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and
worn out dogmas"
What? What? How will government even be able to function without those, aren't those the backbone that hold our political system together? Basically a polite big fat raspberry to the Bush administration.

"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a
weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and
non-believers."
I looked and looked and I couldn't find any speech given by a president that was inclusive to Atheists. What a big step. Its about time we actually have a President that acknowledges the fact our Nation is made up of more than wealthy white God fearing gun toting men. Hallelujah! These differences do have the potential to make us a stronger nation. If everyone just stopped trying to look through the same toilet paper tube, this nations eyes would be open to more that we thought we were capable of. The spirit is behind us, now lets all just take a step.

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has
shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have
consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not
whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it
works..."
Ever since Reagan there has been rhetoric after rhetoric about government involvement. Is the government part of the problem or part of the solution? Guess what the government is here to stay, they have to be part of the solution, because they exist to govern. That is its job. That is our job. T o work together, unite. We are reminded... "This is the price and promise of citizenship" The government just needs a little reshaping to better serve the people.

President Obama (doesn't that just sound so wonderful) was able to, in about 15 minutes, completely wipe out all of Bush's failures and falsehoods, bad policies and indecisions.
"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear,
unity of purpose over conflict and discord....the time has come to set aside
childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring
spirit..."
I don't want today to end. But at the same time I'm excited for tomorrow to begin. This is truly an historic moment. To all of you out there just waiting for him to fall on his ass. Unclench your fists, turn your frowns upside down. When pleasant surprise begins to creep into your character, let it in. Let him succeed, accept him, support him, be proud of him. We would have done the same for your guy.

5 comments:

Aimee said...

WOOOhooooo! What a passionate post. I loved it. I too, like that he included non-believers. They have a place too and I really appreciated that.

I thought he and his family looked so wonderful today. America felt happy today for the first time in a long time. I got teary so much. There was such significance in today on so many levels.

Again, great post. I loved reading it.

RJ said...

I got teary so many times watching our country move forward yesterday. I loved the part where Obama said, (I'm paraphrasing from memory here) "We reject the false choice between safety and compromising our ideals." I am SO excited for a change from the fear based leadership we've been burdened with. Bring on the hope!

Jaylee Draney said...

It's only day two and I already feel like the world has changed for the better.

Anonymous said...

Well put, Jenny. I was teary, too, as Eliazabeth and I were watching. Ironically, Scott was home but in the other room working. He didn't even see it live! I loved how proudly Michelle Obama looked at him while he was giving the oath. As I watched I was thinking about the book I just read about Afghanistan where there has been constant fighting for decades as the Afghans fought against the Soviets, then they turned on each other, now we're there. Now the Taliban is coming back. No peace. And the commentators on NPR kept mentioning how this was the 44th peaceful transition of power in this country. 44 times we changed governments without killing people in spite of how much we loved or hated the old guy. We're ready to give the new guy a chance. Hooray for America!

tempe turley said...

Obama gave a great speech, a very strong speech. Here's hoping he lives up to it.