Inaugural Thoughts

Barack Obama has just been inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States and I thought I'd put down some of my thoughts and feelings about this event.

There are so many meanings in this inauguration, so much history, so much joy and relief, so much hope and so many problems so desperately needing solutions that I find myself hesitating, not quite sure where to start. How does one think about history like this, when it is taking place in front of you?

But perhaps the best, most obvious starting point would be that America has just inaugurated its' first black president, the day after Martin Luther King Day. I find myself getting lost in just this thought. It brings up memories of Helen Arnold, our deeply religious, very lovely, eighty year old black next door neighbor in Ann Arbor. It makes me think of Marlene, another truly lovely friend, and her adopted black daughter and her grandchildren. That Obama is now the President must just bring pure joy to them and their families.

I also find it hard to comprehend just how far America has come in terms of race relations in such a relatively short span of time. I was born in 1971, just barely four years after laws banning interracial marriage had been overturned in the US and three years after Martin Luther King was assassinated. Having grown up in Australia, I don't feel the deep joy that many across America must be experiencing with Obama's inauguration, but it is hard not to empathize and to be inspired by not only his victory, but also by the manner in which he won.

Turning from those thoughts, of the many parts of Obama's speech that caught my ear, I particularly liked this one:

Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.

George Bush was seated quite close to Obama, and I wondered as I listened, what thoughts he had as he heard those words. Bush's face during much of the ceremony seemed tired and somewhat forlorn and I wonder if he suddenly felt regret at what he had put into motion, regret on hearing directly, loudly and up close a very possible prelude to history's final judgement on his presidency.

I also wonder if Bush, at the start of his term, had ever heard of the "rule of law". Certainly his actions as president don't suggest that he really understood the concept. Instead, it seems like his approach to the presidency was inspired more by Jack Bauer in the Fox series 24: do whatever you must to keep the homeland safe. I can almost understand that perspective and I certainly think it resonates with a lot of Americans, but it is also very shallow. A core strength of America (and Australia, Canada, and many other countries) is that deep in our souls, in ways that most of us do not even recognize or understand, we understand that no one is above the law, no one is entitled to break laws just for the sake of expediency.

And how do you even begin to think about "I, Barack Hussein Obama..."? How is it that a black American with a middle name of Hussein became president at this moment? I tend to think that American notions of exceptionalism, at least in terms of ideals, are overrated, but here I think I have to make an exception. In how many other countries could an extremely talented and gifted black man like Obama have been elected to the highest political office? I can't think of very many where it would even begin to be feasible. And to steal one of Obama's lines, how absolutely wonderful is it to see American living up to its' best self?

Although I am not an American and do not feel the exact same, bone deep, pride and joy as my American family and friends did with Obama's victory and inauguration, I came pretty close. Our little family watched the inauguration live on Brienna's laptop at our the dinner table in Rostock, Germany. Amidst the food, baby talk and toddler yowls, Brienna and I both had tears in our eyes watching the swearing in ceremony. As Brienna said later, it felt like she had suddenly gotten her wonderful nation, the best of America, back once more.