The faces of the audience registered exuberance and ambivalence. Eager to celebrate, the speech offered them few invitations to do so. There was much to celebrate as an African-American took the oath, bringing to a climax the long trajectory from slavery to emancipation, through segregation to Brown v Board of Education, and from the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. to the hope symbolized in Barack Obama. But the president let the spectacle speak for itself. He stood at the podium symbolizing the distance his country has traveled but he offered the assembled multitudes only blood, sweat and tears. Surely some racist barriers crumbled, surely the moment redeemed some past agonies, and surely future generations will affirm January 20, 2009 as a seminal moment in America’s remaking. But how does that redemption speak to, let alone face down, the “tyranny of the urgent” presented by the economic crisis?"
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thinking about the Bailout
Capital Commentary did a good job this week with some thoughtful reflection on the beginning of the Obama presidency. Here a bit of what was written. You can catch the rest via the link.
"In his inaugural address, President Barack Obama promised to harness old and true values to new instruments in order to face new challenges and remake America. He urged struggle, sacrifice and risk-taking. The speech was short on inspiration and free of acrimony. The president chastised individual villains for their greed but also urged his audience to assume a collective guilt for failing to make “hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.”
The faces of the audience registered exuberance and ambivalence. Eager to celebrate, the speech offered them few invitations to do so. There was much to celebrate as an African-American took the oath, bringing to a climax the long trajectory from slavery to emancipation, through segregation to Brown v Board of Education, and from the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. to the hope symbolized in Barack Obama. But the president let the spectacle speak for itself. He stood at the podium symbolizing the distance his country has traveled but he offered the assembled multitudes only blood, sweat and tears. Surely some racist barriers crumbled, surely the moment redeemed some past agonies, and surely future generations will affirm January 20, 2009 as a seminal moment in America’s remaking. But how does that redemption speak to, let alone face down, the “tyranny of the urgent” presented by the economic crisis?"
The faces of the audience registered exuberance and ambivalence. Eager to celebrate, the speech offered them few invitations to do so. There was much to celebrate as an African-American took the oath, bringing to a climax the long trajectory from slavery to emancipation, through segregation to Brown v Board of Education, and from the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. to the hope symbolized in Barack Obama. But the president let the spectacle speak for itself. He stood at the podium symbolizing the distance his country has traveled but he offered the assembled multitudes only blood, sweat and tears. Surely some racist barriers crumbled, surely the moment redeemed some past agonies, and surely future generations will affirm January 20, 2009 as a seminal moment in America’s remaking. But how does that redemption speak to, let alone face down, the “tyranny of the urgent” presented by the economic crisis?"
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