Suddenly it seems cool to be an American again. It even seems cool to enjoy the pomp and ceremony of the inaugural festivities. I don't always love a parade, but as I watched the one today, courtesy of CSPAN, my heart was filled with pride in our country and our newly elected President Barack Obama and First Lady Michele Obama. We are a nation of diversity, but we are united by our decency, our love of freedom and our history. Our history that goes back as far as 400 years ago and as close as today. For today we have, as the saying goes, witnessed history with the election of our first African-American President. We have entered in to what will become known as the Obama Era.
So although President Obama is the era's commander-and-chief, we as a nation will collectively become part of the Obama Era. This lead me to think about Esho Funi, the Buddhist concept of The Oneness of Life and Its Environment, in a way I don't normally do. I wasn't just watching the Inaugural Parade, I was watching President Obama watching parade groups as diverse as the Air Force Marching Band, The United Union of Workers and The Lawn Rangers, a group of guys pushing lawn mowers who dress like The Loan Ranger. And thinking I hope The United States will grow to reflect the life force of our new President. If so, I believe not only will we be disciplined and hardworking, we will also be vibrant, curious and we'll have a playful side. Playful as evidented by the way President Obama after respectfully saluting the military marching bands, also playfully saluted the "George Washington" riding atop the float from the George Washington University.
Now some people may not value playfulness in a leader, but I think it's an important quality. There is something reassuring about a President who seems aware of the magnitude of his position and responsibility, but is confident enought to give a mock salute to a humorous representation of one of his most important predecessors.
I think it's a good sign for the future of our country that our 44th President appears serious about taking care of business in these most uncertain times of war and ecomomic hardship, but also appears joyful enough to be the lead in a Broadway Musical. I love his spirit and I think it is the real American spirit that makes our country great.
Posted by chicks at January 20, 2009 05:43 PMThank you for voicing the sentiments of so many of us tonight. For perhaps the first time in my adult life, I feel represented by my government. At least more than i have ever before!
(Personal note: Can you email me privately with log-on info for the writer's page? I have a new blog to post and it's been so long, I can't recall the log-on info!)
Happy New Year, and happy evolving country to us all!
Queen Lolo
Posted by: Queen Lolo at January 20, 2009 09:52 PMI, too, watched on C-SPAN and was overwhelmed by emotion from beginning to end. What startled me, though, was my reaction to Rev. Warren's invocation. You know, Rev. Warren, the guy folks were upset about giving the invocation because of his stand on Prop. 8? I started bawling from the moment he began the prayer.
I called Sarge right after the swearing in to let him know it was "official." And his speech was totally inspiring! I hope we can all live up to it and do what needs to be done to turn around the last 8 years and move forward into the future.
Posted by: Michele at January 20, 2009 10:20 PMI believe that Barack Obama was the best choice, I even campaigned for him a little. He's smart. He seems to genuinely want to reach out to everyone. His speech was as good as any. I AM hopeful. Never the less I am taking a wait and see approach. In a year or eighteen months I may think he is as wonderful as people are saying, but I'm waiting until I see something accomplished.
Posted by: clown hidden at January 21, 2009 03:30 PMLet's hope things do get better in 18 months. In the meantime at least we will be better represented to the rest of the world. We are in the economic struggle of everyone's lifetime who was born after the Great Depression.
Posted by: Jean at January 23, 2009 07:46 PMHe makes a nice appearance. He's made some moves to make government more transparent. He seems to have given up on raising taxes on the wealthy. And he's willing to go along on not providing funding to organizations that supply contraceptives. His policy in Afghanistan will mean more and more dead with little or nothing accomplished. He's not going to do anything to reign in Israel.
Anybody was going to be better than Chuckles the knuckle-head of the last eight years. But I'm begining to the the only thig this guy is going to change is his underwear. Still it's too soon to say. Maybe he's building political capital to spend on socializing the banks and medical industries. That was sarcasm.
I think by going on Arab TV he has made a big step towards trying to get balance in the middle east. The truth is most Americans think Israel is within its rights most of the time.
Posted by: jean at January 28, 2009 01:26 PMMost Americans think the founding fathers wrote Christianity into the Constitution. Most Americans are idiots.
Posted by: clown hidden at January 29, 2009 09:17 AM