My Dad and I have been wondering if Mr. Obama will have a LOBO second term, which stands for “Let Obama Be Obama,” which we of course co-opted from the excellent Stephen Sondheim show “The West Wing.” No, wait. Aaron Sorkin. I always get those two mixed up for some reason.
I believe today’s Inaugural Address begins to answer that question. If you’re a “Tea Party” person today, I hope you didn’t accidentally get within earshot because if you did, you probably began involuntarily clawing out your own eyes.
This was a speech about The Commons.
You know, once upon a time, the national debate centered on what to do with The Commons and how to best invest in The Commons. That was the basis of the political tug-of-war. In the past decade or so, however, we’ve left that relatively reasonable debate behind. Now we’re hotly debating whether or not The Commons should even get to exist. And the country’s troglodytes have decided that The Commons == Communism and therefore it should be ‘sploded.
That is not a reasonable debate.
More than anything today, President Obama affirmed his understanding that a country requires a Commons, that spending money on that Commons is not mere expenditure but is investment, and that a country is only as strong and powerful as is its Commons. He also, quite interestingly, peppered his speech with images and references to African-American history, referencing slavery and the great Martin Luther King. And, of course, he today historically became the first President to nod to the basic human rights of GLBTs as well.
It was a perfect speech. And, if it is any true indication of how this man intends to govern, well, Mr. McGarry, you might just have something there.
Filed under “holy shit:”
