Oh Bama!
Haven’t posted in quite a while, but after a ridiculous week at work and a trip to NYC this weekend, I needed some recuperation time; sitting at Chapterhouse now, able to collect my thoughts for the first time in days. And while I could talk about life things and stuff that’s pretty trivial unless you’re me (which you probably aren’t), I’ll do instead what everyone and their mom is doing and blog about the inauguration. (Which I already did on another blog, but unless you’re one of the two people who knows about both of those, you haven’t read this yet.)
First and foremost, the Internet was really pissing me off at work due to its lagginess; I had to rely on minute-by-minute updates from the BBC website for the speech because CNN was so overloaded. But still, got some of the chatter and musical interludes on streaming radio, which was cool; I won’t make a big ta-da about the historic occasion and being a part of it, et cetera, et cetera, because I wasn’t there, and really, I wasn’t part of it. I merely observed, and felt a great sense of relief after eight years of bullshit. I was reading a transcript of the speech here, and committed lots of head-nodding, but I was especially amused when I compared it to Bush’s 2004 speech, and even more so when I compared it to his 2000 speech. (A one liner from that crisp January afternoon: “We will reform Social Security and Medicare.” What?) I think that Obama’s heart is in the right place, or at least a lot closer to the right place than most of the Washington folks we’ve seen in the past Long Time. It’s unlikely he’ll get done all the grand plans he’s discussed both in his campaign and his speeches, but he appears to have integrity, at least; I would call him naive before I call him corrupt. It’s important that he tries, sincerely, and sets this fucking country on the path it needs to travel.
Sidebar: Michelle Obama. Holy hell. I fucking love her. Hillary wasn’t bad, but she was too schoolmarmish to really tickle me with her White House fashions — after all, the President not only has to be an effective leader, he must be a charismatic one, and apperances are, unfortunately, a large part of that. The First Lady can be a potent force in her own right, but she has much more photo op potential than her husband, and Michelle Obama is (as one friend of mine put it) the “Beyoncé of the White House”. (Who would Laura Bush be, then, I wonder? The Tina Turner?)
As for the First 100 Days, what I would want to see is, in no particular order: an economic stimulus plan that has accountability for those who have caused the crisis (read: CEOs of investment banks, dammit) and distributes burden fairly; environmental policy worth a damn, be it through alternative energy funding or emissions caps or whatever; a re-alignment of foreign affairs with more emphasis on diplomacy rather than just sending more troops; and the first steps to overhaul American healthcare (I say first steps because I’m a realist about this one), especially as the majority of the workforce nears retirement. If he can accomplish these four things by May 1st without royally fucking the taxpayers, creating new enemies in other parts of the world, or further imbalanced the wealth divide, then I’ll consider it a first few months well spent. It would be nice if he could introduce some civil rights legislation while he’s at it, but I’m not holding my breath; it was pretty cool that he gave Robinson a spot in the Inauguration ‘09 Extravaganza, but remember he also let Rick Warren give the blessing. Little bit of religious appeasement.
Also, Philly needs libraries.
Anyway, it’s quite an invigorating feeling to be suddenly living in a country where, just maybe, I can feel proud again to dwell. Hope happens overnight, but change takes a while longer; until then, I’ll just continue speaking my little piece and sipping my lattes. (Also, I’m people watching and I love it. Inauguration night brings out the cuties.)
~~ PQ
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