A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step

The United States of America inaugurated it’s forty-forth President yesterday. For the first time in many years this event was significant to scores of humans who otherwise would have changed the channel, gone someplace warm for vacation, or found something better to do, like read Tolstoy. Instead, citizens traveled thousands of miles to brave frigid temperatures, gathered in auditoriums, took leave of their desks at work, or found their familiar spot on the couch to witness the historic affair. I’d venture a guess they were all seeking something.
Did they gather because of the renewed sense of hope our new President exudes? Was it because not since John F. Kennedy has a politician achieved such rock star status (Clinton playing sax on MTV on New Years Eve doesn’t count)? Was it because America was inaugurating its first-contrary to what you may read or hear- bi-racial President. Or was it because of all these things and then some?
It’s a very difficult task indeed to get so many Americans on the same page. Franklin Delano Roosevelt did it when he was inaugurated, so did JFK. Eisenhower didn’t, neither did Johnson, or Nixon. Carter couldn’t rally the troops. Reagan came close, but no cigar. Bush and Clinton generated about as much excitement as tapioca pudding; my apologies to those of you who love tapioca pudding.
Roosevelt was able to accomplish this monumental task because America was in the throws of its worst financial disaster ever. Hope was all those folks had who endured that dark chapter or two in America’s history. Anything just had to be better than the status quo. Christ! Here was a guy with polio, so conscious of the collective fragile mental state of Americans, that he coerced the press to never publish a photograph of him in his wheelchair. FDR never wanted the public to see anything that could be perceived as weakness, in so doing, he gave everyone his strength.
Kennedy broke tradition. He was young, he was Catholic (the first, what a commotion that caused in 1960), he had a bold vision for the direction of United States, and he was unwilling to rest on America’s laurels of prosperity. JFK spoke to every man, woman, and child; not just the puppeteers of government when he uttered, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
Was our new President evoking the specter of both these icons when he declared “What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility-a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.” He is quite a student of our Presidential history, and draws from it frequently. It’s too bad those words fell on some deaf ears that really needed to hear them.
Those who could have most benefited by what our new President had to say probably either weren’t listening or didn’t give a shit. Those cynics who mumbled “whatever” when queried by those rapt by yesterday’s events. Those who have insulated themselves with their golden parachutes and bailouts from the harsh realities of everyday living that face the rest of us. The 1%ers who have used their money as a shield against the economic and global crisis’s. Those individuals who for quite some time have used the middle class and lower, as their personal Kleenex. They are the ones who needed to hear the words of our newest President. It is they that should step forward and be held accountable for causing much of the financial misery this country finds itself embroiled in. It is they that should be the first in line to say “What can we do to help. We pushed and lobbied for legislation that would benefit only us privileged few. How can we rectify the situation” But they won’t. They were the first to have their hands out for government dollars. “Screw those we screwed, doesn’t anybody realize it’s all about us.” Any wonder we’re so self-absorbed, we’re just following the example set before us. But maybe that’ll change soon.
The first bi-racial President stood on the steps of a building erected by slaves. He stood before a crowd situated on an expanse of land that was formerly a site where human flesh was bought and sold. “Yes We Can” does not have an exclusive application to a specific group of our society as some may think; it applies to all of us. Our new President stated yesterday “On this day, we come to proclaim an end to petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”
Several members of my gym misinterpreted yesterday’s address saying the message they got was “everything is going to be okay.” Obviously they have selective hearing. We need to understand Barack Obama is not going to lead the country to the Promised Land. He is not a cure-all, neither was FDR, but you’ve got to like their attitudes. This is coming from a lifelong Republican, but right now party affiliation is negligible.
One of the jobs of a leader is to inspire, and instill confidence in those he or she leads. If yesterday’s inaugural address is any indication, we’re in good hands. What Obama’s legacy will be, time will tell. Let him and his wife go dancing at the inaugural ball, because the next four years certainly aren’t going to be one.