Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Inauguration and All That




So I did listen to the inauguration the other day while making a late breakfast. I've listened to most of them (as I recall) since I first voted back in 1984 (for Reagan). There were a few clunky lines that stood out (the bitter swill of civil war?!?), and Rev. Lowery's ending rhyme was a bit dumb. Calling for the yellow to be mellow strikes me as perhaps, unintentionally, racist. Overall, though, I was mostly pleased. Oh, and Aretha was just plain awful.

As a strong believer in small government, and after eight years of Republican perfidy on that subject, I wasn't thrilled by his many calls for a larger one. I did expect that, so I wasn't shocked by them. I did like his calls for unity, and strength and all those good things.

What I'm hoping for is that the sheer force of his personality will quiet his critics on the left and drown out the worst critics on the right. I've heard him talk enough about solid, pragmatic solutions to things that I'm not anywhere near writing him off at this early stage. (I'm posting this just after waking up so I'm not getting all wonky and detaily).

So with a prayer on my lips and eyes unblinkered by the sort of idolatry in the video I've already posted, I'm hoping for the best for at least the next year. After that, who can tell?

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