For at least twenty minutes today, while listening to President Barack Obama´s second inaugural address, I did become an American.
He had me from the get go; when he quoted the first line of the American Constitution "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
That quote is one of the most beautiful and hopeful I have ever seen in any founding document and Obama filled it with even more passion and life and hope.
I have always wanted and expected from my leaders that they be filled with a vision and passion and that they are able to instill that vision and passion in me and all around me. What I have gotten from Swedish politicians the last twenty years is base economics and nitty gritty-hopelessness. Give me what I need, hope, vision, passion and a social consciousnesses and I will follow. Of course economic realities must be handled in a responsible way, but that should never be the only point - or even the main point.
For twenty minutes I became an American and proud of it. I was filled with hope for the future and our ability to handle the problems we would meet together.
Yes, it was an amazing inaugural speech -- one of the best. An inaugural speech is important for laying out his goals as President over the next 4 years.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the first time, the achieving of equal rights of LGBT Americans were put central. To quote President Obama:
Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.
Seneca Falls- The rights of woman in 1848
Selma - The rights of black people in 1963
Stonewall - The rights of LGBT people in 1969
Yesterday was a turning point not only for legal equality of LGBT in the United States, but for full social acceptance of LGBT people in the entire world. It was simply amazing!
Don't be fooled by our politicians. They say all the right things, all while sounding sincere. And then they hang us out to dry. I am a proud American, but not proud of our government!
ReplyDeleteDan, good to see you here again! ;)
DeleteWell, I for one believe in democracy as the best way to regulate our societies and therefore I also believe that most politicians are there because they have an idea they burn for, other than gaining personal power or lining their own pockets with payouts.
I therefore must initially respect them, until such a time that they prove themselves to be crooks. We should of course also always try to spot the self serving cynics as early as possible and get rid of them.
Ziggy, my buddy, one of the things I like most about you is that you don´t mince words.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don´t completely agree with you. Every nation has its rotten piece of cake, but we cannot just give up after noting that something is rotten or evil. We must try to change it to the better.
Without the visionaries the work may seem to overwhelming to even start, but with the visionaries we know what the goal is and how to go about it and can start chipping away in a more determined manner.
You may have heard the saying, How do we eat an elephant? One piece at a time!. The visionaries let us know that there is an end to feeling stuffed on elephant-meat and that if all of us do it together the task is accomplished faster and easier.
We need the beautiful and inspiring words to paint up the picture of the direction we are going, and then we need the encouragement to start doing the work that is needed and to keep the dream real when the drudgery gets over our heads.
Don´t let me ever catch you saying disparaging things about beautiful words, they mean something if and when the intention is honest. The only - not so easy - thing we need to learn is how to differentiate between the honest or dishonest intention of the speaker of the beautiful words.
Oh you cynics... I was gonna sum up all the things Obama has done for your country and it's people instead just go the following address http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_2012/features/obamas_top_50_accomplishments035755.php
ReplyDeleteThis is a president you should be proud of.
I love the man! But I long for the day he will state:
ReplyDeleteI Did NOT..... HAVE.... SEXUAL.... Relations with that Man... and we call it Progress X-)