As the high of the election and inauguration is beginning to fade, it still hasn’t sunk in. BUSH IS GONE and we at long last have a smart and pragmatic President who represents the people. It’s created a residual buzz that just keeps on giving.
For the past 8 years we’ve had a President, but not a leader. 8 years of failed diplomacy (for God’s sake, he started a war!) failed economic policy, failed legislative policy (thankfully) and politics as usual, on amphetamine, that led to the most divisive period in this country since the Vietnam War era.
Now, at long last, we have someone we can look up to, a good family man, with good morals and a strong background. Obama embodies the American Dream. He’s a self-starter who came from a single mom and a mixed racial background. He excelled at and achieved his ambitions to become the most powerful person on the planet, starkly contrasting the rich, spoiled frat boy that inhabited the White House for the last 8 immensely tedious years.
Obama is the real deal and the last 7 days have proven it. Starting with his inauguration, you could sense the difference from the past 8 years. The largest crowds in history showed up to see him speak, unlike Bush’s election which was so divisive people showed up to boo and throw eggs (he couldn’t even do the traditional walk through the streets). The message was positivity and change, also a rallying cry to the American people to put aside the childish pursuit of pleasure and materialism and work together to improve this great nation.
Many so-called pundits praised the speech but called it a let down, I strongly disagree. The speech was so powerful, I listened to it 3 times. For those of us who have felt disenfranchised with Bush style government, it was a warm welcome back. It was also a signal of what could be the greatest unraveling in American history, to turn back Bush and reverse all the damage he has inflicted on the United States and abroad.
Obama celebrated in style with some of the tenderest moments seen of a President since Kennedy and Camelot. Obama’s pageantry was less elaborate than JFK’s and decidedly populist, with the inclusion of a huge televised “Neighborhood Ball†and with the President and First Lady dancing with two members of the Armed Services. Obama’s daughter giving the thumbs up and the first dance with the First Lady brought tears to America’s eyes and delivered the pageantry on all fronts.
Pageantry is pageantry, however, the next 7 days delivered the goods, with one policy move after another, reversing all the Bush policies they could, stopping his executive orders in every major department and announcing new legislation to reverse what has already been done. There has been major policy shifts on green and environmental policy with pushes for tougher emissions standards. Also he signed an executive order that prohibits lobbyists from having any contact with White House Staff and prevents White House Staff from becoming Lobbyists. He’s planning to close Guantanamo Bay and end the blurry line of waterboarding being torture. He even has implemented the plans to end the bloody Iraq War and has already re-routed troops to the failing war in Afghanistan. Finally, he has a new stimulus package that will rebuild the nation’s infrastructure that the Republicans let go to hell. Bridges, roads, power lines, power stations, schools, retooled green federal buildings and transportation systems that will bring jobs and reduce America’s dependency on oil.
Obama has hit the ground running and he’s running hard. Not since LBJ or even FDR has a president announced such an ambitious set of legislation and is actually in a position to achieve it. He is out-politicking his weak Republican adversaries, who still don’t quite get how unimportant they have become and all the while he has the support of a united Democratic Party. For the first time in a long time I am not just hopeful, I am excited!
Obama made a lot of promises and so far he’s keeping them. It would appear that America finally has the leader it deserves. Let’s just hope it’s enough.
