today
Today the seven staff members at my work gathered in the main office to watch the live webcast of the Presidential Inauguration. We all clustered silently around the little laptop on the desk as the Chief Justice bumbled the Oath of Office and our new President Obama started giggling. And together we listened to the President's address to the nation and the millions of people gathered on the Washington Mall ...until the website got overloaded and we had to switch to radio. The radio feed on NPR happened to be about a two seconds behind the web feed, so we didn't miss anything. And at that point, I sat down and started inking in a Hebrew worksheet for Wednesday's class. But I kept listening.
I rarely make political comments online. I wasn't going to make one tonight, but on my drive home from work this evening, listening again to Aretha Franklin's performance of "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and soundbites from Obama's inaugural address, I felt very moved.
I came of age politically in the second half of the Clinton years, when every American I knew seemed pretty self-satisfied. Then the Monica scandal erupted, but it didn't bother me much, because the country still looked pretty good as a whole. There were some vague concerns for the future of Social Security, but nothing immediately worrying. The first national election in which I voted was 2000. I voted by absentee ballot from Israel, and then I waited with the rest of the world to see whom the Supreme Court would appoint president. I was disappointed. Americans elected a man because they thought he'd be fun to have a beer with. Twice. This, combined with Israeli politics, was enough to turn me into a political cynic. I thought: yeah, yeah, full steam ahead and all that, but it won't matter any, because we're on the same shit cycle we've always been in and will always be on. That's what makes it a shit CYCLE.
I was cycnical about Obama too. I thought he was too young and inexperienced, and I thought he had some very high-falutin' notions, but not much to back them up. I supported Obama because he was the much-lesser of two evils. Cynically. I mean, HOPE? CHANGE? Yeah, THOSE are real solid pillars of practical presidency. And to be honest, I still have those concerns.
But today, President Obama came out and gave Americans a stern talking-to. He said we need to get our act together as a country. He talked about hard work, and jobs, and rebuilding our international standing. Practical stuff. He didn't talk about WANTING change, he talked about IMPLEMENTING change. And for the first time in almost ten years, I really felt a little bit... hopeful. Like maybe the President of the United States actually knows what he's talking about for a change. Like maybe the President of the United States will do something not terrible in the next few years. Like maybe (maybe) this is actually as big as people say it is. Beyond the landmark of the day, the first non-white President, the Victory. Maybe this is the start of something Big. Maybe.
I rarely make political comments online. I wasn't going to make one tonight, but on my drive home from work this evening, listening again to Aretha Franklin's performance of "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and soundbites from Obama's inaugural address, I felt very moved.
I came of age politically in the second half of the Clinton years, when every American I knew seemed pretty self-satisfied. Then the Monica scandal erupted, but it didn't bother me much, because the country still looked pretty good as a whole. There were some vague concerns for the future of Social Security, but nothing immediately worrying. The first national election in which I voted was 2000. I voted by absentee ballot from Israel, and then I waited with the rest of the world to see whom the Supreme Court would appoint president. I was disappointed. Americans elected a man because they thought he'd be fun to have a beer with. Twice. This, combined with Israeli politics, was enough to turn me into a political cynic. I thought: yeah, yeah, full steam ahead and all that, but it won't matter any, because we're on the same shit cycle we've always been in and will always be on. That's what makes it a shit CYCLE.
I was cycnical about Obama too. I thought he was too young and inexperienced, and I thought he had some very high-falutin' notions, but not much to back them up. I supported Obama because he was the much-lesser of two evils. Cynically. I mean, HOPE? CHANGE? Yeah, THOSE are real solid pillars of practical presidency. And to be honest, I still have those concerns.
But today, President Obama came out and gave Americans a stern talking-to. He said we need to get our act together as a country. He talked about hard work, and jobs, and rebuilding our international standing. Practical stuff. He didn't talk about WANTING change, he talked about IMPLEMENTING change. And for the first time in almost ten years, I really felt a little bit... hopeful. Like maybe the President of the United States actually knows what he's talking about for a change. Like maybe the President of the United States will do something not terrible in the next few years. Like maybe (maybe) this is actually as big as people say it is. Beyond the landmark of the day, the first non-white President, the Victory. Maybe this is the start of something Big. Maybe.