Did anyone else feel like today was New Years Day all over again? That as of 12:06 pm EST, we were ringing in a new age, a new chance to make and stick to a set of resolutions? Thats what it felt like to me. All those things we want to make happenworld peace, energy independence, and living within our means now have the opportunity to be realized by each and every one of us, and by America as a whole.
I was curled up alone on a couch for this event. Like most of my emotional moments, I wanted to keep to myself. I also wanted to really listen to him speak, and figure out how I felt. His speech was honest, humble, and gracious. He evoked the better legacy of the United States, one built on toil and sacrifice, on collective dreams rather than individual ambition. And set the tone for the government now, that it is no longer a question of whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.
I hesitate in quoting him at all; I think that the best part of his Inaugural Address is that it cant be boiled down to thumbnail quotes and newsworthy snippets. He stuck to the message: that the government and the country are built on each individual, and each individual carries the price and promise of our citizenship. So while we are asking for a new agenda, and a different kind of government, we all hold a stake and responsibility within it.
President Obama (and it feels so great to say that) gave us a few things we need to work on, in government and outside of it. The most obvious was the economy. I think he understands not only the struggling economy, but also our uncertainty about what comes next in our lives as a result of it. I think the rest of his agenda is pretty clear, too. We need to rethink and rework health care, education, and energy in the United States, and our relationships with other countries abroad. And good news! President Obama mentioned solar, wind, and soil as sourcing our power. Now, unless he means soil as digging up the earth to find uranium and coal, I would say we might have a victory in the energy department. Well see. Overall, I loved it. Loved it. Hello, Obama-nation!
Heres a full text of his speech, with video available. And heres President Obama taking the Oath of Office:
Obama took his oath on the 1861 Lincoln Inauguration Bible. Fitting, for his presidency. (I would also like to note that it wasnt Obama that messed up the words, it was Chief Justice Roberts.) I’ll be the first to admit I shed a tear or two.
So, Im ushering in a new presidency as if it were a new year. Hopefully well stick to these resolutions. But you know Ill be keeping up with all of it, starting now.
Fight the Good Fight,
Johanna Hudgens
Wellesley College 2009
