Hope
Wow. I don’t remember the last time I watched a Presidential Inauguration, let alone watched one with tears in my eyes.
Seeing the Mall jammed with people, clapping, smiling, praying, exclaiming “Yes, Sir!” as various ministers made their invocations, hearing genuine excitement in journalists’ voices, hearing Aretha sing “Let freedom ring”, all felt to me like America had finally done it: They’d shaken off the shackles of too many years of oppression, they’d stood up after too many years of being beaten down, and they were ready to take back their country. You could feel passion in that crowd. You could feel commitment, and you could feel a sense of unity.
God, I hope it rubs off on us before too long.
President Obama’s speech failed to disappoint: As one observer put it, the tone had changed from hope and idealism to confidence. They WILL work together, they WILL make tough decisions, and they WILL rebuild the country and restore respect on the world stage. And that, my friends, is the kind of confidence that is needed not only in the U.S. of A., but the world over.
Stephen Harper, I hope you’re taking notes.
Canada’s parliament is on holidays right now; “prorogued”, they’re calling it. When things failed to go the way the Prime Minister wanted them to go, he went to the Governor General and asked her to send everyone away on a short vacation. While they’ve been out, the opposition parties first tried to cobble together a coalition that would be strong enough to throw the Conservatives out of office, then retreated. Once that was done, the Liberal party promptly changed leaders without a convention or any kind of a vote. The public has completely excluded from this whole convoluted process, and we have no idea what we’re in for when they reconvene sometime in February. Ottawa seems to be riddled with hidden agendas, partisan games and a complete absence of a sense of public obligation. Next to our neighbours to the south, we’re looking pretty lame right now.
So today, I cheer on the American President and his people, and I thank them for giving me a sense of hope. While I have no idea what might unfold in Ottawa, my faith is at least temporarily restored in the idea of what people can accomplish when they band together for the common good; when they genuinely care, and they act on it. I hope it touches all of our lives in the months to come.
Tuesday January 20, 2009 | 01:02 PM in The World From My Window
