Watching President Obama deliver his second inaugural address, I was reminded once again that elections really do have consequences.
Four years ago at the same location, Obama invested a fair amount of time in making the case for an improved political process -- one in which policymakers "proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics." It was, he said in 2009, time to "set aside childish things."
Today, the president seemed far less concerned with process and more concerned with results. Obama's interest is not necessarily in improving our politics, but rather, in improving our commitments to justice, fairness, and opportunity.
Above all, the president's second inaugural was a deeply progressive speech. If the 2009 address was a workmanlike appeal for cooperation and recovery, the 2013 speech was a demand for a stronger, safer society, which relies on collective action to guarantee we "give real meaning to our creed."
"Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers.
"Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.
"Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life's worst hazards and misfortune.
"Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society's ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, are constants in our character. But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action."
This is more than compelling rhetoric; it's a summary of contemporary liberalism. And for Obama, it's a governing vision -- we act "together" through government to protect liberty and make it possible for Americans to pursue happiness.
"For the American people can no more meet the demands of today's world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we'll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people.... My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together."
Acting alone, in other words, as purely self-interested actors, limits society's potential.
How progressive was this speech? The first specific policy matter Obama brought up was combating climate change.
How progressive was this speech? The president offered a not-so-subtle rebuke to the ideology he defeated in last year's election: "The commitments we make to each other -- through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security -- these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great."
How progressive was this speech? Looking abroad, Obama said we "must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice -- not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice."
How progressive was this speech? It was the first inaugural address to specifically support gay rights. Obama also told the nation, "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."
How progressive was this speech? The inaugural address also decried long voting lines, demanded immigration reform, and referenced the need to reduce gun violence.
If Obama's speech today is indicative of how and where he intends to lead the nation over the next four years, there's reason for optimism. The president could have pursued a more modest, narrow course, but he instead chose an ambitious defense of progressive ideals.
I quite liked it.
Update: When you watch the video, or read the transcript, note how he uses the phrase "We, The People" five times. This is a rhetorical device, obviously, but it's more than just a reference to the Constitution's preamble. It's part of the larger theme on collective action.
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As an answer to Shooter and all those who denigrate people on SS, who work for the government, who are receiving veterans benefits, I suggest that we start a blog asking all working people to list their contributions to America.
I worked for Douglas Aircraft Company in 1964 when we were building the 5th interstage of the Saturn rocket. I was just a release clerk; I released drawings and wrote work orders. Some were just little parts; but once I got the job of releasing the top drawing for the test of the whole interstage. I do not remember the details, but the thing was a mess. Most test drawings were for parts that were destroyed by the test. Obviously, we were not going to destroy the whole thing. If I had not done my job, we might never have gotten to the moon.
In the 1970s I was a college professor of English for a while. I hope I taught my students how to write and what it means to be human.
In the 1980s I worked as a quality control analyst writing quality control procedures for the B-1 and B-3 bomber and the C-17 transport among other things.
Don't I get a little credit for having contributed to building this country?
I am now on SS. Have I not earned that?
I invite all the others on this blog to tell what you have done to contribute to America. What goods and services have you made/are making?
That's all very nice, but decent, self-respecting people are under no obligation to justify their lives to malicious people such as the trolls who infest this site.
Never, never let these idiots make you feel guilty about your old age insurance, for which you paid, OR a pension which may be in fine shape, or was seen as a cash cow for Wall St. "wizards" to feast upon.
I know plenty of people who paid their dues, but died before collecting a dime.
We have paid a price for what these "people" are attempting to deny us. No guilt, no justification needed. I know I have been an asset, as I was a paid employee for 41 years, 31 at the same company. So I was a good employee and I do not have to prove it the the trolls.
I pray I make it into and well beyond the age of eligibility, because I am fully eligible and paid my dues.
I in no way feel guilty about receiving my SS. I wrote the post to show why. I wanted to present a concrete story to refute the shallow and baseless generalizations these people present as though they were reasoned comments.
I spent too much time teaching freshman English to let the tolls get away with making unsupported generalizations. They would have failed my freshman English class, but then most of the statistics indicate that most of these right wingers have not been to college. And they are not engaged in rational discourse; everything is based on emotion.
That's good, bflynch. There is some kind of push about means testing or other "proving worthy" to limit programs only a few want to do away with.
That's all I meant.
we act "together" through government to protect liberty
sure we do, right. i remember just like it was yesterday working with Obama to keep Gitmo open, not move the trials to NY and most of all force my congress critters to extend and enhance the patriot act. there is no better liberty have two 50 page reports from the FBI in response to FOIA requests by the ACLU that are just black pages. hell who wants to know how the FBI tracks us anyway?
i voted for him and would again but let's not pretend Obama is a paragon defender of civil liberty. best you can say is he's probably better than the other guys.
I quite liked it too. However, I wouldn't count on a complete economic recovery by 2016. The devastation from the policies during 2000-2008 is far too great to expect a turn around in even 2 Presidential terms. The 2nd Reconstruction will be a long process. As inspiring as he is, President Obama cannot make things happen overnight, nor can he do it on his own. Reality is that HOR is still controlled by Republicans who are determined to block all of POTUS initiatives. Everything will be an uphill battle for at least the next 2 years. Now if Democrats stay focused, and use this time wisely, the 2014 Elections could actually bring an end to the gridlock in Congress. The opportunities are there, but we can't sit by and wait for someone else to make it happen. It is up to each of us to get actively involved in some aspect. Make calls, e-mails, letters to your elected officials. Get involved in your local party chapter. Volunteer. Donate. Hold Fundraisers. Debate. Communicate. Campaign. Even if you are a blue dot in a hopelessly red state, do this. Do not give up hope. It will take longer than 2 years to build a base, but you will be laying the foundation. Just as TX Congressman Joaquin Castro stated this weekend, Democrats must get to work organizing and building the infrastructure needed in order for Democratic candidates to be successful. Grassroots: the old school way is how to get it done. President Obama's legacy will only have a chance to materialize and solidify if a Democrat is elected to the presidency in 2016.
Great speech. Tears in my eyes Rachel.
I just smiled through the whole speech. What a leader! He laid out all that is important to humanity clearly showing us where we must all go. Inspiration!
47% is such a misleading number. I don't pay federal income taxes, I am 100% service connected Veteran and retired from the USAF. The pay was years ago adjusted so service connected vets don't pay money back to the government, it would be silly for them to pay us directly and then we give it right back.
People need to listen to the president. The most anti American thing I have seen in my life has been the purposeful obstruction of the president for 4 years simply in hope of winning the next election.
Does anyone remember the Vets Job Bill, a non-partisan bill set up simply to help returning vets from the war to get a job. Voted down by Republicans for only one reason to hopefully stop the President from getting a bill through congress. This type of action is exactly why are economic recovery has been slower than it could be.
Hopefully they won't spend the next four years running this country in the ground just to improve their chances in the next election.
Gary...,
They are malicious and implacable, and I expect that they will continue to try to run the US into the ground.
loved it!
Yesterday, I stood proudly in solidarity with our President, and with one million other Americans on the National Mall, as Barack Obama took the oath of office for his second term as the 44th President of the United States of America.
Four years ago we entered a new era of hope after the end of an administration that blatantly lied to the people for the purpose of starting a fraudulent war in Iraq while intentionally ignoring the real danger of Al Qaeda, plunged the country into the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression, and offered the demonization of gays and lesbians as a basic policy tenet. That administration squandered our budget surplus and doubled the national debt, while giving big tax cuts to people who did not need them. Our world prestige was squandered by torture authorized by the White House, lies to the United Nations, the war in Iraq, and constant insults to our long-time allies.
But on that day of hope four years ago, in the evening, the nation's most powerful Republicans met secretly in an expensive steakhouse in DC and vowed that they would oppose every single initiative of the new President, that they would do everything to cause his presidency to be a failure, without any regard whatsoever to the good of the people or the republic. Their only goal, as one of them stated soon thereafter, was to ensure that his presidency would be such a failure that the President would not be reelected.
At least we were able to see passed the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank financial industry reform before the Tea Party mess came to Congress in 2011. And Don't Ask Don't Tell was repealed. The President ended the war in Iraq and Osama bin Laden was found.
This election has been so important to me because I have seen people go without necessary medical care for lack of insurance or money - something that happens in no other developed country. I have known people murdered by gun violence. I have been the victim of housing discrimination, job discrimination, and violence all based on anti-gay animus. More recently, I have watched the death of the American Dream as our country moved away from being the land of opportunity to being one of the most unequal on earth, where the station of your birth is more determining of your outcome than in almost any other developed nation. I have listened as elected officials legitimized rape, and as their radio leader called women "sluts" - and I worry for the women I care about in this coarse, threatening environment. I have seen how people are being ground down into poverty as the middle class is disappeared in a dog-eat-dog everyone-for-themselves social Darwinism, where all but the very rich come out of college with $150,000 or more in debt (non-dischargeable in bankruptcy also thanks to the Republicans), as wages have remained stagnant for 30 years while the top one percent tripled their income. Yet that is not enough - Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid would all disappear if the grinders of the ground down had their way. None of that is my America. That is not a great America. It is not an America that allows people to reach their potential and we are all impoverished for that. It is not a recipe for success in the future. In many ways this election was about avoiding a return to a 19th century past.
Today we reaffirmed core American values and rejected those of a fourth-rate novelist and fifth-rate philosopher, Ayn Rand, who is the intellectual icon of the Republicans. Today the President made history in many ways but not among the least of them was the first ever mention in an inaugural address of gay Americans, and going beyond that, the recognition of our struggle as one on the same plane with the struggle for equal rights by women and African-Americans.
This is a man who actually believes that we can come together, who believes in the maximum degree of inclusion, in equal rights for all, egalitarianism, compassion and human dignity. He believes that we are measured not only by the height of our buildings, the amount of “stuff” we have, or the number of our bombs, but also by how we treat the least of us.
There are two kinds of people: those who believe in community and those who do not. Today I stood in community.
Just realized I should not have started with "yesterday" without changing the references to "today" later in the piece. Should have just left it as "today" at the beginning and noted that I wrote it the day of the inauguration .... Sorry for the confusion.