Hopes for the Obama Presidency
AUTHOR: Peter Dunne
I too have been inspired by the power of Barack Obama's oratory, his compassion and his vision. I too hail his election as a defining moment in American history, the ultimate triumph of the Founding Father's dream. I too admire the powerful ceremonial occasion that is his Inauguration, and note the similarities to the advent of another young President nearly half a century ago. I too celebrate with all Americans and freedom loving peoples of the world this remarkable occasion and the opportunities it provides.
Whether it be Franklin Roosevelt's "We have nothing to fear but fear itself", Winston Churchill's "We will never surrender", or John Kennedy's "The torch has passed to a new generation" proclamations, that have preceded Obama's Inauguration, there can be little doubt about the power of words to excite the human spirit, and to unleash a sense of optimism and hope, and a fresh yearning for freedom and progress. Barack Obama tapped deeply into that vein in his own Inaugural Address.
But while the tumult will die away, the memory of the words become blurred, and the sales of the memorabilia start to slow, life's tiresome realities will remain, and the challenges they impose will still require resolution. And that, as always, will provide the real test of leadership.
I too have high hopes for the Obama Presidency. War, economic recession, and reuniting a divided nation are awesome enough challenges for anyone to take on, even in the most normal of times. But the biggest challenge Brack Obama faces is none of these things. The swooning sycophancy of the world's media has created an almost impossible set of expectations for him to satisfy.
I desperately want Barack Obama to succeed, not just for America's sake, but for the sake of democracy, freedom, and the human condition. He is not a media creation to be made and broken as they see fit, but the democratic choice of a free people. I want him to succeed to reclaim the now quaint notion that ultimately it is the people's choice (not the scornful news media) that determines the course of events, the fate of peoples, and the destiny of nations.