Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Obama's inaugural speech - CNN.com

Obama's inaugural speech - CNN.com

The inauguration came at a difficult time in my life. The trajectory of my life had taken a downward turn, the nadir of which I hoped had been reached a few days before the BIG DAY. The woman I had been dating, though I saw the end coming, brought that end about via an out of the blue e-mail I received in which she essentially and effectively ended our short-lived relationship (one that turns out might not have been a relationship at all). So that was over and with it went my plans to attend an Inaugural Ball at the Greenwood Cultural Center and to have somebody to lie on the futon with while watching the entire coverage of the whole amazing day.

So I spent the day alone with the boyz (Dylan was especially needy and obnoxious today – I know, I know Lynnie, “Just today?”) About sometime mid-morning I discovered that my new digital camera would capture the TV screen and depending on how steadily I held the camera or how quickly the subject was moving, the shots were respectable. So I started shooting like a shutter bug, knowing that I could later delete the images that came out a big blur. I need to find some music to accompany the slide show that I put together of shots that I took myself and need not give any credit for. Here is my favorite line from the political punditry, actually is it from one of Frangela’s (which ever one is married) husband’s comment that he only hopes America is less crappy – leading to the klassic (with a “K”) slogan – “American – Now with less Crap.” Another favorite line came from Reverend Lowery and it was one of the few mentions all day of the plight of Natives across this country: "When the Red Man can get ahead man."

Michelle Obama looked regal today in her golden dress - she is so statuesque and lovely, and her daughters are both adorable and sweet. So young and innocent, knowing that they will come of age in the White House and hoping beyond hope that they can skirt the happenings of the times – the drugs, the drama, depression, or other illnesses – if they can both just stay healthy and grounded they will drive the country into the future as two headlights on the front of the Cadillac in which their Daddy rides around town.

That is another less talked about advantage of being an American: a person can begin his/her own dynasty, build through generations an empire of people who are very good, and smart and well-connected, who can get things done. Joseph Kennedy didn’t come from royalty, neither did George H. Walker [or Prescott] Bush, neither did the Rockefellers for that matter. So what I hope we are seeing here is the beginning of a dynasty, one that will out pace the Clintons’ fame and fortune and will ultimately replace the Kennedys and the Clintons in the Democratic pantheon. And someday even the Obamas will be replaced by the Gomez familia or the Crow Dog tiospaye or the Wong family. And so time will roll on and few of us will have more than a quick ride on that slide toward the meeting with the creator who no doubt will hold most all of us close and whisper in our ears "it will be okay." and voila - it is indeed okay or at least not more than we can handle. Now when we say, "Bring it on..." we are not talking about taunting a foreign sovereign nation; we are talking about the collective nature of our future, we as a nation daring the fates to throw what they have at us and we will stand ready to take on all comers, but if you show us a way forward we will indeed explore it with you... we are willing to talk to the other side now - what a concept.

Then Joe Biden goes and quotes Seamus Heaney.

How Liberal Media Can Go From Whining To Winning : NPR

How Liberal Media Can Go From Whining To Winning : NPR - Steph does NPR!!!!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Making the Perfect the Enemy of the Good

Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien. (The best is the enemy of the good.)
Voltaire (1772)

I, along with millions of other Americans, am captivated by the historic moment that we have before us. The inauguration of the first president of color will take place in just two days. The expectations are incredibly high and these expectations have the hint of a set up, not just from the usual suspects - the right wing zealots who are waiting in the wings to knock this annointed man off his pedestal, but from more unexpected corners - namely those old Hillary supporters who have decided that since their candidate is not taking the oath of office, they are digging in their flats (sensible shoes ;), and choosing not to celebrate this astounding moment in our nation's history. It is such a shame that those who call themselves yellow dog Democrats will not be there to enjoy the fruits of the labor of millions of heretofore like-minded people. I wonder if those Democrats who have little positive to say about Obama, are not guilty of applying the phrase that Voltaire coined over 200 years ago. Are they making the perfect the enemy of the good? And by that I am NOT suggesting that Hillary Clinton was or is a perfect candidate. In fact, she was far from perfect. She mismanaged her money, her campaign staff and her entire campaign. You may wonder why I am fixated on Hillary Clinton, because she has obviously moved on. Then why, oh why, haven't her fans/groupies moved on, too? I don't know how many of you are out there, but I know that some of you who live within a Metro ride of the Mall in DC, are choosing not to bother to go down to see the historic occasion of the swearing in of the 44th president of the U.S.

Change does not happen overnight, nor does it usually happen in one's lifetime, but rather change is an incremental thing, that happens over time. If we are very fortunate, we can sometimes see change materialize out of the ground work that has been laid by an earlier generation. I feel very lucky to witness this historic election of the first person of color to the highest office in the land. This change was brought about on the backs of those fighters, marchers and true patriots who did appeal to the better angels of our nature, those who knew that this country that had enslaved African-Americans and slaughtered Natives and had held women and children as property was better than those atrocious acts. Those fighters knew that one day this country would not continue to deny the right to vote to women and to all people of color. That this country could and would have to change to be the country that it was founded to be - a nation where all people are created equal and are endowed by their creator with the right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

We are still not there, yet. As Proposition 8 demonstrated to not just California, but to the entire country, gay and lesbian citizens do not have full rights to their happiness, nor has the federal government lived up to its obligations to the Native people of this country who continue to reside in the poorest counties and reservations in this land that was once theirs. We all have a lot of work to do, we must not rest on our laurels, we must continue to work for change, to achieve true equality and justice for all citizens of not just this country, but of this world. Let us go forward and work to make this world the best place it can be for the creatures who inhabit this planet.
Viva Obama! Viva Democracy! Viva la vida!