It Is Accomplished

The inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama was far less emotional an event for me than his election, which I've (barely) melodramatically called "The November Revolution of 2008". Inauguration Day was just a formality, but it was still the best day America has had since....well, since the November Revolution.

As edifying as the November Revolution was, there was an uneasy interim between its inception and its consummation. Anything could have happened but, in large part, it didn't. So Obama took over a country which at least was still fundamentally the country that had elected him. With the speed at which history now moves, this was no sure thing.

As for the day itself, it reminded me again (and it's never enough) of the majesty of my country. The 44th peaceful transfer of presidential power. That is something we should not dare take for granted.

Throughout nearly ALL of human history, and in most countries to this very moment, the only way a person would give up the power that George W. Bush held a week ago would have been for sufficiently armed and ruthless men to have taken it from him.

Instead, in this country, we exchange awesome power with handshakes and with parades of high school students. In 1800, this was the most radical thing in the world. In 2009, its not quite as radical, but Americans should take pride in the fact that we are precisely the reason why peaceful transitions of government are no longer considered aberrations.

My highest emotion came when I watched the helicopter bearing George W. Bush take off and leave. Again, the fact that a man with the power to destroy the world if he was in the mood would so willingly (if belatedly) fly off into the proverbial sunset was an affirmation of the civic values of a nation based on laws, not men.

And as for Cheney.....well, they don't call him Dick for nothin'. How fitting that he was in that wheelchair, the spitting image of Mr. Lebowski from "The Big Lebowski" or Mr. Potter from "It's A Wonderful Life." The man to whom a man once apologized to for being shot in the face was reduced to a crumpled chump.

One trope I heard thrown around a bit too often was "the new leader of the free world". That's a term that needs to go. Saying that Obama is the leader of "free" people is like saying that Obama is the leader of "good" people.

There is no such thing as an exclusive and hermetic "free world" (nor was there during the Cold War, when this term was most in vogue). Barack Obama is not the leader of the free world. He is the President of the United States, which is a much higher station, because it actually means something.

The President has 3 roles, which are divided into 2 or 3 different offices in the governments of nearly all other countries. The President of the United States is: 1)The commander in chief of the armed forces. 2)The head of the executive branch of the government, which will enforce the will of the dominant political party. 3)the head of state, who represents ALL Americans on the world stage.

Mr. Bush as commander in chief was pretty shitty, I reckon. The only thing he seemed to be good at was USING the military. He never seemed to strengthen it or protect it or accomplish anything with it. As head of government, Bush did what Congress did. Congress sucked. Bush sucked accordingly. As head of state, Bush was an unmitigated embarrassment.

As commander in chief, I am sure Obama will not start an unnecessary and unplanned preventive invasion of another country. As head of government, I am sure that Obama will ring truer and better and more independent that either political party. As head of state, he is already stronger than all the nukes we ever built, in terms of what he inspires in the global community.

Good for US.