Max McGuinness on Obama's speech.
Well, it wasn't quite Henry V but President Obama's inaugural address struck three or four powerful notes:
"We are ready to lead once more" could have been a slogan on a par with "Ask not..." etc. but, perceiving that it would have been bad form towards Bush, he didn't overly emphasise it.
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals" was another well-aimed dig from "44" to "43" sitting behind him.
It is notable that he immediately set to work yesterday on both counts, suspending the military tribunal in Guantanamo and weighing in on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The reference to how his father "less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant" was very poignant and a sort of release for Obama who had, with the exception of his rhetorical masterpiece "A More Perfect Union", done his best to avoid making that point on the campaign trail.
More surprising was the inclusion of the last word, marked out by a dramatic pause and verbal stress, in this sentence: "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and non-believers."
Though the speech was not devoid of the gooey piety afflicting public debate in America, I think it's fairly plausible that President Obama isn't much of a believer himself and, as related in Dreams From My Father, if he found God at all it was because he felt rather isolated on Chicago's South Side where the dubious conclave of Rev. Jeremiah Wright (no sign of him on Tuesday) provided a spiritual home. Of course, whatever about the milestone of a black man being elected president, Obama knows that no atheist would have a chance in hell of being elected dog catcher let alone commander-in-chief so I cannot blame him for being slightly less than candid on this front.









Recent Comments