Barack Obama, whose soaring rhetoric carried him from the back benches of the Illinois legislature to the pres idency of the United States in four short years, dialed it down a bit on the steps of the Capitol yesterday – delivering a workmanlike inaugural address that nevertheless contained a singularly intriguing challenge:
“What is required of us now,” Obama forcefully declared, “is a new era of responsibility – a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties . . . that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize gladly . . . the price and the promise of citizenship.”
What that means specifically will become more clear as Obama fleshes out his inaugural rhetoric with specific policy prescriptions.
But if he is calling for heightened personal responsibility in these perilous times – well, good for him. He’s on the right track.
For far too many Americans, on Wall Street and onMain Street, seem to think the nation’s future – and their personal salvation – lie in ever-more-elaborate government interventions and enhanced wealth-transfer programs
Certainly a goodly portion of Obama’s electoral constituency support such policies – never mind that they represent the antithesis of “the price and promise of citizenship” in a free society.
Much less ambiguous was Obama’s principal foreign-policy assertion: He declared the Bush Doctrine – the export of American democracy by force of arms – to be history.
“Our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please,” the newly sworn president declared.
Rather, he said, “Our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humanity and restraint.”
Translation: No more Operation Iraqi Freedoms – which doubtless will be just fine with the American people.
Importantly, the president also made it clear that he understands that “our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.”
And, even as he offered an olive branch to the Muslim world by urging “a new way forward, based on . . . mutual respect,” Obama said bluntly that “we will extend a hand [only] if you are willing to unclench your fist.”
That should be clear enough for even the United Nations to understand.
All in all, however, the speech seemed to lack a defining phrase of the “Ask not” sort – a surprise, given Obama’s rhetorical skills.
Perhaps this was deliberate – an effort to temper impossible-to-meet expectations such as those that brought perhaps 2 million people to the National Mall in bitter cold and biting winds, while scores of millions more turned Inauguration Day into a de facto national day of good feeling.
But freedom always is informed by raucous debate – and, as time goes by, the Age of Obama will be no different.
In that regard, the president’s declaration of “an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics” is most welcome.
Barack Obama is asking for a clean slate – a new beginning – and we sure hope he gets it.
So do the American people.