My Inauguration Post

I spent the morning at a friend's house with a small group of folks watching the Inauguration. Obama's speech was, as usual, a call to the best of who we are, and the best of what this country means. It was moving. In going out and about today, people were smiling, wearing their Obama shirts, and feeling elated. Twitter has been abuzz with activity. There is so much to say about what happened today. So many have said so much. Here's a little bit of what I think this means for me. Ever since November 7, 1972, when George McGovern lost to Richard Nixon, in a year where I was 13, and had just begun to understand what I believed in, and what was important to me, I have felt in opposition to my government, fighting against its actions, and ashamed at being an American. Ever since then, all of my political perspective and effort has been as an outsider to government, and in opposition to what did. Yes, of course, I believed in what America stood for, but I felt that not only did we often fall short, but we actively undermined those ideals time and time again. The election of Barack Obama does not erase that history, or change everything all at once. You can't turn a huge ocean liner on a dime. It will take time, and effort for the U.S. government, and the country at large, to truly reflect the ideals that Obama has expressed. Interestingly enough, Rick Warren, the pastor who caused such an outcry because he was chosen to give the invocation at the inauguration, said something in his prayer that I truly hope he himself listens to:

And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.

Now, I feel proud to be an American, and feel like I am willing to be engaged with the government in ways that I never felt I would be willing to in the past. And, I feel like now, it's time for me to listen to people I don't agree with. Listen to their hopes, and their dreams, and their goals. And in turn, hope that they will listen to mine, and that we can have civil discourse and dialogue, and come to a place where we all can, in Obama's words:

reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.