Watching President Barack Hussein Obama’s 2nd inauguration made me proud to be an American. Again. From the time I saw him leave the White House to go to the Capitol, I kept tearing up (and marveling at the number of armored Cadillac limos it takes). The pomp, the tradition, a black man taking the oath of office on Martin Luther King Day, life is sweet.
And then to hear Obama acknowledge the Civil War and slavery with Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. 150 years after that war, almost 50 years after The March on Washington, is to see our collective picture of history start to change. To hear Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall together in an inaugural speech is not something I ever expected. Then to hear him talk about Immigration Reform and Climate Change. was way more than I expected. It was the progressive Obama I had hoped for and worked for four years ago.
Life is sweet today.
And how about peace. Not being in a state of perpetual war. He did’t quite say it, but I heard “let’s talk with Iran.” Talk is better than sending troops into Harm’s way.
And there was a theme of unity. Yes, I know, the divisions will always be there, and he said as much, but the naïveté of “There are no red states, there are no blue states…” is gone, and the vision that “We are the United States of America” is still there.