01-21-2013, 06:46 PM
A friend of mine wrote this today after watching the Inauguration. I think it is worth reading.
Let me say right up front that this is not some political screed. I resist efforts to attach a label to my politics; life is more complex than that, I believe my calling needs to be more embracing than that.
What I can say today is that I'm disappointed with Obama's second inaugural, but as much because I am disappointed with what it represents, at least in part.
Obama called for us to work together, yet he repeatedly used words that divide. He called for hard choices, but he offered none for himself to make. He said we have no right to fail to meet our promises to the generation passing and the one ahead, yet he offers nothing on budget reduction. He called for an end to name-calling, yet resorted to demonizing those who disagree. He seeks to be a leader of a higher order, yet he condescends.
Beyond all that, there was a thread running through it that marks an inflection point in our understanding of who we are. It was a clarion call for a central and dominant role of government in our lives, essentially placing government as the omniscient hand over the direction of our society, rather than the subordinate to it. Confiscation and redistribution of wealth over charity, dependence over self-reliance. Economic equality over enterprise.
One phrase captured my angst: "We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few."
I will put aside for now just how insulting that comment is.
Our constitution does not say "provide for the general welfare," it says "promote the general welfare." Obama relished referencing the Declaration of Independence and its call for equality, but with that is the phrase "life, liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness." Not the guarantee or underwriting of, just the pursuit.
No doubt, this note will foment all kinds of anti-Obama vitriol, and I accept that. My bigger concern is that I believe in the individual, charity and community more than than government. I also believe in chances, even second chances, but I also believe in accountability and ownership of your life and your choices.
I thought there was a middle ground here somewhere. I thought a President who made a grand show of saying he was President of the 100% would have the courage to speak to that.
Let me say right up front that this is not some political screed. I resist efforts to attach a label to my politics; life is more complex than that, I believe my calling needs to be more embracing than that.
What I can say today is that I'm disappointed with Obama's second inaugural, but as much because I am disappointed with what it represents, at least in part.
Obama called for us to work together, yet he repeatedly used words that divide. He called for hard choices, but he offered none for himself to make. He said we have no right to fail to meet our promises to the generation passing and the one ahead, yet he offers nothing on budget reduction. He called for an end to name-calling, yet resorted to demonizing those who disagree. He seeks to be a leader of a higher order, yet he condescends.
Beyond all that, there was a thread running through it that marks an inflection point in our understanding of who we are. It was a clarion call for a central and dominant role of government in our lives, essentially placing government as the omniscient hand over the direction of our society, rather than the subordinate to it. Confiscation and redistribution of wealth over charity, dependence over self-reliance. Economic equality over enterprise.
One phrase captured my angst: "We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few."
I will put aside for now just how insulting that comment is.
Our constitution does not say "provide for the general welfare," it says "promote the general welfare." Obama relished referencing the Declaration of Independence and its call for equality, but with that is the phrase "life, liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness." Not the guarantee or underwriting of, just the pursuit.
No doubt, this note will foment all kinds of anti-Obama vitriol, and I accept that. My bigger concern is that I believe in the individual, charity and community more than than government. I also believe in chances, even second chances, but I also believe in accountability and ownership of your life and your choices.
I thought there was a middle ground here somewhere. I thought a President who made a grand show of saying he was President of the 100% would have the courage to speak to that.
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