Sunday afternoon marked the beginning of Barack Obama's second term as president of the United States, but the pomp and circumstance all came on Monday. Poems were recited, balls were attended and Beyonce allegedly lip-synched her way into everyone's heart. But the president's inauguration speech, a 20-minute celebration of the greatness of America, was most important.
Day-after analysts praised the president for his progressiveness. Some approached what Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, called Obama's "ringing defense of liberalism" with caution, others with optimism. And conservatives criticized it for being partisan and ideological.
Is this the Obama 2.0 everyone was pushing for during election season, the Obama everyone who had voted for back in 2008 was looking for after four years of mixed success? Was Monday's address a sign of things to come in the next four years?
Whether Monday's inaugural address foreshadows Obama's second term or it is simply celebratory rhetoric to appeal to the masses, the repetitive claims that bridged the gap are accurate. This "rainbow inauguration," one that sought after addressing and including people from all walks of life, served as reassurance to his supporters but also as assurance to those who didn't support him.
That the address coincided with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (though, yes, it was intentional) only made it so more pivotal, playing into how symbolically revolutionary it was. Just as MLK addressed his supporters and spoke of his dream, the election and re-election of Barack Obama shows people that such a dream can exist - that as cheesy and clich?(c) as it sounds, kids can grow up wanting to be president no matter their race, gender or sexual orientation and have it become a reality.
It's a speech that broke down barriers. For the first time in history, the country has a president who included and advocated for the LBGT community in his inaugural address, stating our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. He spoke of Selma and Seneca Falls and Stonewall in the same breath, a far cry from the Illinois senator who believed marriage isn't a civil right and an important sign of the times and inclusion of people that have previously not felt included.
The unity is a nice feeling while it lasts, but it is sure to dissipate soon, especially because now it is time to get moving with those ever-nagging second-term priorities. But if Mr. President hasn't realized yet, he can stand to be a little more insistent and straightforward with what he wants this term because he isn't fighting for re-election.
We've already seen a little of what is to hopefully come: an aggressive, take-no-nonsense commander-in-chief. Quick gun control legislature, something nobody has wanted to deal with and which didn't even exist on Washington's radar (for lack of a better phrase) until after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month, was put into place in the last week.
The president's next task will be to handle the debt ceiling, and he has already warned he is not going to negotiate with Republicans willing to trade raising it for spending cuts. A vote is expected next week for a three-month extension, a deal that is quite clearly only a temporary solution but one that will allow Obama to take the reins from there.
Tax reform is probably the highest item on the president's to-do list, hoping to protect the middle class and eliminate income inequality by requiring tax revenue hikes to balance spending cuts. This is something that is going to come up on the country very quickly, especially after the embarrassingly drawn out fiscal cliff negotiations of late last month/early this month. Also on the list is immigration reform, which Obama has already admitted he didn't do enough for during his first term.
One of the most interesting mentions is "the overwhelming judgment of science" in regards to climate change, something widely ignored by both candidates during the elections (neither Romney or Obama discussed the issue during the debates) but something that had the most amount of time spent on it during Monday's address. It became a sticking point in the speech, and a welcome and necessary conversation started.
We remain cautious and realistic. Will the 2013 inaugural address be the big moment of pride in his second term? Probably (and hopefully) not. We now request those words and idealism translate into execution and action. But while staying realistic, we are also optimistic for that tougher, wiser Obama - the one who is supposed to connect and protect the generations not just the one who can give a good speech.
Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
