Katrina Vanden Huevel: Tone and Challenge in the Obama Era

Tone and Challenge in the Obama Era
posted by Katrina vanden Heuvel on 01/20/2009 @ 01:48am


"Never in our national history has there been so dramatic a coincidence as this simultaneous transfer of power and the complete collapse of a system and of a philosophy."

Resonant and relevant words at this moment.

Those words come from March 1933, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt marked the end of an epoch, and The Nation editorialized that his inaugural words "had something of the challenge, the symbolism, and the simplicity of a trumpet blast."

As Barack Obama was sworn in as America's 44th president, we heard a new trumpet blast. The simple and powerful symbolism of the 44th President's inauguration reminded us, again, of what a stirring milestone his election marks for America's scarred racial landscape---and what a victory for the forces of decency, diversity and tolerance.

More than 2 million people gathered in Washington to celebrate--a sea of people peaceably, happily, roaring, sometimes in unison, to express their hope and anticipation for a new era. It seemed as if towns and cities across the country stood still for this moment--eager, almost desperate for Obama to succeed.

And at just after high noon, Obama-- the first Community-Organizer-in-Chief--took the oath of office, placing his hand on the Lincoln bible. The man who ran by crafting and mobilizing a new coalition of the young,African-Americans, Latinos, and the once- disenfranchised, summoned generations, new and old, to return "to a new era of responsibility." He spoke of service as "the price and promise of citizenship." In somber words, reminiscent of Roosevelt's, Obama spoke of "homes lost, jobs lost, factories shuttered" and the need not to lose confidence.

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http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/399395