Inauguration
I couldn't even bear to get clever with the title of this post. This is by far one of the most significant events I have ever been witness to, and my only regret is not being able to be there. Well also, having to work and not even watch it properly on television. The Inauguration is the biggest event of recent memory, and actual good news. Against this historic backdrop, the new President and his family are backlit, and seem to glow almost preternaturally in what can only be a reflection of the glow of hope and warmth from the population of the United States (and the world). The other scene set is the departure of the former (and I say "disgraced") President. As he boarded Marine One, I recalled the article I had seen earlier that day in the Economist, which was an honest, and disparaging assessment of the Bush 2 years. It contains several statements, which reminded me of the real pity of those years:
... the Bush I knew was part scamp and part bumbler, a timeless fraternity boy and heedless cutup, a weekday gym rat and weekend napster.
and ...
... many people who met him were astonished by what they described as his “lack of inquisitiveness” and his general “passivity”.
and ...
Lack of curiosity also led Mr Bush to suspect intellectuals in general and academic experts in particular. David Frum, who wrote speeches for Mr Bush during his first term, noted that “conspicuous intelligence seemed actively unwelcome in the Bush White House”. The Bush cabinet was “solid and reliable”, but contained no “really high-powered brains”. Karen Hughes, one of his closest advisers, “rarely read books and distrusted people who did”.
and especially:
The fruit of all this can be seen in the three most notable characteristics of the Bush presidency: partisanship, [politicization] and incompetence.
But finally, there was the chilling image of the malevolent eminence gris who symbolizes - more than the ex-President himself - the lost potential and long term effect of those years.
Seeing him at the Inauguration in his wheelchair - like a robot sent from the past - made me think of a generation of Bond villains with their evil stares, cold demeanors and general whiteness.
Still it's not good to dwell on those sorts of bad feelings. Instead we should look to the future I think. While I am restraining my overall optimism, it's difficult and I am finding myself swept up in events. There is a sense of being awake for a new dawn of reason and rationality in America. That sense has me nervous, hyper-aware and full of anticipation., but it feels great. I live in a country where my leader is as smart or smarter than I am. I live in a country, probably the only country, where my leader could have followed ended up here after following the path he did. I live in a country where there is hope.