{"id":10519,"date":"2009-01-20T19:27:35","date_gmt":"2009-01-21T00:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/?p=10519"},"modified":"2012-08-18T11:05:21","modified_gmt":"2012-08-18T15:05:21","slug":"obama-dawning-sober-words-of-hope-and-duty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2009\/01\/20\/obama-dawning-sober-words-of-hope-and-duty\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama dawning: sober words of hope and duty"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I<\/em><\/strong>nauguration Day dawned with high expectations.\u00a0\u00a0 T<\/strong><\/em>he weather forecast for Schenectady called for partly cloudy skies this morning — the perfect setting for a glorious sunrise (pink-painted clouds in a crisp winter-blue sky) to celebrate the opening of the Obama Presidential Era (in contrast to yesterday’s Bush sunset<\/a>). Therefore, the f\/k\/a<\/em> Gang was up and about much earlier than usual, in order to be caffeinated, bundled up, and out in Riverside Park for the 7:15 sunrise, Canon PowerShot in hand.\u00a0 Outside my front door, however, it became clear that a thick blanket of gray clouds covered our Eastern sky.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> . . . . . . . . . . . . .<\/p>\n

.. Inauguration Day 2009, at sunrise, Riverside Park, Schenectady NY; photos by D. Giacalone ..
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

After a quick moment of disappointment, I thought: A stately, subdued sunrise is just fine.\u00a0 We don’t need a flashy show, nor rockstar fireworks today.\u00a0 No drama, just the real Obama.<\/p>\n

And, Barack Obama did not let us down, after being sworn in as our 44th President.\u00a0 He gave a speech that was sober, not splashy — the goals soared more than the rhetoric.\u00a0 In his Inaugural Speech (text<\/a>, video<\/a>), President Obama chose to focus on responsibilities over rights, community over clannishness, public spirit over party spite.\u00a0 He chose to be himself and ask us to be our best selves.<\/p>\n

For too many decades, politicians have told Americans that we can demonstrate our freedom with selfishness and our liberty with callousness.\u00a0 So, I want to thank President Barack Hussein Obama for asking us to join him in a “new era of responsibility<\/em>.”\u00a0 This line is surely being quoted around the world and the web:<\/p>\n

\"\" “There is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.” <\/em><\/p>\n

Imagine if “only” a few million of us discovered the truth in that sentence?\u00a0 Then, imagine if the majority of us did?<\/p>\n

Frankly, as one of the “nonbelievers” in the “patchwork heritage” of America, I thought there was a little bit too much of the obligatory “God talk” in the inaugural ceremonies.\u00a0 That’s not because I begrudge others their beliefs (although, I do wish they had a bit more respect for my choice to base my moral code on the dignity of man, not the commands of a deity).\u00a0 It’s because I know — as does Barack Obama — that it won’t be God doing “the work of remaking America.”\u00a0 It will be each of us, alongside our leaders.\u00a0 As Pres. Obama correctly noted:<\/p>\n

“God calls on us<\/em> to shape an uncertain destiny.”<\/p>\n

Barack Obama impressed and inspired me in his first national appearance, on July 27, 2004 (see our prior post, “Obama, O mama<\/a>“).\u00a0 He no longer needs to impress me to have my support and best wishes.\u00a0 But, I hope he will continue to inspire all of us — to “put away childish things” and grow into a mature citizenship, within a national community ready to work, learn, and face our joint future together.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

a pretty kite soars
\na beggar’s shack
\nbelow<\/p>\n

the war lord
\nforced off his horse…
\ncherry blossoms<\/p>\n

a mountain cuckoo sings
\n“Don’t fall off
\nthat horse!”<\/p>\n

a war lord too
\ndraws near our fire…
\nOi River<\/p>\n

… by Kobayashi Issa<\/a> (19th Century, Japan), translated by David G. Lanoue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Inauguration Day dawned with high expectations.\u00a0\u00a0 The weather forecast for Schenectady called for partly cloudy skies this morning — the perfect setting for a glorious sunrise (pink-painted clouds in a crisp winter-blue sky) to celebrate the opening of the Obama Presidential Era (in contrast to yesterday’s Bush sunset). Therefore, the f\/k\/a Gang was up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[555,900],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haiku-or-senryu","category-viewpoint"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-2JF","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10519"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14399,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10519\/revisions\/14399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}