My Problem with the Inauguration Frenzy and a Prescription Going Forward
By Anita Finlay ("Ani") on January 20, 2009 at 2:00 PM in Barack Obama, George Bush, Inauguration Day
Sunday night I had occasion to watch the HBO pre-Inauguration concert entitled “We Are One.” I was moved by the pomp and circumstance staged before the Lincoln Memorial, the dress guard and the choirs; to see Mary J. Blige so proud, singing “Lean On Me” and the one and only Stevie Wonder singing “Higher Ground,” a song that has resonated with me for 35 years. I watched Bono and Sam Jackson and Denzel and Beyonce and Latifah and Jack Black and Rosario Dawson and others making their statements and singing – so happy for the change to come on Tuesday.
While I did not want to deprive anyone of their joy in crossing this barrier, I cried as I realized that I couldn’t help but wish for them to have a better, more sincere hero upon whom to bestow the honor of this historic election.
For the record, I always felt NoQuarter took Barack Obama to task because we truly had and have deep problems with his tactics, his competence and his veracity; not just because we were trying to get our gal or the other guy elected.
While I too have deep respect for the office of the President, and a deep love of our country, I cannot pretend that suddenly giving him carte blanche on the day of his inauguration, declaring a new dawn and a new day, is the way to go.
I certainly respect those who wish to do so. Due to the crisis in which we find ourselves as a nation, there is an urgent sense that we need to pull together to get through this, to say the least. However, having stated that, our current situation smacks of what Naomi Klein talks about in her book “Shock Doctrine.”
She writes very effectively about how the powers that be, and we now know that includes Democrats as well as Republicans, set up a crisis situation, mire Americans in fear, so that out of our fear, we have no choice but to “pull together” and do what those in authority tell us we “have to do.” They count on us getting tired, giving up and going home. Or that we will be too overwhelmed by our current circumstances to offer any other solution.
In this inaugural festival, in the interest of huddling together to stay warm, we are now, however unintentionally, giving President Obama a pass on the entire last year. I am sorry, but I cannot.
Last year, women got kicked in the teeth by the media and the Democratic party, as well as certain male candidates. I feel like an abused wife who was slapped around every day and everybody else saw it and now a lot of people out there are pretending it didn’t happen, for the good of the country.
I am not a fan of revisionist history, nor do I believe the ends justify the means.
I wish to remind everyone that we are always in some sort of crisis. If it ain’t 9/11, it’s Katrina, or Iraq, or Afghanistan, or the markets, or Israel or the housing bubble and on and on. Let’s use George Bush as a cautionary tale.
Please remember 9/11, when a fairly new President, already waning in the polls, suddenly gained a 90% popularity due to this horrible crisis, which he used to take us into Iraq — and screw us with it. And he recklessly squandered the world’s good will toward us to the bargain.
There is always a good reason to “pull together” so we can “survive” but in the process, we back off of holding people’s feet to the fire for putting us in that crisis in the first place.
Until we stop that vicious cycle, it will continue to repeat itself and our votes will mean less and less and our rights will continually diminish.
In this fast food nation, we are bombarded by the next scandal and the next disaster to the extent that we can’t keep it all straight — and accountability tends to go out the window.
If we are not going to insist upon FEC investigations for President Obama’s questionable internet contributions, if over 2,000 instances of caucus fraud, egregious about-faces on critical policy positions such as FISA, along with sexism, and mixed messages to the gay community are now to be given a pass — well, forgive me, we can hold hands all we want but that will not improve our current lot as a nation. We are setting the stage for yet another President who suffers no consequences for his actions.
I respect that we are tired of the endless Bush bashing. However, if someone had bothered to take a closer look before he ever took office, we might not be in this mess today. We allowed the Supreme Court to pick our President. There should have been a full recount in Florida. The American people should have insisted upon it. That way, win or lose, the pall of “illegitimacy” would not be hanging over him and us to this day.
Further to this, while we have no choice but to move forward, I don’t wish to feel like I am being blackmailed by the current crisis into support for a disingenuous man. Watching the news lately, there is an “Inauguration Frenzy” – we have elected a “brand” more than a leader. And spending an obscene amount of money on this weeklong party during this horrid economic time is unconscionable to me. It feels irresponsible to take part in such a celebration no matter how I might wish otherwise.
NoQuarter has been one of the only safe places one can come to talk about this – and the need to vent has not dissipated. Just the other day, President Obama backed off of yet another promise – an executive order to reverse President Bush’s halt on stem cell research. Now he wants to leave it in the hands of Congress. Who knows how long that will take? It is another terrible blow and a backtrack on his campaign rhetoric.
I wish I could pretend President Obama is starting with a clean slate. But after two years of campaign promises which seem to be very elastic, to say the least, he is going to have to PROVE himself out from behind the eight ball. Not the other way around.
George Bush was given a lot of mulligans and look where we are now. While there is plenty of blame to go around for this in both parties, had we had genuine, effective, HONEST leadership, we might not be in this situation today. Those who ignore the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them.
Please. Let us not be guilty of this. While I always will love my country deeply and certainly support the office of the Presidency, this man does NOT get to start with a blank slate. I promise you, it is a gross error to offer him one. While I will never attack for attack’s sake, I will use prior ‘bad acts’ as a frame of reference if another one rears its head now that he has assumed office. Likewise, I will offer praise if it is warranted. I deeply wish for America’s success so I will wait patiently and for all our sakes, hold a slim hope that a pleasant surprise is possible.
I am grateful for the opportunity to voice this. And that I have become a more active citizen. For us to be successful as a people and to overcome our current situation, we need to be far more diligent, regardless of party, to holding everyone to a high standard; including ourselves as citizens of this great country. If we do not remain vocal and participate to change what we feel is unjust, if we do not stand up and shout from the highest hill, our leadership will assume our consent, and continue along their merry way. There must be accountability, from us as well as from our elected representatives. All of them. And bygones are not bygones.
I am likewise grateful that NoQuarter is a place to freely express dissent. A principle this country was founded on.
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