Summary: Barack Obama’s second inaugural address was neither anodyne nor lukewarm, but instead ringingly set forth an unapologetically progressive agenda. It pushed back against some of the more noxious Ayn Rand aspects of conservative thinking, while acknowledging and insisting upon a place in the Commonwealth for the middle class and the marginalized, and taking the side of Lazarus over Dives. Though some on the Rush Limbaugh right will attack or complain that their feelings were “hurt,” we may, if only momentarily and naïvely, hold out hope for a possible thaw in the partisan froideur that has obtained in Washington City for so many years. It may be possible, even if unlikely, to envisage some of the President’s opponents putting country before party. At all events, we may permissibly celebrate and be thankful for yet another peaceful transition of power in an unbroken string of such transfers dating back 224 years.
By: Paul S. Marchand
Some inaugural addresses are anodyne offerings, long on platitudes but short on substance. Some inaugural addresses try so earnestly to chart a middle course as to become virtually meaningless, neither hot nor cold but only lukewarm.
Barack Obama’s second inaugural was anything but anodyne or lukewarm.
Indeed, not even when Bill Clinton was President have I heard so strongly progressive a speech. It was more than I had dared to expect or hope from President Obama. It was uncompromising, proudly progressive, and not afraid to take on some of the most treasured shibboleths of the President’s inveterate opponents.
As much as it was a real joy to hear the president consciously and purposefully acknowledge the authentic presence of queerfolk as real, first-class citizens of our American Commonwealth, I also couldn’t avoid a certain measure of schadenfreude at the President’s clear dig at vice presidential wannabe Paul Ryan and his slavish devotion to Ayn Rand. The President’s speech was intended for the middle class and the marginalized; it was not a speech for the comfortable, nor did it take the side of Dives over Lazarus
Already, Republican cleavages are beginning to open. Utah Senator Orrin Hatch has characterized the President’s address as “a very good speech.” Other, more obstructionist, Republicans, both in and out of office, have been quick to complain that the President’s remarks were “unduly confrontational.”
Such a Republican view is not surprising. The American right has consistently sought to position itself as aggrieved victims of the changing nature of American society, and to complain about how badly its feelings have been hurt by being called to account or publicly disagreed with.
And indeed, President Obama’s second inaugural address will give Republican irreconcilables much to bellyache about. The president’s forthright pushback against climate change deniers --- and by implication, against the entire science-opposing evangelical-industrial complex, to say nothing of his outreach toward the LGBT community, including having a gay man read the inaugural poem, will surely not resonate well among religious rightists for whom climate change denial and opposition to what they call the “homosexual agenda” (scare quotes fully intended) represent part of a broader litmus test for who is a “pure and dependable” conservative.
Yet we may dare hold out some hope that a new term may make it possible for a new turn of the political page. If a sense of cooperation and goodwill arises from today’s inauguration, and if it can be sustained for more than 24 hours, it may be possible to envisage a climate of positive change beginning to take hold in Washington City.
Of course, we would be naïve to hold out hope for a thaw in the partisan froideur. The President’s opponents are many, for their name is Legion, and we will see whether that Legion is capable of putting the interests of the Commonwealth ahead of the particular predilections of party.
Still, on today of all days, it is permissible to celebrate, and to be thankful foran America in which, across 224 years of quadrennial presidential elections, power has always been transferred peaceably and without appeal to force or violence.
May it ever be so. God bless America.
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Paul S. Marchand is an attorney who lives and works in Cathedral City, California, where he served two terms as a member of the city Council. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee representing the 56th Assembly District. He makes no bones about having supported and voted for President Obama in both 2008 and last fall. The views contained herein are his own, and not necessarily those of the California Democratic Party. They are not legal advice, and should not be so construed.
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