(Of course, Ces Drilon was rather irritating then, but nothing's perfect.)
Anyway, what I'm going to try to do in this post is to take apart Obama's speech and try to put some context into what this US administration will mean for the Philippines... or at least in so far as how I think it will.
(Yes, yes, it's like taking apart some other blogger's post and telling you good folks how I intepret that which I've read.)
(Yes, I've done it before.)
Full text of speech from CNN here. The one below has advertisements. Haha.
So. We begin.
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Obama begins with a softball pitch, where he thanks the American people for his election as president, as well as giving kudos to Dubya pro forma (later on, as he makes his policy promises, he will not shirk from criticism of Bush administration's policies, of course).
An interesting sidelight is how he uses emphasis in the same manner as Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, jr. did in their speeches, also playing on the charisma similarly enjoyed by John F. Kennedy, something that a born-and-raised American would find stirring, I would guess.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
With these words, Obama sets the stage for the rest of his speech. His task is quite obviously not going to be an easy one, as America is right now reeling from the effects of the global financial crisis, the problem of American oil needs and matters related to that end, the aftermath of two unpopular conflicts (Iraq and Afghanistan) and perhaps conflicts yet to arise (Somalia? Pakistan?). Obama perhaps wants his words to be the speech to rouse the American people to a war footing -- an attempt to galvanize public opinion to his standard.
Shades of Shakespeare's "Saint Crispian's Day", I'm inclined to think.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Obama names the America's battlefield and America's enemies. In the first paragraph above, he gives credence to the problem of global terrorism. Next, he alludes to the failing US economy. Third, he mentions the American problem of the decline in health and human services. Fourth, he speaks of oil in relation to states supporting terrorism as well as of global warming (something I don't think has been recognized in the past eight years in the Bush administration).
The second paragraph is his phrasing of his recognition of a concept that many have been espousing for quite some time now: that the fall of Rome is near.
His next three paragraphs are reminiscent of Franklin D. Roosevelt's call to arms during the Great Depression of the 1920s:
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
Then, Obama takes a dip into the psychic link that born-and-bred Americans have with the Bible, the Mayflower Compact, the War of Independence and wars on foreign soil, the pioneers of the Midwest, the slaves in the cotton fields of the South, beginning with a juxtaposition of scripture and the Declaration of Independence:
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor — who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
Pretty stirring stuff for an American, I would venture to guess.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
In those two paragraphs not only has Obama telegraphed to the world his intentions with regard to the economy in so far as American products and services are concerned (yes, I would guess that he is making clear to the world that he will market the "Buy American" brand), but he has also turned the "on" switch on policies that rather influential sectors in American society have kept at "off" for the longest time. Here are a few I can guess at from his words:
- Domestic infrastructure
- Communications infrastructure (hey, after all, the internet was a big help to his campaign)
- Medical research (like maybe stem cell research, genetic engineering, and whatnot) opposed by the Bible Belt and other such folks
- High energy physics (the Superconducting Supercollider was opposed in principle by some lobbyists identified with the religious right, if I recall correctly)
- Renewable energy (solar, wind, biofuels) as well as the downstream consequences of emission standards, vehicle and power plant fuel efficiency, the Kyoto protocol and others
- Methods and content of instruction in schools (yes, to this day there are still some oppositors who contest the teaching of the theory of evolution in schools, saying that only creationism should be taught), as well as perhaps a revamp of the US' K-12 programs and methods; maybe there will be programs to encourage and support Americans' availing of higher education (I read somewhere that graduate programs are have been more or less the province of foreign students than before, while American grad student populations are lessening)
Interestingly, he alludes to creating new jobs and new growth opportunities. The local outsourcing sector must be letting out a collective sigh of relief, in that the jobs our local call center agents and IT specialists have taken away from Americans won't be lost because Obama's going to take them back to give back to Americans. Well, maybe.
More later. I'm getting too sleepy for deep thinking.
(To be continued, of course.)
Want to keep The Journal of The Jester-in-Exile running? Why not leave some spare change?
Send an email to The Jester-in-Exile!
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.