Our Brand New President!

Image courtesy of NY Times

Well, the nearly-impossible has finally happened: Our 44th President of the USA, Barack Obama.

Surely, this massively historic, unprecedented event merits pause from the usual cynicism and no-can-doisms to which we have become accustomed. Surely, it's time to pay fresh attention (the oblivious Vegas gamblers above not included).

We not only have an African-American President for the first time in our history, but he is, specifically, Barack Hussein Obama--by all counts a unique, complex, fascinating individual with more promise than perhaps any leader in recent history (no hyperbole intended).

And just in time, it seems, for miracles...so many hundreds of millions here and around the world seem to have craved this very moment--and not all of them liberals or progressives.

It's as if the nation, and even the world, can finally exhale after eight years of holding its collective breath. An exaggeration, you say? I'm not so sure.

Some leaders give permission to the nation and its institutions to be arrogant, self-righteous, bigoted, stupid and greedy. We know them by sight, their profiles prominently listed in the black book of history.



Under President Obama, we now have permission to strive for better selves and a better world again, in every office, every boardroom, every classroom, every home and neighborhood. We have permission to be respected and held accountable regardless of our birth, wealth, or ideology. We have permission to give a damn for others, not just for ourselves.

Our world may seem more mangled and bedraggled today, but the newly inaugurated captain of our great ship of state seems sane, sharp, sober and humane. His principles seem fair, inclusive, based on ecumenical faith, mutual respect, even, dare I say, love.

Is this, as many right-wing pundits opined, an illusion, a projection of our childish desires onto a blank canvas called Obama?

Fair enough, it's a gamble.

Yet Obama's words are less jingoistic and far, far more inspirational than his predecessors for us wayward, cynical adults and--far more importantly--for our hope-starved children in this ransacked, rabid post-9/11 world.

And thankfully, Obama is no Ahab, red-eyed with narcissistic obsessions and drunk with psychopathic self-righteousness. We have had enough of those in our world.

Neither does Obama slur, swagger or spit. He's neither a fascist nor a fantasist nor a fool. He is as fallible as the the next man, but somehow his words, demeanor, presence and sincerity register something new, something that we haven't seen for a very long time, with all due respect to diehard Reaganites.

Is it wishful to think that far from sinking or running aground--with all hands on deck working under the command of a clear-eyed captain--our ship of state is poised to embark on its first golden journey of the new century?

Is Obama's promise a pie in the sky that will splatter on our face in a few months or years? Is this a silly, puerile liberal dream rightfully derided by the Limbaughs, Hannitys and O'Reilly's of our media?

There's always a chance that the cynics are right. But not if we:

• Proceed under the watchful eye of an emboldened and politically matured citizenry and an open, fearless press.
• Hold this administration accountable to its own declared principles..
• Maintain public vigilance over our government, with independent oversight over the activities of private-interest lobbies.
• Believe in ourselves and our neighbors and act accordingly, as we strive to change with a changed world.
• Recognize the unacceptable risks of returning to business as usual.
• Grant this optimism a chance to thrive and move us forward.
• And not if we think, first and last, of "our children's children."

A gamble, then, but one the nation has taken...and must not lose.