Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Inauguration: One Year Later

One year ago today, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009, Barack Obama became our nation's 44th president. Shortly after all the celebrations in D.C. and around the country died down, reality set in in the form of economic woes at home and religious and political infighting abroad. Of course, everyone has strong opinions about how this president is dealing with all these situations.

Well, here's my analysis, folks: President Obama is doing the best he can given the extreme circumstances of these United States. On top of everything else, he's now faced with the Haiti earthquake aftermath. More specifically, Obama must figure out how to handle this issue in a way that will ultimately help America repair its image on the world stage. (And, speaking of Haiti, this Caribbean island nation was rocked by another, 6.1-magnitude quake. Thus, the editorial I posted here last weekend is now somewhat obsolete.) Anyway, the bottom line is this: If we, the people, good citizens of this participatory democracy, don't put aside our petty ideological and cultural differences and help the president deal with the issues at hand, he will be rendered all but helpless. Sitting around, not taking action, and merely bitching about perceived governmental ineptitude is ultimately fruitless and tantamount to pure laziness on the part of otherwise decent individuals. Therefore, it's time that we step up to the plate. If we want freedom, democracy, and a positive global image, we have to be proactive. Most importantly, we have to be compassionate and understanding toward other nations, as well as our fellow Americans. This is how real change we can believe in is created.

No comments: