Prez Update #2

In continuation of my previous Prez O post...

Well, Mr. President you certainly didn't let me down with this one. The Mexico policy was a topic subject to harsh critique in my MSc dissertation, so I am very happy to see Obama deal with that swiftly (although I am still up in the air about him not doing it on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade).

Now, where was I when I ran out of time with that last post...
Ahh, right - Obama's speech. For the full text, please see here. Now, I thought it was... great, basically. He chose substance over style, which was a smart move considering the opposite was something he was so criticized for in his campaign. Despite the sober mood of it, I found parts of it inspiring, sometimes to my own disappointment. Like this:

We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and
for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering
innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken;
you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

While I do certainly think that there are major parts of the 'American way of life' that need to be apologized for and changed - namely our disgusting consumption, materialism and disregard for the environment (to start) - I couldn't help but be wowed by this statement and the confidence with which he made such a proclamation. How could anyone not believe him? Yet, in addition to parts that made me slightly squeamish, there were other parts that I just loved, like this:

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.

While I'm never crazy about god-mentioning from politicians, I suppose since he's in this instance referencing the Declaration of Independence I can let it slide. And he is completely right about choosing our better history - we must draw on that and let it inspire our future actions, rather than dwell on and follow in the same path that our not-so-good history has taken us. In fact, I think only by doing this will the US be able to restore its position in the world, and since Obama as the POTUS is basically the incarnation of our better history, what a perfect place to start!

Ok, back to the speech... this bit was also particularly lovely in its jarring admonishment of the Bush administration:

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and
our ideals [...] our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do
as we please.

Wa-bam, Shrub! How's that!? Well, I don't know what else can be said except that he's spot on and with this kind of resolve will finally (or at least hopefully) represent a foreign policy that 1) our European friends will be willing to support and 2) won't provide fuel to the fire for the recruitment of extremists. There is a lot to be said for the argument that the world is less safe since Shrub began his "war on terr'r" and hopefully Obama will be able to reverse this trend (although it will certainly take more than closing Guantanamo to do this).

In anycase, it's pretty good to at least have a leader who can properly pronounce the word 'nuclear'.