Oh Happy Day!

There are two things to celebrate today: the first is that George W. Bush is no longer President of the United States; the second is that Barack Obama is now the President of the United States. Words cannot express. I mean, just look at his NAME! Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, BARACK OBAMA. Dude, that's awesome.

I also want to post this 18 second clip of Sasha after Obama's speech (no sound needed) because if you can see this and not break out in a huge smile...then you are barely human. Thumb. Thumb. Walk off with purpose. So cute.

(If it didn't work for some reason, click here.)

Reflecting upon the Bush legacy, it is repeatedly trumpeted that he prevented another domestic terror attack. That is true, and for that I am grateful. I think it a marvelous feat to have prevented such a network from infiltrating our country and launching another round of carnage. I would only like to note that this was not a costless achievement – namely that the cost of preventing attacks on US soil is the toll of lives lost overseas. We've prevented violence here by baiting the hook and then feeding the demons in Iraq. Lives have not been saved – but multiplied and redistributed.

Now back to better thoughts: I thought the speech was a good one, not because it delivered any high flying eternal rhetoric (the absence of which, I thought was appropriate), but because it said the things I want my President to say. It recognized that the power of the market economy is beyond question, but that the economy and growth have a purpose in a just society – providing survival and dignity to its citizens. It explicitly reached out to the Muslim world and stood firmly against evil and destruction. It expressed the freedom of opportunity to pursue happiness as the defining goal of our politics, and the necessity of personal responsibility to achieve it. It made it abundantly and explicitly clear that Obama will be the President of all Americans, even non-believers. He mentioned science. SCIENCE! And most importantly, he sought to destroy the old paradigm of politics forged in the Cold War and social upheavals of the 1960's, which have dominated discourse for the last 50 years (and even appear in the comments on this blog), which I fervently hope have been destroyed for good. If you're wondering, by chance, where I got each of these conclusions from…most of them should be contained in my favorite excerpts from his speech below.

Another point I would like to make again is my irritation at all of the people lamenting Obama's "drift" from the left (e.g., the outrage from the GLBT movement at inviting Rick Warren's to give the convocation. etc.) Just to be clear, when someone declares that Washington must be changed, what do people think that means? A radical lefty revolution? What does a new less divisive bi-partisanship mean to you? Attempting to push the country to the 1960's left? Please. Go fuck yourself. Change is the attempt to kill the old political lines. Change and improvement is leaving aside ideology and governing with the best tools humanity has to offer. Humanity, evidence, science, rationality, autonomy, thought, hope, hard work, responsibility, empathy, accountability, new ideas, and humanity. What a sublime change it will be to again apply these values to governing humanity. Leave your petty squabbles at the door.

Now here are some of my favorite passages from today:

Opportunity and Accountability - Not the Ends, but the Means.
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.

So Radical!!!!!
We will restore science to its rightful place...

The End of Ideology: Reaganist Hostility to Government and the Markets
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

Much Better than Declaring "Evil" Countries
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.

The President of All Americans
We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers.

A Direct Engagement with the Muslim World
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.