Punching Stupid and Evil in the Face Since 1986!

"We are on strike, we the men of the mind. We are on strike against self-immolation. We are on strike against the creed of unearned rewards and unrewarded duties."-John Galt

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

We were true to ourselves.

So, today was the day. Today was the day President Bush stepped down and President Obama took his place. Today is the beginning of…….the unknown. That is really at the heart of today for me and probably hundreds, or thousands, or millions, like me. I do not know what the future of this Administration will hold for me, my family or my country. While I cannot say I was looking forward to this day, I was extremely pleased to have the opportunity to share this time and my feelings with other likeminded individuals. I was invited to share in an inauguration gathering of a few local bloggers thrown by Quaker Company and hosted by our own most excellent Queen of Bloggers Dana Loesch of DanaRadio.com and Mamalogues.com. If not for Dana, I likely would have simply worked the day away without another thought. I would have watched the inauguration eventually, but I would not have blocked out my morning for that. Sorry. Anyway, it was awesome to share the experience with people who, like me more view this day as a time to say goodbye to Bush than hello to Obama. (Thanks Dana for putting that into words for me-it is EXACTLY right!)

Just a few words on the speech. For whatever reason I am really in no mood to dissect it piece by piece-although I could-I took a ton of notes. Maybe another day.

First, I found the speech completely uninspiring. While I almost completely disagree with every policy Obama has thus far put out, I have been able to see why people are drawn to him-until today. I can see his charisma-I'm freaked out by it-but can see it none-the-less. Today, I felt Obama was flat. I felt his words boring, bordering on insulting at times and holding out no real promise or "hope". This was not a speech of acceptance or excitement, but of heavy burden and a rear-looking blame game. "We're not going to do all the things we did in the past that made today so sucky." Or something like that. Simply ridiculous. Yes, in fact, I am FAR better off than I was 8 years ago. I attribute much of that to Bush. I did not love every decision he made, but I never once doubted his commitment to keeping us safe and his ability to run this country.

Second, I fully and completely HATED that Obama felt it ok to underhand slam President Bush. It seemed much of the talk surrounding foreign affairs and national security was rife with comments about moving forward and doing it better than previously has been done. For one, I think it is pretty inflated to think one with NO experience will do so much better than others with tons of experience. Another thought, good luck "extending your hand" to those who simply wish to cut it off-along with a few other choice parts. I HOPE Obama will be able to keep us safe. I HOPE he is not so busy giving credence to those abhorrent
individuals who wish us dead, that they feel it is their right to impose their will on us. I HOPE these things, but I do not yet feel confident. I would be very unhappy wearing a hijab; it's just not my thing.

Finally, I just want to say thanks-thanks to President Bush for his service-I could NEVER be you. I could never so eloquently put up with the ridicule and outright lies. I could not look the other way or turn a deaf ear to unprovoked attacks on me and my family. We all know what I would do-and if you don't come back tomorrow-you'll see. So, good luck Mr. President. Take it easy for a while. Enjoy yourself, you've earned it. Have a beer, put your feet up and kiss your wife. In the end, the only thing that matters is what those who love us think of our character. If our family and our children always know we were true to ourselves, then we have done our job-our absolute best. Take care and God bless.

3 comments:

  1. I saw your brief stint on TV, actually through the link that Dana posted.

    Two things annoyed me about today:

    1) The treatment Bush received when he came out of the Capital building. Nothing to do with Obama, but SO wrong.

    2) The whitehouse.gov website, which now takes direct potshots at President Bush. Nice. So much for that whole extending the hand thing, right?

    Personally, I think history will end up being VERY kind to Bush. He led with conviction and honor. He understood that the presidency is too important to be a popularity contest. He's a better person than me, that's for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was very brave of you to write. I just don't understand, personally, as someone who's surrounded by people who feel Obama's soul must be prayed for...is the filter really that dark?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great post. I agree. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete