We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths - that all of us are created equal - is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.
It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law - for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.
- President Barack Obama, 1.21.13
I haven’t yet watched Barack Obama’s inaugural address, and I probably won’t until later today. I followed reaction to it on Twitter, and from what I’ve seen, this speech is one that should and probably will go down in history with the likes of JFK’s “Ask not what your country can do” speech.
Soaring rhetoric is too often exactly that- lofty words lacking a foundation of action and measurable results. These words, however, speak to a vision of America that need not be viewed as blue or red. These words speak to a vision of America that’s…well, American- where each individual has an equal opportunity that isn’t proscribed by race, class, or the contents of one’s wallet.
The role of government is and should be to ensure a level playing field. That there are those who would use their positions of power to tilt the playing field towards themselves and their wealthy benefactors is a blight upon the vision and ethic that makes America the place that people across the world dream of coming to.
These words make me believe that America is being led by someone who believes that America still can, not by someone whose vision of America is dominated by fear and pessimism. I mean, can you envision Mitt Romney giving a speech like this?? Thankfully, we don’t have to.
