How Shall I View the History of Today?

By Mike Ferguson

I have mixed feelings about today’s historic inauguration. To me, it’s one of those “good news, bad news” situations.

The good news: George W. Bush will no longer be the President of the United States by midday. The bad news: Barak Obama will.

For all the talk of “change”, for all the hysteria of the-world-is-ending doom and gloom from the hard core right and for all the belief that everyone’s problems will now be solved through government a week from this Thursday on the hard core left, I just do not see that life will be drastically altered that much, at least not right away.

In fact, no one seems to want to admit that the bold new economic stimulus plans the President-elect (and probably “President” by the time most of you read this) is pushing is basically more aggressive government intervention of the same approach brought by George W. Bush: government borrowing massive amounts of money in order to send stimulus checks, massive government bailouts of corporations and increased government spending.

That is an expensive kick-start to the economy that we will be paying back for generations, regardless of whether it will succeed or fail. These bad ideas did not start with Barak Obama, of course.

Am I justified in my apprehension? Are others justified in their relief? No, not yet and maybe not ever. In fact, we may all be wrong. Time, starting today, Tuesday, January 20^th, 2009 will reveal how we should view the new era of leadership in America.

Few can argue that President Obama is inheriting a level of crisis most can barely begin to imagine: a recession, war in Iraq, war in Afghanistan, verbal saber-rattling in Iran and Venezuela, a national deficit and debt that escapes mortal human comprehension, a nation divided on issues like illegal immigration, gay rights and a host of other challenges. Frankly, I am not sure why anyone would want to be the President of the United States right now.

Regardless of our views, in agreement or disagreement, of the new President we should look at today’s events and the near future from a different perspective for the moment.

What will happen today is usually something Americans take for granted. The ceremony of the Presidential inauguration is not just a tradition of honoring a new leader. It is far more important than that.  It is both a symbol and a message to the rest of the world.

The peaceful transition of power in the United States is a blessing to us that often is under appreciated. While power changes hands in many parts of the world via bullets and blood it changes hands here via cooperation between the old and new, with the use of transition teams and with the public ceremony that shows we have one executive leader who is not disputed.

Instead of a fist or rifle raised at the conclusion of a coup de tat, we watch a right hand raised while the left is on the Bible to complete the changing of leadership. In some parts of the world, that would be considered nothing less than a miracle – a miracle we have now witnessed time and again for over two centuries.

Yet, I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have heard “he won’t be MY president!”

Yes, he will. Upon completing the Constitutional Oath of Office, Barak Hussein Obama will be your (and my) President of the United States, regardless of whether you voted for him or not. Regardless of your opinion of the man and his policy stands, the office of the President should be respected because that is part of the reason our gloriously clumsy, deliberately messy and all-too-often scarred governmental process has lasted for over 200 years.

The fact is; we have no idea whether President Obama will be a good leader or a poor leader. When he is wrong, we should oppose his policies and efforts. When he is right, we should support him. When we disagree on whether his is right or wrong, we have a responsibility to peacefully make our voices heard during the debates. We should never forget, however, that he is the President of the United States for the next four (and maybe eight) years. The people of this country spoke clearly in November and chose Mr. Obama to lead.

We, as Americans, owe it to our new leader, to our nation and to ourselves to allow the new President a clean slate as he begins his term in office despite whatever personal worries we may still hold. Judge him by his actions as President, not by the opinions of him we developed of him – positive or negative – during the campaign. Judge him by what he does from this point forward, not based on what we think he will do or what we think his motivations are.

Barak Obama won the office of President of the United States, which deserves our respect. He must now earn our support through his performance.

We also have a responsibility to each other and to the nation as a whole to conduct ourselves in a way that will help get us through these very difficult times. I will help set the tone: agreeing with a specific idea, plan or proposal of Mr. Obama’s does not make one a socialist. Disagreeing with him on something does not make one a racist.

At times, each of us will be satisfied with President Obama’s actions on something. At times, each of us will be disappointed with him.

Those who supported him during the campaign should have the highest expectation and be the most critical (in a literal sense) of his actions in office. Those who did not support him also have a responsibility to continue to be involved in the political discussion and process.

In four years, we will have the choice to support President Obama for reelection should we like what we have seen in his performance or work on behalf of another candidate if we are not happy with his tenure in office. That is our choice, that is our right and - many will argue – that is our responsibility.

For those of us who are Christian, we have an additional responsibility. That is to pray for our leaders, including a President for whom many of us did not vote. Biblically, this is not an option. Neither is hoping for him to fail because he does not share our views on many issues.

What it all comes down to, after the pomp and circumstance of the ceremonies today, after the partying of the inaugural balls, after the pundits tell us what we are supposed to think about all the activities (because, as they know, we can’t figure that out for ourselves) and after the transition of power is complete and 1600 Pennsylvania has its new residents, our nation’s problems and blessings will continue.

Call him a symbol of change, call him a trailblazer, call him a left-winger, a moderate, a socialist, call him the spokesperson of a new generation, call him the first minority leader of America, call him the “chosen one” or call him anything else you want in the coming years.

Just do not forget to call Barak Obama “Mr. President”.