Since When Does an American Leader Demand So Much Hoopla?
In days of old, countries ruled by Kings would have grand spectacles to celebrate royalty with grand pomp and circumstance marking everything from royal birthdays to some farting little prince cutting his first baby tooth. The pageantry served to make the royal figure look larger than life and with all the elaborate staging, every dancer, marching soldier, and jester following the event’s script to perfection, would help serve subtle reminder that the masses likewise should get in line and march according to plan subservient to the will of the King himself.
In the 20th Century and in a few unhappy oppressed nations today, dictators most notably the Communists, would have huge parades with goose-stepping soldiers marching in tight formation, stone faced and robotic, while truck after truck would cruise down the parade route showing off mighty rockets and other military equipment all serving the show the power and might of the dictator while showing the precise control he extends over his subjects completely obliterating any sense of personal liberty or individualty.
Nations ruled by tyrants who serve by royal entitlement or through totalitarian systems are used to grand ceremonies which elevate their leaders to superhuman status. It helps to reinforce their grip by demonstrating through the largesse of the grand event their power and status while reminding the rest of the population how small and helpless they are.
In democratic countries, little is done to celebrate its leaders. Sure there might be some holidays to mark the birthday of some noteworthy historical figures as the United States used to celebrate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but now lumped in together as a late February holiday called President’s Day. How is President’s Day celebrated? Government offices are closed. Retailers have huge sales to draw in citizens enjoying a day off. In various forums, some speeches or small ceremonies might be offered to honor our leaders, but they are rather controlled events, no huge parades, no drill teams, no rituals.
Instead we celebrate the 4th of July, Independence Day, which honors the issuance of the Declaration of Independence our founding document which establishes what it means to be an American and the liberties we all enjoy as citizens. Further, this noble document establishes that all men enjoy certain unalienable rights bestowed upon them by their creator then systematically destroys the concept of individuals serving as subjects to a royal, specifically the rule of the British crown. This is the day for parades and wild celebration, but our nations’ leaders may appear at some of them, their role has traditionally been rather low key and never the focus of the event itself. The President might make an appearance at the July 4th celebration in a particular city but the event not the person is the focus.
The transfer of power on Inauguration Day traditionally consists of a well defined presentation where upon the exiting President appears on stage with the incoming President who is administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and then gives his inaugural address, some of which have been major historical speeches such as John F. Kennedy’s and Ronald Reagan’s. Once that is completed, a festive patriot parade commences as the new President leaves the Capitol to establish himself in the White House for the first time. The President of the United States enters office and departs as a citizen just like every one else in the country. The greatness of the people and their shared liberties is far more sacred than the roll to be filled by the elected leader who has but four years to serve with the possibility of a second term if re-elected.
In this context, the extended celebration of Barrack Hussein Obama’s ascent to the Presidency seems overblown and historically out of context even arrogant, irresponsible, and financially impudent given the harsh financial hardships many Americans are facing today. While hopefully donors and other sources besides the Federal Government are footing the bill for the multi-day hoopla, it still smacks of being excessive, contrary to the humble nature of most inaugurations, and smacking of being way to reminiscent of the ceremonies befitting dictators, tyrants, and kings. It's pretty ironic that the media and some Democrats expressed their outrage at how much was spent on Dubya's last inauguration which cost but a fraction of what the Obama-Mania fest will run.
For African-Americans, no Presidential inauguration ever had the historical significance of the 2008 Presidential election. One hundred and fifty years ago, many of their ancestors were held in slavery and continued to face second class citizenship and legal oppression until little more than forty years ago. The White House and Capitol, the great symbols of freedom we hope them to be were erected, in part, by slave labor. While the legal obstacles are gone, vast segments of the African-American population has not integrated with the good life enjoyed by most Americans as witnessed by the enormous number of single mother homes, young men entrapped in the legal system where more black men of college age are in jail, awaiting trial, or on probation than enrolled in college. Standardized tests show overwhelmingly an alarming achievement gap between African-American students compared to those of other races. The percentage of Blacks living in substandard living conditions far exceeds the percentage of other Americans. While institutional barriers have been destroyed and African-Americans with adequate skills and education function on all high levels of society including senior positions in government and corporate board rooms, millions still are not stakeholders in the American Dream. Much work still remains and the barriers today are not as stark and easily identified as in the past. As such, the election of an American President with an African father is a powerful symbol of hope and progress and for every African-American who has suffered the trauma and humiliation of racism, this is a huge milestone in American History worthy of tremendous celebration, but shouldn’t this be a celebration of African-America not so much the canonization of one man?
Somehow, the extreme glorification of one man against the back drop of the American Experience fails to add up. Barack Obama is not a product of the struggle endured by African-Americans when almost immediately after the first white European settlers arrived, so did slaves who labored to build this great land by the crack of a whip. Think of the hatred and resistance Jackie Robinson endured, the murder of civil rights activists in the deep south in the early 1960's, and the extreme measures necessary to allow African-Americans equal access to public education and public accomodations as witnessed by Rosa Park's courageous act simply refusing to sit in the back of a public bus. Sadly, when we look at the state of urban school systems, their record of failure, and the unruly atmosphere that permeates many of them, one has to wonder what kind of real progress has taken place at all in public education for many predominantly African-American communities. Obama’s lineage had no part in this struggle. His father was a native of Africa who married a white American from Kansas and eventually returned to Africa. While Obama is African-American in one sense, that he was not raised a part of the African-American community but by college educated parents never subjected to the realities the ancestors of most African-Americans does not ring true in Obama's world.
While it is not for a white writer to argue definitively the “shoulds” concerning what Barack Obama represents to African Americans, there’s something disturbingly shallow and non-genuine about this historical achievement his election represents. Furthermore, the cult of personality, the elitism, the celebration of the man, not the orderly succession of power is most disturbing. Given the news media’s and entertainment industry’s (in truth they are one in the same industry) infatuation with the Obama campaign, their embrace of extreme left-wing politics, and the massive efforts through using their power to grant tremendous favorable exposure to Barack Obama creating his great mythic status while tarnishing other figures in the past election, it’s only natural the media would make Obama’s ascent to power a huge show business production. The media coverage leading up to Tuesday's inauguration ceremony is unprecedented.
Does not this massive celebration, the “whistle stop tour” beginning in Philadelphia making stops for huge public engagements such as what the city of Baltimore staged this afternoon to its final destination in Washington, DC smack of a kind of elite grandeur and overwhelming spectacle that is way out of sorts for how we have viewed our presidency in the past?
How well George W. Bush understood his office in his farewell address by noting:
It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your President. There have been good days and tough days. But every day I have been inspired by the greatness of our country and uplifted by the goodness of our people. I have been blessed to represent this Nation we love. And I will always be honored to carry a title that means more to me than any other: citizen of the United States of America.
In these words, our departing President gets it. This is what the United States is all about and surely the judgment of history will be much kinder to this humble man’s service to his country than the brutal mistreatment he received by the very same people who are thrusting superhuman status on his successor.
When the President of the United States is no longer one of us, that will be the end of us.
In days of old, countries ruled by Kings would have grand spectacles to celebrate royalty with grand pomp and circumstance marking everything from royal birthdays to some farting little prince cutting his first baby tooth. The pageantry served to make the royal figure look larger than life and with all the elaborate staging, every dancer, marching soldier, and jester following the event’s script to perfection, would help serve subtle reminder that the masses likewise should get in line and march according to plan subservient to the will of the King himself.
In the 20th Century and in a few unhappy oppressed nations today, dictators most notably the Communists, would have huge parades with goose-stepping soldiers marching in tight formation, stone faced and robotic, while truck after truck would cruise down the parade route showing off mighty rockets and other military equipment all serving the show the power and might of the dictator while showing the precise control he extends over his subjects completely obliterating any sense of personal liberty or individualty.
Nations ruled by tyrants who serve by royal entitlement or through totalitarian systems are used to grand ceremonies which elevate their leaders to superhuman status. It helps to reinforce their grip by demonstrating through the largesse of the grand event their power and status while reminding the rest of the population how small and helpless they are.
In democratic countries, little is done to celebrate its leaders. Sure there might be some holidays to mark the birthday of some noteworthy historical figures as the United States used to celebrate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but now lumped in together as a late February holiday called President’s Day. How is President’s Day celebrated? Government offices are closed. Retailers have huge sales to draw in citizens enjoying a day off. In various forums, some speeches or small ceremonies might be offered to honor our leaders, but they are rather controlled events, no huge parades, no drill teams, no rituals.
Instead we celebrate the 4th of July, Independence Day, which honors the issuance of the Declaration of Independence our founding document which establishes what it means to be an American and the liberties we all enjoy as citizens. Further, this noble document establishes that all men enjoy certain unalienable rights bestowed upon them by their creator then systematically destroys the concept of individuals serving as subjects to a royal, specifically the rule of the British crown. This is the day for parades and wild celebration, but our nations’ leaders may appear at some of them, their role has traditionally been rather low key and never the focus of the event itself. The President might make an appearance at the July 4th celebration in a particular city but the event not the person is the focus.
The transfer of power on Inauguration Day traditionally consists of a well defined presentation where upon the exiting President appears on stage with the incoming President who is administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and then gives his inaugural address, some of which have been major historical speeches such as John F. Kennedy’s and Ronald Reagan’s. Once that is completed, a festive patriot parade commences as the new President leaves the Capitol to establish himself in the White House for the first time. The President of the United States enters office and departs as a citizen just like every one else in the country. The greatness of the people and their shared liberties is far more sacred than the roll to be filled by the elected leader who has but four years to serve with the possibility of a second term if re-elected.
In this context, the extended celebration of Barrack Hussein Obama’s ascent to the Presidency seems overblown and historically out of context even arrogant, irresponsible, and financially impudent given the harsh financial hardships many Americans are facing today. While hopefully donors and other sources besides the Federal Government are footing the bill for the multi-day hoopla, it still smacks of being excessive, contrary to the humble nature of most inaugurations, and smacking of being way to reminiscent of the ceremonies befitting dictators, tyrants, and kings. It's pretty ironic that the media and some Democrats expressed their outrage at how much was spent on Dubya's last inauguration which cost but a fraction of what the Obama-Mania fest will run.
For African-Americans, no Presidential inauguration ever had the historical significance of the 2008 Presidential election. One hundred and fifty years ago, many of their ancestors were held in slavery and continued to face second class citizenship and legal oppression until little more than forty years ago. The White House and Capitol, the great symbols of freedom we hope them to be were erected, in part, by slave labor. While the legal obstacles are gone, vast segments of the African-American population has not integrated with the good life enjoyed by most Americans as witnessed by the enormous number of single mother homes, young men entrapped in the legal system where more black men of college age are in jail, awaiting trial, or on probation than enrolled in college. Standardized tests show overwhelmingly an alarming achievement gap between African-American students compared to those of other races. The percentage of Blacks living in substandard living conditions far exceeds the percentage of other Americans. While institutional barriers have been destroyed and African-Americans with adequate skills and education function on all high levels of society including senior positions in government and corporate board rooms, millions still are not stakeholders in the American Dream. Much work still remains and the barriers today are not as stark and easily identified as in the past. As such, the election of an American President with an African father is a powerful symbol of hope and progress and for every African-American who has suffered the trauma and humiliation of racism, this is a huge milestone in American History worthy of tremendous celebration, but shouldn’t this be a celebration of African-America not so much the canonization of one man?
Somehow, the extreme glorification of one man against the back drop of the American Experience fails to add up. Barack Obama is not a product of the struggle endured by African-Americans when almost immediately after the first white European settlers arrived, so did slaves who labored to build this great land by the crack of a whip. Think of the hatred and resistance Jackie Robinson endured, the murder of civil rights activists in the deep south in the early 1960's, and the extreme measures necessary to allow African-Americans equal access to public education and public accomodations as witnessed by Rosa Park's courageous act simply refusing to sit in the back of a public bus. Sadly, when we look at the state of urban school systems, their record of failure, and the unruly atmosphere that permeates many of them, one has to wonder what kind of real progress has taken place at all in public education for many predominantly African-American communities. Obama’s lineage had no part in this struggle. His father was a native of Africa who married a white American from Kansas and eventually returned to Africa. While Obama is African-American in one sense, that he was not raised a part of the African-American community but by college educated parents never subjected to the realities the ancestors of most African-Americans does not ring true in Obama's world.
While it is not for a white writer to argue definitively the “shoulds” concerning what Barack Obama represents to African Americans, there’s something disturbingly shallow and non-genuine about this historical achievement his election represents. Furthermore, the cult of personality, the elitism, the celebration of the man, not the orderly succession of power is most disturbing. Given the news media’s and entertainment industry’s (in truth they are one in the same industry) infatuation with the Obama campaign, their embrace of extreme left-wing politics, and the massive efforts through using their power to grant tremendous favorable exposure to Barack Obama creating his great mythic status while tarnishing other figures in the past election, it’s only natural the media would make Obama’s ascent to power a huge show business production. The media coverage leading up to Tuesday's inauguration ceremony is unprecedented.
Does not this massive celebration, the “whistle stop tour” beginning in Philadelphia making stops for huge public engagements such as what the city of Baltimore staged this afternoon to its final destination in Washington, DC smack of a kind of elite grandeur and overwhelming spectacle that is way out of sorts for how we have viewed our presidency in the past?
How well George W. Bush understood his office in his farewell address by noting:
It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your President. There have been good days and tough days. But every day I have been inspired by the greatness of our country and uplifted by the goodness of our people. I have been blessed to represent this Nation we love. And I will always be honored to carry a title that means more to me than any other: citizen of the United States of America.
In these words, our departing President gets it. This is what the United States is all about and surely the judgment of history will be much kinder to this humble man’s service to his country than the brutal mistreatment he received by the very same people who are thrusting superhuman status on his successor.
When the President of the United States is no longer one of us, that will be the end of us.
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