The Inauguration, Outside Looking In

[bjarvis]

I find presidential inaugurations somewhat bewildering. Perhaps it's because I'm not American. I haven't been immersed in awe and deference for the White House since birth. Cheering national institutions comes naturally to most Americans; it's part of the culture. I don't any problem with this except that there is inevitable muddling between symbols and the object itself, between offices and their occupants.

Perhaps it's because I'm Canadian: the idea of investing such huge expectations into a prime minister is perfectly laughable. I'm from a country small enough that I've had the chance to shake hands with many of the men (and one woman) who have been or aspired to be prime minister and I know first hand that they are flesh & blood, mortal, limited, with all the faults to which our merely human minds, souls and body are heir. Culturally, we know the PMs we like and hate are not very different from ourselves. Politically, we know the PM is merely the first among equals, only slightly above other Parliamentarians, provincial premiers and other elected officials. The US president speaks from a podium elevated above the nation, surrounded by security details and the symbols of office; a prime minister speaks from a step-stool from which he can be easily brushed aside by an elderly great-grandmother with a walker.

So while I find the US inauguration process fascinating from an etiquette and protocol point of view --was I the only one more curious about the order of introductions of the dignitaries than Mr. Obama's inauguration speech?-- I find the cheering mobs and faces sobbing with joy somewhat bewildering.

This is the third such event since I moved to Washington DC. Of the three, today's inauguration is by far the largest, most elaborate and celebrated. I suspect this is because the prior two inaugurations were held under the cloud of electoral malfeasance if not outright fraud.

It doesn't hurt that the US is moving out from the shadow of an intellectually lacking, unimaginative, dullard of a president into the light of a man who at least thinks about consequences & costs and who considers facts which don't match his preferred and pre-programmed world view. After the last eight years, almost anyone would be heralded into office as an improvement.

I also think the dark national haze goes back further than Bush II, to the election of Newt Gingrich as speaker of the House of Representatives. To me, that's when the national mood began sliding from confidently building a better tomorrow for all into confidently acting with malice to anyone not white, wealthy, straight and Christian.

Still, despite the desire to be more hopeful and optimistic, I can't help but feel we're all investing too much into one man. There are limits on his office: he has influence but also constraints. He can persuade Congress to support him but he cannot force them. He can pull on the reins of power but he cannot singly remake the entirety of the US federal gov't in even a full four year term. He can talk with and cajole other nations, but he cannot move them by force, especially when the US' economic and political capital are at all-time lows. I wish it were otherwise, but the task is too big and the downward spiral of the past number of years has huge momentum.

Getting rid of the failed old guard is the first, most necessary part of the solution. At least now, there is the possibility of improvement.

Comments

[squalidbear.livejournal.com]

You Canadians and your British stiff upper lips ;)

The sobbing classes would burst into hysterical tears if they were selected for the Price is Right, no-one ever taught them proper reserve.

[wescobear.livejournal.com]

Let's talk about the big pink elephant in the room, shall we? Liberals like myself would be relieved and happy at the prospect of any Democrat being elected. Would there be such huge, elated crowds if it were any other of the Democratic candidates who had prevailed? I think not (not even if it had been Hillary.)

But to someone black and to a lesser extent, a member of any minority, Barack Obama's election shatters the last glass ceiling in the US. The office of President of the United States is no longer an exclusively white boys club. Interesting side note; Joe Biden is the first Catholic Veep.

Well, what did you expect anyway from a nation of grown men who paint themselves lurid team colors and hang out at ball games only to be reduced to tears at a bad play?

[(Anonymous)]

cajole other natinos...

Hmmm, sounds sorta fun!

[jeffbriggs.livejournal.com]

I think your last statement sums it up best. Improvement can only come with this administration in my view and I think as a world we are all looking for some kind of hope to latch onto. Obama will have his shortfalls, he has already shown us a few, but I shudder to think at the alternative that could be moving into the white house today.

[billeyler.livejournal.com]

Even as a native-born US citizen, I agree. I'm just crossing my fingers that the heady haze of hope surrounding the nation doesn't dissipate too quickly.

[paigemom.livejournal.com]

Didn't watch; too busy. But even as a confirmed cryer, the sobbing multitudes would have confused the heck out of me, too.

[ohwolfman.livejournal.com]

Goddammnit. Bush was right. Foreigners hate us for our freedom.

Double-goddamit. This means that I pal around with terrorists.

[pectopah.livejournal.com]

As an American living in Canada, it was interesting to watch the inauguration (on CBC Newsworld, of course) from a distance.

I lived in DC during the Reagan and Bush I years and was both energized/excited by the Imperial City and a little uncomfortable when things got Patriotic (and relative to Bush II, it was kind of muted).

Your points on Obama are well taken. I thought his speech today set the right tone and even cynical old me was moved enough to think that change for the good will be coming at some level.

[trawnapanda.livejournal.com]

I'm with you, Brian, in that attaching this much ceremonial and attention and indeed celebration to the Prime Minister (particularly the present one, but we don't need to go down that road) just does not compute.

Part of the contrast I believe is the difference between the two national cultures, the flag-waving rah-rah-rah in the US versus the more restrained introvert Canadian approach.

The other difference is that Mr Obama has just become a head of state, as well as a head of government. Our PM is only a head of government. While we do have a bit of a splash when we change Governors-General, the last time we changed our head of state was 1952, and the coronation was 1953, before even I was born, and long before you. And that was A Big Splash.

(while the Queen certainly is elderly [I should be doing so well when I'm 82 - though obviously she has good longevity genes], right now she's only a grandmother, not a great-grandmother; and she's not using a walker yet. Though she does have the power to push the PM off his podium.)

[pklexton.livejournal.com]

I must admit I found the actual swearing in a little stirring, though the oath flubbing actually helped to bring me back to earth.

To me, the haze began before Newt. There was the horrible shocker of November 1980, which brought us the Gipper and that wife of his with the freakishly large head, and before that Tricky "I Am Not a Crook" Nixon.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

I think this cartoon, which appeared on the editorial page of today's Boston Globe, is apposite.

[airporter.livejournal.com]

"I've had the chance to shake hands with many of the men (and one woman) who have been or aspired to be prime minister"

You're originally from Ontario, if I recall correctly (and do tell me to shut it if I'm wrong here,) so you would have seen many of the more impotent politicians Canada's raised up over your lifetime. Years ago, my father was visibly excited that a PM was going to visit BC and not much has changed since. It's rare that a PM is here for a publicly available function. Meeting them would be cool, if only to confirm their humanity.

For the drama that is US politcs, I'm totally in sync with your bewilderment. Regrettably, I'm not as polite and positive in my expression of same, and fear I've occasionally (frequently?) offended. I keep thinking Mr. Obama and his crew have potential, so could you all just hush and let him get down to it? Now if only I could stop saying it.