Whitehouse Blog

I thought President Obama's inaugural speech was a little disappointing when read for substance from afar, although I can imagine that it might have seemed more uplifting in person. I think the Wall Street Journal got it right in their pre-inaugural "The Opacity of Hope" editorial as they concluded:

"The complicated nature of our world means that every modern Presidency is to some extent a leap into the unknown. Mr. Obama's meteoric rise makes him a bigger leap than most. We don't know if he is a genuine man of the left, or a more traditional pragmatist. The audacity of our hope is that as President he will use his considerable talents to return his party to the policies of growth, opportunity and the vigorous defense of U.S. interests that marked it the last time the country had such great expectations for a Democratic President -- under JFK."

To me, Obama didn't start well with his first official act being this rather vague and plainly accusatory proclamation. The idea of a "National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation" suggesting that we have a "glorious burden" to take on after we reconcile ourselves to our past sins seems more than a little over the top. I'm sorry, but I don't think everything will be OK if we just say we're sorry for whatever was meant by discord and leave it to the Dem's to "remake this nation" into a welfare state while Obama provides aircover from critisim from the moral high ground of the bully pulpit of a black President.

I did like the new WhiteHouse.gov site and the new blog. Let's hope the Obama administration gets over this initial theatrical thing, and gets down to business with as transparent and fresh an approach as is exhibited here.