I have to confess: for all the excitement that I feel about the 44th President of the United States, to me today it is not so much about what is starting, but what has finally come to an end.
Sure, the outgoing administration has been reduced to the status of “lame duck” for months, possibly as long as two years now; and I know it’s dismal thinking, for one should always look forward, not dwell into the past and all that, but… the thing is, entertaining a healthy and frank national conversation over the “mistakes” (let’s make this euphemism day) that were committed over the past eight years, leading to a clear attribution of responsibilities, is a necessary step to avoid the same “mistakes” in the future (apparently I am not the only one to think that way).
This is not about “revenge”, or “settling the score”. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, wrote philosopher and poet George Santayana. So, as a huge fraction of the world population celebrates change this day, as a new US administration headed by a cool, intelligent, educated and well-spoken African American readies to tackle unprecedented challenges on all fronts, a clear collective assessment of what has prompted this desire, no, eagerness for change in the first place (beyond the simple exercise of democratic transfer of power) is still badly needed. Let’s not skip that part, please.
Tags: History, Politics, Progressive
January 20, 2009 at 11:00 am |
Now if only that sort of change could sweep North of the border too… I guess we’ll see what we’re in for in a week.
January 20, 2009 at 11:59 am |
People have incredibly short memories sometimes. The media don’t help much in that regard.
January 20, 2009 at 6:02 pm |
Huh?! Somebody made a mistake? Really?! You must be thinking of some other country.
January 20, 2009 at 9:13 pm |
What Bush-Cheney and their goons did these last eight years was simply beyond the pale. Allowing them to simply walk away from it should itself constitute a crime.
January 21, 2009 at 10:11 am |
Cherish — nah, I was just kidding. The last eight years have been one heckuva job.
Ian — as much as I disagree with the Conservatives and I do not see Harper as the right person to be leading us at this time, I honestly don’t think (or, I don’t want to believe anyway) that they can ever get to the same level of moral and intellectual corruption as the outgoing US administration.
Cath and Transient, thanks for the comments.