22
January 2013 –
Below is President
Obama Inaugural Speech 2013 Full Text Transcript. I have read the speech several times. It is progressive liberalism to its very
core. I wished for better.
The President hies
back to the credibility of the founders’ documents, but, he then fails to be
consistent with their intent. The
President stresses collective approaches to issues, and he then mentions only
federal government approaches to the issues.
His version of the people focuses only on the federal government’s
picking of winners and losers in the economy—in the name of ensuring
competition and fair play. His version
of taking care of the people means federal government programs that do not reward risk, hard work, and
individual initiative. They instead waste
incredible amounts of hard-earned taxes, and they have proven to perpetuate lower-economic
class stagnation. His version of the
people means the federal government knows best how the individual citizen
should live his life to ensure his basic “right” to “security and
dignity”. Nowhere did our President
mention the states, the local governments, the churches and other private
organizations, and most important, the family with mothers and fathers who
raise their children together. These are
the organizations that create the societal cohesion necessary to keep this
nation strong and free. For a
progressive, such a no-federal-government-approach is frustrating because it
doesn’t give him anything by which to garner power. Sadly, when he listed specific issues
important enough for a world-wide speech, he chose issues that ranged from
contentious, to wrong, to complex but doable, to unachievable; and, by mentioning
the horror of Newtown, he rendered his speech unseemly. His framing of these issues definitely makes
bipartisan solutions—all the people—difficult.
In true progressive
style, he warns us that we are following worn-out programs that are inadequate
to the needs of our time. This is the classic
progressive attitude toward anything that has gone on before, of decisions made
by anybody in the past. Unfortunately,
this also includes rejecting a literal reading of the Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution.
Finally, President
Obama says that perpetual war is not the answer. He was right.
President Bush blew it by using the military to nation-build in places
where it simply would not work. But,
then the President assumes that his brilliance on the international scene will
create friendships and trust that will, in effect, build stable nations. A classic progressive thought process. It seems that he wants his personality of trust
and friendship as the basis for international actions. History has shown that this is a foolish way
to protect a nation’s interests. The
world will always be a dangerous place, even for brilliant people like
President Obama. The world is full of
people who are just as power-hungry as he is.
Full text of the inaugural speech as released by the White
House...
Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members
of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:
Each time we gather to inaugurate a president,
we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the
promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not
the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names.
What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an
idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness.”
Today we continue a never-ending journey, to
bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history
tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been
self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by
His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the
tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave
to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each
generation to keep safe our founding creed.
For more than two hundred years, we have.
Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by
sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and
equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew, and
vowed to move forward together.
Together, we determined that a modern economy
requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and
colleges to train our workers.
Together, we discovered that a free market only
thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.
Together, we resolved that a great nation must
care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and
misfortune.
Through it all, we have never relinquished our
skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all
society’s ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of
initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and personal
responsibility, are constants in our character.
But we have always understood that when times
change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new
responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately
requires collective action. For the American people can no more meet the
demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met
the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person
can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children
for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will
bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do
these things together, as one nation, and one people.
This generation of Americans has been tested by
crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is
now ending. An economic recovery has begun. America’s possibilities are
limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries
demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk
and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment,
and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.
For we, the people, understand that our country
cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make
it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of
a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when every person can find
independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate
families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl
born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as
anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not
just in the eyes of God but also in our own.
We understand that outworn programs are
inadequate to the needs of our time. We must harness new ideas and technology
to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower
our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and reach
higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that
rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what
this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.
We, the people, still believe that every citizen
deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices
to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject
the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that
built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future.
For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in
poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do
not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or
happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our
lives, any one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or
a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other –
through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap
our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers;
they free us to take the risks that make this country great.
We, the people, still believe that our
obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We
will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so
would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the
overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of
raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards
sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America
cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations
the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its
promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national
treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That
is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what
will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.
We, the people, still believe that enduring
security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Our brave men and
women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and
courage. Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too
well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will
keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also
heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies
into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as
well.
We will defend our people and uphold our values
through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and
resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are
naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift
suspicion and fear. America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every
corner of the globe; and we will renew those institutions that extend our
capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world
than its most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa;
from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience
compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a
source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of
prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the
constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance
and opportunity; human dignity and justice.
We, the people, declare today that the most
evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides
us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and
Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left
footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk
alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably
bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.
It is now our generation’s task to carry on what
those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our
mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is
not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else
under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we
commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until
no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our
journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving,
hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright
young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled
from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the
streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown,
know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.
That is our generation’s task – to make these
words, these rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Happiness – real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does
not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all
define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to
happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about
the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our
time.
For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot
afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute
spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. We must act,
knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s
victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here
in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the
timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.
My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn
before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was
an oath to God and country, not party or faction – and we must faithfully
execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the words I spoke
today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs
up for duty, or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not so different
from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our
hearts with pride.
They are the words of citizens, and they
represent our greatest hope.
You and I, as citizens, have the power to set
this country’s course.
You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to
shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the
voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals.
Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and
awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common
purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and
carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.
Thank you, God Bless you, and may He forever
bless these United States of America.
