The Royal Inauguration

by Gordon Cooper

From Broader View Weekly, January 30, 2009

I am sure that there is not a thesaurus in the press rooms or broadcast networks that has not been torn apart these past few days as gleeful media mavens sought some fresh and unique adjective for “historic”. It seems that all the other positive descriptive words eventually became overused and redundant as the parroting press corps fell over themselves while they jointly and joyfully hailed our new Chief Executive.

One of the first indications of how significant and unique this inauguration would be came to me as I sat in a Shoney’s off I-81 North in central Virginia. As my son and I were enjoying the buffet, three large tour buses full of Obama supporters (according to their T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats) joined us. As I contemplated the fact that the these buses had been traveling from Texas, I considered that they had already been on the road for at least a day or two and they still had to find lodging and food for at least three more days before they returned home. I realized, then, how great an investment they were willing to make.

Now, here in this great nation of ours, at least for the time being, you can make these types of financial investments and travel to whatever lengths you choose to be a part of whatever celebration or event that fits your fancy. I, therefore, do not disparage anyone for making any financial investment or time commitment to any cause that moves them. However, I would like to offer some advice to those caught up in this (okay, I’ll use it) historic moment.

I am not here to rain on the global parade of good feelings and renewed hope, but instead, I just want to point your eyes toward a small dark cloud on the horizon. While we all like to bask in the sunlight – and Obama’s speech offered enough of that to those who considered the past eight years as walking through the fog – we have to be grown-up enough to realize that sunny days do not last forever.

My brother has taken up the common, liberal practice of misquoting, misapplying and taking out of context my words about the 2004 election. In that discussion I was stressing that, while the Executive branch is a powerful part of our government, it is only one leg of three-legged stool. I also stressed that my personal happiness and joy was not dependent upon who sat behind a desk in Washington. I still have a family to support and a job (well, really, I have three jobs) to do, regardless of who is signing those Executive Orders. And, in the course of supporting my family and doing my jobs I often find happiness and joy; while I have yet to find either in any Federal program or legislative action.

Now, to the cloud. I am sorry to say that there are several reasons for subduing our feelings of euphoria and glee, at least just a little bit.

First of all, while everyone is eagerly gazing through the windshield toward a future filled with great things to come, it is important to look toward the rearview mirror of history as well. History tells us that it takes more than clever words and a grand oratorical style to foster real change and to deal with real crises. Obama’s skills as a speaker are well noted and I will add, well deserved. As my brother again takes space to attack the former president for his oratorical deficiencies, I feel as though I should remind him that Bush’s actions have kept our children safe from attack on our soil since 2001. His actions have also resulted in safer neighborhoods in Baghdad.

Words are nice and they are definitely powerful, but to this point, I am sorry to say that Obama reminds me of the line from the old Bee Gees song; “It’s only words, and words are all I have to take your heart away”. In the first week of his term, Obama has already shown us that those words may not always ring as true as we had hoped. For example, he touted a new “transparency” to his administration, as if we could expect a new level of integrity. Yet he went forward with his nominee for Secretary of the Treasury despite the fact that the man who will be in charge of making sure we all dutifully pay our fair share of taxes has chosen to defy the very laws he is charged to enforce. Let’s watch that dark cloud, friends and neighbors.

Another shadow to watch in these next few months and years is the seemingly complicit news media. The independence of the “Fourth Estate” is a necessary component of freedom. However, I see a troubling lack of holding Obama accountable by our shrinking news media. It has been noted by Jim VanderHei of Politico that our news outlets are facing cutbacks like every other industry, and the shrinking resources and manpower will translate into less investigative reporting and less accountability in our government.

So, enjoy the sunlight for today, but keep an eye on the sky!