In My Own Words - Ron Centeno

When President Barack Obama took the stand to deliver his inaugural speech, the crowd anticipated a dash of hope amid all the woes at hand. The expectation, however, came out a little less than expected. The new leader of the world’s prosperous nation was under no illusion that a quick fix in the country’s economic debacle is in the offing. The somber notes he delivered in that icy platform of the Capitol Hills was evidenced by a handful of roars from the sea of humanity that trooped to the historic occasion.

Recall that the president recognized the U. S. economy to be badly weakened. Apparently, such recognition was done in the hope that his incoming administration shall be given the much needed running room to figure out the enormity of the economic damages left behind by his predecessor.

Note, however, that across America, people are sympathetic to Obama’s plea – which is a good thing - including Mark McKinnon, a former consultant for Senator John McCain. According to McKinnon, “People are going to give Obama more time than they would any other new president because they know he is dealing with unprecedented challenges.” True enough, Obama declared that, “the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily in a short span of time.” With that, the country loaned Obama some time, how much time, however, no one knows. Even his designated chief of staff, Rahm Emmanuel “will not put time on it.”

To those in the know, two years or longer is their best estimate based on the running time of the country’s economic recession. According to David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, one way for the president to earn patience from the American public has something to do with tone. Plouffe’s observation was validated by the shift in Obama’s inaugural speech compared to his presidential campaign rhetoric.

Obama rationalized further that he was taking the office in challenging times, both domestic and foreign, including economic crisis equivalent to that of the Great Depression when Franklin D. Roosevelt moved into the White House. It is of no consequence that collectively the American people must adopt a more self-denying way of life with little room for “those who prefer leisure over work or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.”

In an effort to heed Obama’s call for change as a means to turn around the ill-fitted economy, the entire nation, Democrats or Republicans, is left without recourse but to give his administration a chance to prove itself. Hence, Obama’s supplication for the return to the so-called traditional American virtues of hard work, fair play, tolerance and sacrifice for the common good is not a difficult proposition.

He urged that “starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.” This urging is a testament to the fact that there are massive jobs to be done to reaffirm the greatness of the country. Again, this is another way of reminding the American people that the tasks ahead require considerable time.

It was evident that those in the crowd and elsewhere whose expectations run high but met with a plea to collectively tackle the “raging storm” must come into terms that, indeed, there is no quick fix to match the enormity of woes before them.

(Photo By: BL1961 on Flickr)