I admit to being somewhat displeased by the Inauguration speech yesterday. It had its finer moments, certainly. But someone should have slashed it by at least a third, maybe two thirds.
Side note: the invocation should never be longer than Lincoln's second Inaugural--700 words. Yesterday's invocation reached new lows of ridiculousness. The benediction, however, was delightful.
Back to the main rant: the Inauguration is not the time or place to stick it to the previous administration. It's all about the peaceful transfer of power, not stomping on your predecessor. True, a significant chunk of the population craves hearing that utter rejection and condemnation of the last eight years--and may have especially relished watching the outgoing President sit there and take it. Nevertheless, that speech should have been saved for the State of the Union. There, it would be appropriate to update Congress on our disastrous situation and the new President could simultaneously scold Congress for its own role in creating it. But the Inaugural speech should not be about recriminations, however subtle.
Similarly, I found the speech heavy on statements geared toward the foreign audience. True, leader of the free world and all that, but you must lead your own country before you can lead the world. I wouldn't have cut every reference to our friends and enemies abroad, but I would have encouraged heavy pruning.
But these points are merely signposts to the crux of the speech's problem: it lacked a central theme. He tried to say too much to too many. There was no distillation of message or sifting of priorities. It was a shotgun speech, a blunderbuss, even a bit of a mess.
Ah, well. It was a moment, for all that.
Well said.
Posted by: Boy | January 21, 2009 at 12:02 PM
Agreed, 1000%. I actually flinched a little at the subtle jabs because I thought they were ill-placed and unnecessary and almost made me feel sorry for W and that's the last thing I want to feel.
I submit that this is further proof that one of us should be in charge.
Posted by: LL | January 21, 2009 at 02:00 PM