Thought for the Day: December in Pennsylvania, January in DC
January 20, 2009
First things first:
Today's theme is "The Crisis then for our Crisis now".
So I won't go on about how profound and historic today is, except to note, as one of my colleagues reminded me, today again marks the peaceful transition of power between rival political factions, one of the great things about America, and something that is probably happened less than 1,000 times in the entire history of the world.
However, I did want to note how much I enjoyed this passage from President Obama's Inaugural Address:
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet it."
President Obama was drawing from Thomas Paine's "The Crisis, Vol. 1", a document which all Americans should take some time to read. Though the specifics have changed, many of the sentiments have not.
I hope that America can meet the lofty challenge set forth in today's address. The wonderful thing about America is that there's always hope.
That's all for today, until next time,
I am Craig Barker, taking this consolation with him.
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