Reflections on Obama's Inauguration

Two days ago, I got to watch the inauguration of Barak Obama. Although I was as unhappy with his victory over McCain as I was with McCain's nomination, my perception of Obama has since been tempered.

My initial reaction to his victory was one of disappointment and foreboding. I do a decent job of following politics; I know what kind of president McCain or Clinton would have been. I knew nothing about Obama when he put in his name for nomination. Even today, I don't know what kind of president Obama will be. We have his words about what he will do, but what president ever rigidly followed his campaign promises? It seems that once you arrive at the White House, you notice there are a lot more messes to clean up than you originally thought, and your speeches have a way of being pushed to the side in favor of more pressing matters.

On the flip side, I don't think Obama is going to reduce the U.S. to a socialist state. I don't think that he is the harbinger of the apocalypse. Like all presidents, he will do some good and some bad. There is just no escaping it: fixing problems causes other problems and not fixing problems prevents other problems. It's amazing the federal government doesn't go insane.

The lingering fear I do have is that a single party controls the White House and both houses of Congress. Historically, this often leads to problems. A "rubber stamping" mentality has often led to problems (ie. the internment of Japanese-Americans, the Patriot Act, etc.) because cooperation between the parties is not needed. As someone once told me, "it is more important to listen to your enemies because they will tell you those things you don't know, but should." When once party controls the government, they can pass laws without the help of the opposition, which often means important issues are not brought up.

So, it will be interesting to see what happens over the next four years. I hope it's good.