January 20, 2005
The Inauguration - Very Quick Impression
I'm sure Dubya's speech will get mined for blogsphere commentary for some time to come. I'll let Steve-O have the lion's share of space here for it, since he is, after all, a pro. As for my own two cent snap judgment, overall I was quite impressed with Dubya's call to actively pursue global freedom. Some people are dismissing this as idealistic Wilsonian foolishness, but what Dubya also made clear was that we do this not out of abstract motives of goodness but, in the end, for the very pragmatic reason of our own self-defense. Will we have the strength to stick it out and do the things that need to be done? We shall see.
On a completely different note - poor old Bill Rehnquist! I admire him for staggering out to administer the oath but, my gosh, what with his frail condition and the rasping of that breathing-tube thingy, he sounded just like Anniken Skywalker after Luke got his helmet off.
Posted by Robert at January 20, 2005 02:45 PMRegarding the judge, I heard on the radio that he broke his knee a year ago. Coupled with that odd tracheotomy (sp) and the thyroid radiation treatment- I agree. That is one strong willed man.
Posted by: RightWingDuck at January 20, 2005 02:51 PM
To me, the inaugural speech seemed like a call to revolution throughout the developing world. Throw off your chains, we'll help you. Not mere Wilsonianism by any means. To me, this suggests some real ass-kickings are going to be delivered when necessary. If I were a Syrian Ba'athist, an Iranian Mullah, a Saudi Sheikh, or the ever-so-ronery Kim Jong Il, I'd be trembling right now.
Needless to say, I'm pretty psyched about it. I'd like to see Chrenkoff's reaction; I'm sure it will be informative. Nothing like the opinion of someone who has experienced tyranny first hand.
It won't get done in four years. The real victory will be when it's adopted by the Democrats. This is just like the victory of containment as policy was only complete when Eisenhower adopted it, making it bipartisan.
When I heard about that spreading of global freedom, I thought "Oh my God! He is going to invade the World!" :)
