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| Rob's Soapbox | ||
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Congratulations!
You have finally landed on the one page on this entire site (and on the entire internet for that matter) that is purely without bullshit... my soapbox page. There are a lot of times during our show that, whether it's because of time constraints and other obligations, I don't always get to address some issues that I feel don't get the attention they deserve. There are even more times when I just don't feel like waiting until the show the next day to get some things off my chest. Thus, I have started the "Rob's Soapbox" page. If you have clicked on this page looking for someone to coddle your fragile sense of self-esteem, or tell you what you want to hear or to reinforce your outdated world view, then exit this page right now and go somewhere else. If you are in search of the last forum for reason and common sense left in the world, then sit back, relax, and enjoy. I make only one promise with this soapbox page... if you read long enough and often enough, you will eventually be offended. So here's my latest soapbox. Listen up, 'cause you just might learn something... |
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January 26th, 2009 THE SPEECH OBAMA SHOULD HAVE GIVEN It certainly didn’t take long for President Barack Obama to disappoint me. I suppose it was technically about 3 minutes into his presidency that I recognized that his inaugural address was one of the worst speeches he had ever given (a speech, ironically, he almost completely wrote himself…as opposed to the usual order of things when a man named David Axelrod writes almost every great speech Obama gives). It also didn’t take long for the lemmings who passionately follow Obama for no reason other than they “believe” in him to find a way to spin his moribund, depressing speech into one that they described as “somber and perfectly appropriate for the mood of the country.” The speech was awful. It was one of the worst inaugural speeches of the 56 ever given. It’s a shame too, because one talent Obama has that is un-arguable is his ability to give a soaring, perfectly delivered speech. Too bad he chose to concentrate on writing this one instead of just giving it. Imagine if President Obama had uttered the following words. Read it in his voice, not yours or mine, and challenge yourself to not be inspired:
My fellow Americans, I stand before you today at a time of great unease, global uncertainty and economic strife. My job today, we have been told, is to lower your expectations as to my ability to improve any of those things. Political pundits, observers and commentators across the world have said that today is the day I begin preparing you for the hard road that we have ahead. Many of you are here solely because you not just hoped, but dreamed for change. The wizards of smart will tell you that I embody that change and that today I must begin to let you down easy; today I must tell you that our troubles are too many, our hardships too great and our challenges too steep to be tackled, confronted or overcome anytime soon. In other words, it is with great honor and distinction that I am supposed to accept the office of the presidency of the United States and then tell you that the state of our union is crumbling and there’s not much we can do about it. Last November, millions of Americans chose to alter history. Millions of Americans were brave and courageous enough to go against what all of the experts said; there was no way that a skinny black kid from Chicago was going to be a nominee for president, let alone have a shot of becoming president. America chose to tell the experts they were wrong. Today, I too choose to tell the experts they are wrong. It is true that we face many challenges as a nation today; but I ask; when has that not been true? At what point in the history of the greatest nation on earth were things easy? At what time in our storied past did we stop looking to great leaders and courageous citizens alike to take our country forward towards becoming a more perfect union? The United States of America has confronted, stared down, defeated and overcome every great obstacle ever thrown its way; from plagues to slavery to natural disasters to countless wars across the globe, the attempted onset of worldwide communism all the way to our current struggle against global terror; America has graciously and proudly shouldered the necessary burden and workload of each of these tasks and has become a greater, stronger nation for it every time. Why should now be any different? I refuse to stand here today and tell you that all is lost; that America’s best days are behind her. I refuse to tell you to expect less of yourself, less of me and less of this nation because we are the United States of America; and if the world can’t expect the unattainable from us, then where will they look? We are the beacon of hope not just for millions of Americans, but for an entire globe. The world looks to us to lead because we have proven through our history that we can and we should. How dare we say now that things are too far gone? There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, a challenge too great for the United States of America. Those who wonder how and when and with what and in what manner do we solve our problems will begin getting their answers in the days ahead. Today is not a day for policy speeches and laundry lists of pet projects. Today is a day to set the record straight. Point one has been made; this is not the beginning of the end. The world can stop looking for a new nation to lead in our place. America remains the guiding light of freedom for the earth and we will continue to use the responsibility granted us by the power of our place in the world to defeat all challenges, big and small, near and far…and we will do this not for any reason related to me. I am merely a vessel; a placeholder, a humble servant entrusted with the greatest honor given; today I become the 44th president of the greatest nation on earth. As such, I am commander in chief of the greatest fighting force ever assembled in the history of the world and if anyone doubts our strength, make no mistake that we will more than happily prove to you our might and our resolve. America’s greatness does not rest with me. America’s greatness rests with you. As it has always been, it will once again be; Americans will lead the world out of and through its current challenges. This election was never about me it was about your unwavering support of and belief in a dream called the United States of America; Land of the free, home of the brave. You, Americans, you, are the ones who have always made this country great and will once again do so. It is my job to give you every tool needed to succeed, and to ensure the safety of the nation so that you can go about the work that needs to be done to lift not just this nation up but this world up. Today is not a day for pessimism or even for realism. We are the United States of America; a nation of dreamers built upon famous dream after famous dream; from Washington to Jefferson to Lincoln to Martin Luther King Junior. It was some 40 years ago that Martin Luther King had a dream not far from here that one day we would all live in a nation where we were not judged by the color of our skin but by the content of our character. His decisions, statements and policy changes since his inaugural have only further disappointed me; all of it symbolism over substance and meaningless blather; - He orders pay freezes for his staff when there were never any increases coming. That’s right; it’s like announcing each morning that you aren’t going to murder someone and being praised for that announcement. (by the way, as an aside, I ask you, how would not giving someone a raise make your life any better?) - He orders Guantanamo Bay’s detention center of terrorists closed, but doesn’t admit that he has no intention of letting the prisoners be free (he’s not an idiot after all, he’s just going to move them somewhere else). - He announces that no one who has lobbied the federal government within two years will be allowed in his administration, and then nominates as his deputy defense secretary a man who lobbied the Pentagon in 2008. Obama’s team’s response? “When you set strict rules, you need to have exceptions.” As a great philosopher once said, “What the fuck?” Nothing’s changed, folks. As I said it wouldn’t. The system remains corrupt and simply shuffles garbage in and garbage out. Policies will shift indicative of the fact that elections have consequences. Marijuana, abortion, and stem cell research will have far fewer restrictions. Environmentalism will take a front seat in most policy decisions. You get the idea; these changes and others in line with Obama’s ideology will occur and should, based on the outcome of Election Day. Nothing else will change. If Obama’s boring, pessimistic, pathetic inauguration speech didn’t convince you of that, nothing will. You’ll be left to continue to hope for change.
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