Obama's Inauguration Address

Like millions of people in the US and around the world, me and my brother was waiting for Obama's inauguration speech on January 20th 2009. The timing falls smack dab in the middle of the night between January 20th 2009 and January 21st 2009, Jakarta time. It's the first time in the history of the world that an African American is inaugurated as president of the United States, and both of us felt that it was way more than worth it to watch the whole proceeding on TV. It was historic.

I still remember one particular day in '07 when I was staying in the US for business purposes. I was at a local bookstore near my apartment and I saw Obama's book. It just came to my attention then that he was running for president. I could only smile, remembering that racial issues run deep in any country, and I thought to myself it would still be awhile until an African American can be a president of the United States (much more so for a Chinese to be president in Indonesia...fat chance). Then my friend pointed out that Obama's stepfather was Indonesian. Interesting piece of fact, I said to myself. I smiled, and just said to my friend that indeed it would be really interesting if he gets elected (the Indonesian connection, dude! It sure will get people back home talking). But, I added, that the probability of such thing seemed to be rather small.

The bastard proved me wrong.
Which was a good thing.

Forward again to the present. 3 hours before the ceremony we were already glued to the TV screen. We tuned in to CNN and they were showing how crowded it was outside of Capitol Hill building. Sea of people came to watch the inauguration ceremony, and many more tuned in from around the US and around the world (including the both of us). Many among these people who came to Capitol Hill were African American, and I could understand why. Their dream has suddenly come true.

I've heard how Obama delivers speech, and I would like to hear what he has to say on his inauguration. From what I've read in many news and magazines, it seemed that he has been bracing for tough times ahead. He hit the ground running, even before he was inaugurated, choosing people for his administration and prepping them for a tough 4 years and working from a humble transition office. He scheduled a 5-hour meeting one day after he got elected. The man definitely don't want to waste time. I would like to see what he has in store for his inauguration.

He surely was prepared, and in control of himself. It was only a little tid bit, but during the swearing in I thought he stumbled and forgot his lines. But after the address was over a CNN commentator stated that it was not his forgetting his lines but it was the other person's fault. He actually remembered and was waiting for the other guy to correct his own mistakes. He was calm and collected during the entire ceremony.

And now about the address.

The address immediately took a sober tone right at the beginning, listing all major crisis the Americans are facing and the mistakes that the country as a whole have made. He calls for Americans to start getting up and start doing some real actions of wasting time in political debates. It was like saying "Ask not what your country can do for you" but in a "get up off your lazy bum and start getting it real" kind of tone. He also stated that America is willing to mend relations but is not hesitant to take a hard stand should some choose to resort to violent means.

The address was quite multidimensional, citing not only political and economical matters, but called forth the American heritage and the old values that still hold true up until today (old values that applies to everyone, not only Americans). It also reminded how far the Americans have gone since the time of the slavery and the segregation, reminded them not because of trying to open up old wound but to show what people could achieve if they have the courage to put body and soul into it.

All in all, the inauguration address was quite a wake-up call for Americans. And in my opinion it should also be a wake-up call to everyone in the world as citizen of the Earth. Obama certainly had no reservations on delivering such a hard, sober speech. Even I was cringing many times during the address. Those were not easy words.

The address was delivered without flaw. In this regard I'd like to say that Obama is indeed a charismatic orator. For a script of the address, please go to this link and for the video of the address go to this link.

It was indeed a historic moment. America is not my country, but it's hard not to share the excitement over this historic moment. I grew up in Indonesia, but along the way I come to appreciate the values that they uphold, values that we in Indonesia said to uphold as well but in reality almost do not exist. Even these days, I thought that these values have gone from the face of the Earth, that perhaps they only exist in fairy tales, but now the Americans have proved me wrong.

The road ahead for them is still unclear. Obama still has to put his words into actions. We shall see that in the next 4 years. But his inauguration is indeed an important milestone in the history of the world.

On November 4th 2008 and January 20th 2009, every Americans have every rights to be proud.