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Can Obama Eradicate Cynicism?

The poignancy and historical importance of the moment cannot be overlooked - the inauguration of the first Black president.

Slavery and Jim Crow have been America's deepest scar, a sharp rebuke to our founding principles.

For this reason, I have long regarded Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday was fittingly celebrated just the day before Barack Obama's inauguration, as one of three indispensible Americans.

George Washington was indispensible to the founding of the Republic. Abraham Lincoln was indispensible to preserving it. And King was indispensible to beginning the process of healing it.

Electing a Black president doesn't mean that the wounds of slavery and Jim Crow are healed. But it is a testimony to the opportunity an America true to its principles proffers, and to the man whose character, ability and good will persuaded his fellow Americans to entrust him with the leadership of our country.

Now, however, Obama has to govern.

Obama's inaugural address indicates a moderate with big ambitions and plans.

Obama's chief challenge, of course, is to repair the American economy.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt took over in much tougher economic times, he told the American people that their plight was not of their own making. Instead, he blamed it on "unscrupulous money changers" whom he vowed to bring to heel.

These are different economic troubles, and Obama didn't let us off the hook. He did say that our difficulties were partly a "consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some," but also of "our collective failure to make hard choices." He called for a "new era of responsibility."

While promising a more watchful eye on the market, he nevertheless credited it with an unmatched "power to generate wealth and expand freedom."

And, as an emblem of the promise of the American creed, he staunchly embraced its founding pieties.

So, Obama doesn't claim to be "writing a new chapter in our book of self-government," as FDR did, but to continuing the story he has inherited.

Nevertheless, the reach of Obama's ambition is considerable.

He is proposing that the federal government occupy a bigger space in our economy than anytime since the end of World War II, and considerably bigger than FDR instituted during the Great Depression.

He reiterated his call for a new politics that goes beyond "stale political arguments," such as over whether government is too big or too small.

He called for a new start with the Muslim world, based upon "mutual interest and mutual respect." He foresaw a world in which old hatreds pass, the lines of tribe dissolve and a shrinking world reveals a common humanity.

He offered a hand to authoritarian regimes that unclench their fists.

Obama dismissed the cynics "who question the scale of our ambitions." They "fail to understand that the ground has shifted beneath them."

Perhaps. It would be nice to believe in Obama's vision of a more harmonious and less dangerous world. Still, it is important to see the world as it is, not as one wishes it were. It is uncertain whether Obama truly sees the world as it really is. If not, like Jimmy Carter, he's probably in for a rude awakening.

And on domestic policy, those old arguments aren't stale, and aren't replaced by an appeal to what works. What works is part of what those arguments are all about.

But, on this occasion, even a certified cynic can put his reservations momentarily aside.

Obama has trod a remarkable path, and with him, so has the country.

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Related Topics: barack obama | inauguration | race issues |

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