If the merit of a president could be condoned by their oratory skills, Obama would already be at the level of a Reagan, Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt. Unfortunately for Obama, the merit of a president is discovered through the process of his actions. The first speech of our newly elected President indicates his fervent willingness to break away from the ideals of our founding fathers. This most memorable of speeches is littered with so many contradictions and ironies; it’s like walking into an AA meeting when everyone is drunk.
Before he even spoke a word, we were witness to the first ironic gesture as he placed his hand on President Lincoln’s Bible. This symbolically spoke of contradictions. Common knowledge of Lincoln was that he freed the slaves in his Emancipation Proclamation, yet this is only true depending on where the slaves were located. The proclamation, if closely read, only freed slaves “In rebellion against the United States.”
As the London Spectator mocked shortly thereafter, “The Principle (of the Proclamation) is not that a human being cannot justly own another, but that he cannot own him unless he is loyal to the United States.”
Therefore, Lincoln only really freed slaves in areas he had no control in, as in the slaves located in rebellion to the Union.
Contradiction number one.
The next contradiction came from the most sacred of oaths itself. The President’s job is to execute the laws constitutionally passed by congress. When the founding fathers gathered to produce a great and free country, they took meticulous care as to how the government was to be chartered. It was imperative to these men that they protected their people against both anarchy and tyranny. As odd as it may seem, they feared democracy as much as any of us alive today fear a totalitarian dictator.
As Benjamin Franklin once said “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what’s for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb protesting the vote.”
Their goal was not to set up a democracy, but a constitutionally-restricted republic. When a man like Obama took the oath to protect the Constitution, he perpetrated an enormous contradiction. It is impossible to both protect something and seek to destroy it. Obama has been on record as saying that the constitution is highly defective since it does not allow for the redistribution of wealth. Alluding to the ‘positive’ rights Obama wishes were in the constitution, i.e. the forced confiscation of money from some to be given to others. The constitution was set up with certain negative rights, what a government cannot do to its citizens. This is how to properly protect individual rights.
Contradiction number two.
In his speech itself Obama spoke of individuals who questioned his ability to execute his grand schemes. Claiming that “their memories are short.” And, that those cynics no longer remember what free men and women were able to accomplish. Yet, the irony is that Obama has forgotten that it was men and women who were able to labor in freedom, to usher in a new era of prosperity unhindered by their government. It was not individuals joined in some unnamed ‘common’ purpose, but individuals striving for the pursuit of happiness that achieved America’s greatness.
Contradiction number three.
I have learned, as I’m sure most of you have, that we are all in for disappointments if we try and find any real substance in a political speech. History has shown that politicians are renowned for their ability to say one thing and do another. It is my personal hope that this man, my president, will chuck aside his ideals for a more socialist America, and resume the mantle of the freest country on earth. For the success or failure of a presidency isn’t determined by its beginnings. It is determined by how they leave the state of the union upon their departure.
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