So, let's see, what kind of a day was Tuesday, February 24
in Washington?
It was cold but dry. Blustery. And beyond that...well, the chairman of the Fed
said that recovery from the economic crisis
was
in sight and should begin early
in 2010. And then the president reiterated that message in a very
nearly
pitch
perfect speech to a joint session of Congress that clearly
outlined a path to
recovery built around truly transformational energy, healthcare and education
agendas.
He focused on investing in the engines of innovation
in the U.S. economy
and on responsibility and fiscal soundness with the kind of balance and clarity
that has eluded other senior members of his team. And to top it off, the White
House indicated
that the president would soon announce a plan that would have
U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by August 2010 and out of the country altogether
by the end of 2011.
Not a bad day.
Now, I'm not a big fan of the stimulus and I think the
decision to shift a lot of our national security chips into
Afghanistan will ultimately prove a source of
potentially tragic frustration for the United States. I think the
financial rescue was bobbled, that the tone of the President's recent speeches
on the economy has been too negative and I
thought Monday's fiscal
responsibility tea-party was staged and not a little cynical. But Obama was
excellent last night and his speech was just what the doctor ordered. He
offered vision and leadership and he touched all the key points on the economic
and the foreign policy side.
You can say "oh, but it's just a speech and he's good at
speeches" and you can cavil with details, but last night you had the
fulfillment of a promise made on election day. America can be different. The
President can lead with grace and intelligence and a seemingly sincere effort
toward bi-partisanship. We can break
with the fear-mongering and the cruelty and the blundering of the Bush years
and get back to trying to tap into what Lincoln
called "the better angels of our nature."
Whether this is a watershed, a new president starting to hit
his stride, or it was just a momentary high water mark, it is so different in
every respect from the dross of George W. Bush and the gradual descent into
ickiness of Bill Clinton that it is worth savoring. Not just a little.
A lot. And,
even in deeply troubling, trying times, it is enough to conjure genuine hope,
the first true optimism after a seemingly interminable winter of
discontents.
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