January
21, 2013 was a day when pomp and circumstance took over. It was the inauguration of President Obama
for his second term in office. It
reminded me of past inaugurations. I am
still somewhat of a political junkie so when it comes to things like
inaugurations, elections, and political conventions I tend to pay attention
more so than a lot of other people.
There is something unique about each of those events. Maybe it’s because of the way they are
structured in our country. You have to
admit our political system has stood the test of more than 200 years.
But it seems we are fraying around the edges. Some would just come out and say the system
is broke because we cannot seem to get anything done. We almost cannot agree on anything. Posturing has replacing consensus
building. My way or the highway has
replaced compromise. The rhetoric has
become almost acidic to the point of poisoning the system and prompting the
vast majority of people to simply no longer care. The rhetoric has also divided this country to
the point where divine intervention may be the only thing that closes the chasm
between people.
There is an answer though, even if it becomes only a
starting place for reducing our differences and providing a point from which we
can again seek consensus and compromise.
This was inauguration week and inaugural addresses are sometime known
for just a sentence. President Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you,
but ask what you can do for your country” comes to mind. Then there is this…which was tucked away in
an inaugural address less than a decade later.
“Greatness comes
in simple trappings.
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The simple
things are the ones most needed today if we are to surmount what divides us,
and cement what unites us.
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To lower our
voices would be a simple thing.
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In these
difficult years, America has suffered from a fever of words; from inflated
rhetoric that promises more than it can deliver; from angry rhetoric that
fans discontents into hatreds; from bombastic rhetoric that postures instead
of persuading.
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We cannot learn
from one another until we stop shouting at one another—until we speak quietly
enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices.”
Sounds like it
applies to this day and age. But it
was President Nixon who said it in 1969 at his inauguration, following the
tumultuous year of 1968 which included the Tet offensive, the assassinations
of Kennedy and King and the unrest in major cities including 1968 Democratic
National Convention in Chicago.
Perhaps those
words from 1969 should apply to today.
Just some food for thought from someone who is getting tired of the
rhetoric.
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“We cannot learn
from one another until we stop shouting at one another—until we speak quietly
enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices.”
Richard
Nixon 1969
