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Americans unite in D.C. for freedom

By Amber Smith

 

After President Obama concluded his second inaugural speech, Richard Blanco read the poem he prepared for the occasion, Kelly Clarkson and Beyoncé sang, Rev. Luis Leon gave the benediction and CBS resumed its newsroom coverage of the event as the Presidential party filed back into the Capitol for signing and lunch.

The first thing Bob Schieffer said afterwards was that he heard no call to action from President Obama’s speech nor did he hear him ask the nation for anything. We must have been listening to two different speeches.

We heard the 44th President of the United States take his second inaugural oath before addressing the masses on Capitol Hill and, thanks to the live news coverage, the viewers at home. President Obama invoked the works of our Declaration of Independence saying these ideals are what make us American.

“What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago,” he said. “‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’

“Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time,” he continued. “For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth.”

This was Obama’s call to action. This was Obama telling Congress to act with these principles in mind. This was Obama calling the people to act, and encourage their representatives, to act on our cherished American values.

Schieffer said he was expecting to hear something like JFK’s “Ask not what your country can do for you…” line, but never heard that in Obama’s speech.

We heard Obama call the American people to unite–to act as one towards a common goal for the greater good of our nation and the world.

“…[W]e have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action,” he said. “For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias.”

“No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores.  Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people.”

Later, the President’s speech took a turn befitting of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day inauguration as Obama began to sound even more like a civil rights leader with sentiments like, “We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few.”

Obama then addressed some policy changes to address in the near future. He said that we will respond to the threat of climate change, perpetual war is not necessary to sustain peace, women deserve equal pay, love between gay couples is equal to that of straight couples and that children must be cherished while being kept safe.

President Obama spoke wisely in saying, “Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time” and that the oath he sworn in his inauguration “was an oath to God and country, not party or faction.”

Like the President, we believe that the time to act is now. As he said, citizens have the power to set this country’s course. Let’s make sure that the course we set is the right one. Let us work for the good of our brethren. We all must work together to ensure that all people are treated equally under the law as well as in our daily interactions. Let us unite in the spirit of peace for our world and for the advancement of all people.

In the words of President Obama, “My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.”

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