The Speech That Will Be Written in Stone?

By Samuel Mattei

At 12 in the afternoon on January 20, 2009 Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th President of The United States of America. The induction was followed by the highly anticipated inaugural speech.

The media had been talking about this speech since the night of November 4th when Obama won the presidential election over rival John McCain. He has been known to write speeches over long periods of time and when needed, very short periods of time.

Obama spent four months in 2004 preparing his speech for the Democratic Convention titled "In No Other Country." This speech is what started his buzz around the nation as someone who could possibly lead the Democratic party back to greatness. When Obama was confronted with controversy over Reverend Jeremiah Wright's sermons he was able to write his "A More Perfect Union" speech given in Philadelphia in only 2 days.

The media had been held down with anticipation over the upcoming speech. Obama-maniacs were listening to what there President-Elect was saying. That he had been studying past inauguration speeches from some of the greatest Presidents of all time including Lincoln, Roosevelt and even Regan.

His followers were convinced. This upcoming speech would one day be set in stone for our grandchildren and their grandchildren and their grandchildren's grandchildren to look upon for inspiration. The celebration would be one for the ages.

Barack Obama took the stage in his usual calm cool stance. Ready to make one of the biggest speeches in history without breaking a sweat. He walked up to the podium. Looking through the crowd you could feel that this could possibly be a moment that could define our generation.

Obama started out by making it clear he was thankful. Thankful for the nations trust. Thankful for putting him in his current position. He began explaining that though this is a time for celebration, it is also a time for work. A time for for the citizens of America to rise up to the challenge their ancestors had. To make our America a better future for the upcoming generations.

He understood what he was up against and made it clear by naming many of the challenges. Challenges including the economy, smarter uses of energy, better schools and colleges, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and global warming.

Throughout the speech Barack Obama wanted to inspire hope into the hearts of Americans young and old. He needs the nation to realize the economy can restabalize. Stating that
"We remain the most prosperous powerful nation on earth. Our workers are no less productive then when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive. Our goods and services no less needed then they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off touch decisions, that time has surely passed. Starting today we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America."

Obama made it clear that he understands that the people have lost trust in their government. Polls show that more people feel that they are trying to elect the lesser of 2 evils and not be too embarrassed when they make a mistake. He does not want us to feel ashamed of who we are or our way of life. A quote directly from the inauguration speech states "We will not apologize for our way of life. Nor will we waiver in it’s defense. And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocence, we say now that our spirit is stronger and can not be broken. You can not outlast us and we will defeat you."

President Obama's speech will not be remembered for a cheerful thank you to everyone who voted for him. Nor will it be remembered for a celebration of a new way of life. It will be looked at over time as a somber speech of reality. Things need to change and they must start by changing Washington. To put it simply in a quote from the new President himself "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or to small but whether it works."