Dan Rather
Of the nearly 20 inaugurations I can remember, there has never been one that felt like today. Not even close. Never mind the question of the small size of the crowds, or the boycott by dozens of lawmakers, or even the protest marches slated for tomorrow across the country. Those are plays upon the stage. What is truly unprecedented in my mind is the sheer magnitude of quickening heartbeats in millions of Americans, a majority of our country if the polls are to be believed, that face today buffeted within and without by the simmering ache of dread.
I have never seen my country on an inauguration day so divided, so anxious, so fearful, so uncertain of its course.
I have never seen a transition so divisive with cabinet picks so encumbered by serious questions of qualifications and ethics.
I have never seen the specter of a foreign foe cast such a dark shadow over the workings of our democracy.
I have never seen an incoming president so preoccupied with responding to the understandable vagaries of dissent and seemingly unwilling to contend with the full weight and responsibilities of the most powerful job in the world.
I have never seen such a tangled web of conflicting interests.
Despite the pageantry of unity on display at the Capitol today, there is a piercing sense that we are entering a chapter in our nation's evolving story unlike one ever yet written. To be sure, there are millions of Donald Trump supporters who are euphoric with their candidate's rise. Other Trump voters have expressed reservations, having preferred his bluster to his rival's perceived shortcomings in the last election, but admitting more and more that they are not sure what kind of man they bestowed the keys to the presidency. The rest of America - the majority of voters - would not be - and indeed is not - hesitant in sharing its conclusions on the character and fitness of Donald Trump for the office he now holds.
The hope one hears from even some of Donald Trump's critics is that this moment might change him. Perhaps, as he stood there on a grey, drab, January day, reciting the solemn oath of office demanded by our Constitution, as he looked out across what Charles Dickens once called the "city of magnificent intentions", he would somehow grasp the importance of what he was undertaking. Perhaps he would understand that he must be the president of all the United States, in action as well as in word. Perhaps, but there has already been so much past that is prologue.
There is usually much fanfare around inaugural addresses. They are also usually forgotten - with some notable exceptions. I think today will be remembered, not so much for the rhetoric or the turns of phrase but for the man who delivered them and the era they usher us forth.
Mr. Trump's delivery was staccato and there was very little eye contact as he seemed to be reading carefully from a teleprompter. His words and tone were angry and defiant. He is still in campaign mode and nary a whiff of a unifying spirit. There was little or nothing of uplift - the rhetoric of Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, or Reagan. We heard a cavalcade of slogans and one liners, of huge promises to "bring back" an America - whatever that really means to many who look at our history and see progress in our current society.
The speech started with a message of an establishment in Washington earning riches on the back of struggling families across the country. It was an odd note, considering the background of many of his cabinet picks. President Trump painted a very dark picture of the current state of our nation, beset by gangs and drugs and violence, regardless of what the data shows. His words swelled with his economic populism and the nationalism of "America first." The applause was sparse, and I imagine many more being turned off, even sickened, rather than inspired by what our new President had to say. President Obama looked on with an opaque poker face. One could only imagine what he was thinking.
It bears remembering that one never can predict the arc of a presidency. It is an office that is far too often shaped by circumstance well beyond its occupant's control. Those challenges, wherever and however they may rise, now will fall on the desk of President Trump. We can only see what will happen. We hope, for the security and sanctity of our Republic, that Mr. Trump will respond to the challenges with circumspection and wisdom. Today's rhetoric was not reassuring.
Our democracy demands debate and dissent - fierce, sustained, and unflinching when necessary. I sense that tide is rising amongst an opposition eager to toss aside passivity for action. We are already seeing a more emboldened Democratic party than I have witnessed in ages. It is being fueled by a fervent energy bubbling from the grassroots up, rather than the top down.
These are the swirling currents about our ship of state. We now have a new and untested captain. His power is immense, but it is not bestowed from a divinity on high. It is derived, as the saying goes, from the consent of the governed. That means President Trump now works for us - all of us. And if he forgets that, it will be our duty to remind him.
The Vietnam war and the TV era are gone; so is Dan... something like that...
Tasliat to all NIAC'ers and Reformists who collectively handed Iran to those who exiled us ...
CBS — disgraced by Dan Rather forged document scandal — warns of ‘fake news’
NIAC was , is and will always be a Nobody in shaping anything or any iran-related policy.
Wow...Dan Rather vividly remembers inaugurations speeches from when he was 3 years old...! Here is a man one can trust...!
I agree NIACies & affiliates are having a tough time to adjust and deal with the realities of the new American era....!
Beraveed Aza Daree
Kellyanne Conway and Amir Abbas Fakhravar - Washington DC, January 19, 2017
LOL
For the record (attn. 1bourbon1scotch1beer): Dan Rather is born on 1931 ... If he rememberes 1949 Truman's second inaguration at age 18 he is correct about remembering 20 inagurations ... Just count: Truman 1 times on 1949, Eisenhower 2 times on 1953 and 1957, Kennedy 1 time on 1961, Johnson 2 times on 1963 and 1965, Nixon 2 times on 1969 and 1973, Ford 1 time on 1974, Carter 1 time on 1977, Reagan 2 times on 1981 and 1985, H. Bush 1 time on 1989, Clinton 2 times on 1993 and 1997, W.Bush 2 times on 2001 and 2005, Obama 2 times on 2009 and 2013, Trump 1 time on 2017.
Distorting facts and mocking don't make readers to trust you more than Dan Rather!
- BTW ... Down with IRI, NIAC, NIACies & affiliates ... all together.
Dear Koofteh Tabrizi:
I did look him up and read his bio on wiki! I simply did a 20*4 = 80 and figured he must have been at very young age to retain and remember inaugural addreses unless of course he learned about them later in his career!
Johnson 2 times is not quite accurate since he took over after Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 so he only had one inaugural (this is the only one I could find, http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres57.html) address!
Also, Ford's inauguration doesn't count since he took over after Nixon resigned! Who delivers an inaugural address in August in Washngton DC where perspiration runs down one's buttcrack!
Technically, Dan Rather has seen/heard 18 of of them. Now, whether he has heard 20 or 200 inaugural addresses, he is not considerd a reliable source or interpreter of information at least not by my standard!
Besides that, you and I are on the wavelenght when it comes to NIAC and its malijaks!
Cheers!
Dear Tipsy:
You are still wrong about Johnson and Ford ... Here is a list of all inagurations in lower part of the page @ Wikipedia.
Trusting Trump more than Rather says a lot about your HIGH standard. Thanks for enlightenment.
Cheers too!
I know I know Trump's win has made you guys irky a bit! Not to worry, time will heal you!