Posted on 03/25/2009 10:50:55 AM PDT by JApost
It is late March, and yet still feels like the deepest part of winter. The earth warms and the days grow longer, but the hearts and souls of Americans continue to feel the chill of our times; the feeling that Shakespeare so beautifully termed the winter of discontent.
As I travel from my townhouse in Virginia to my beach house in Nantucket, I sense an unease plaguing the American people. A malaise, if you will. The president's steely gaze and direct, simple solutions to this country's problems cut through that ill-will and helped reassure the bleating masses, showing them someone was in charge.
Tonight, as Barack Obama spoke to the American people, his words fell upon my ears like the first rays of warm sunlight fall upon my face in the spring; he is both the proverbial lion that sets the month of March in motion and the lamb that ushers it into history. Tonight, we saw a president who is as comfortable with righteous anger as he is with reassuring rhetoric.
The sweet words of Obama dropped out of his mouth like the finest morning dew, effervescent in the winds of hope and change. There was a sparkle to his tone that communicated both confidence and bemusement. From the moment he entered the room, striding with confidence and just a small amount of swagger, his command of the moment was evident.
When asked about whether his budget would increase the deficit, Obama shifted blame masterfully. It was like watching Mozart not only compose a symphony, but play all of the instruments himself. While conducting. There are those who claim that the president is overexposed, but I cannot get enough of that rich velvety voice. It's like being washed with pinot grigio. French pinot, of course. Only a monstrous, embarrassing hick from a backwater state such as Alaska would go with something from Napa, or worse, Australia.
While watching the press conference I was again impressed by his use of presidential anger. His righteous indignation refreshes the American soul and casts light upon our path - the glow of his anger lights our way. After all, when Jesus wanted to clear the temple, He didn't meekly ask for the money lenders to leave. He took charge, wove a whip and started overturning tables. Obama's seeming testiness is simply a slightly toned down anger of the gods. Like the Lion of Judah, the president suffers the taunts of the crowd and wears the inherited problems from the Bush administration like a crown of thorns upon his beautiful brow.
The way he rushed through his answers showed his sense of urgency at the situation facing the American economy. As I listened to Obama I was struck by the simplicity of his words, the cool tenor of his demeanor. If he were a cube of ice, his essence would defy thermodynamics - he would refuse to melt.
When the president spoke of sacrifice, I was with him. The dire economy has forced me to switch from free-range arugula to the horrid greenhouse grown variety. It's been awful. As I watched the president face the press, I felt as though he understood my struggles, and was trying to tell me everything is going to be okay.
When Obama said the dollar is strong, he may not be communicating factual information, but is instead acting as a conduit for essential truth - the American people need to be reassured that the little green pieces of paper in their wallet have actual purchasing power. Left to their own devices, the average American would doubtless use that paper to wipe their dirty posteriors instead of stimulate the economy. Such is the nature of a disjointed and uneducated populace.
In short, President Obama's shoulders may seem meek, but they bear a great weight. Critics of the president are so cynical regarding his seeming inarticulateness as they criticize every verbal tic. The president's use of the 'uh' and 'uhhh' are not the mark of a shallow mind, but a thoughtful one. They are like verbal commas, forcing the reader or in this case, listener, to pause and consider the weight of his words, the rightness of his thoughts.
And after facing the slings and arrows of a press more interested in ensnaring than engaging, President Obama strode confidently into the bowels of the White House. It was clear to me, judging by his visage and demeanor, that he is a man both enslaved and freed by his responsibilities as president. He is wrestling with an angel, and looking forward to a magnificent defeat. He wants to be humbled.
In the end, the president's striving for humility made me root for him in an essential way...in an American way. Anyone who calls him or herself an American should feel the same.
*Well, my best attempt to sound Noonan-ish, anyway.
i was a little upset reading that, how someone can go to the darkside that quickly and completely is just upsetting.
She certainly wrote some great speeches in her life.
Non-free range arugula? The horror!
Pssst - it’s satire, celtic gal.
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