Today, January 20th, 2009, Barack Hussein Obama will be sworn in as President of the United States.
Barack Obama won an impressive electoral victory on November 4th, 2008. He put together a brilliant campaign. He is a master orator. President-elect Obama just plain “whooped” John McCain in the election, as we say down South.
There are things I actually admire about Barack Obama. He is, by all accounts, a devoted and loving family man. How can anyone look at his two daughters and his wife Michelle and not acknowledge that? And unlike the photo ops we all witnessed of Bill and Hillary Clinton in the 1990’s, the smiles and laughs that Barack and Michelle share seem quite genuine.
I must admit I like Barack Obama’s shrewd political skills. After winning the election, he almost immediately named two of his former political opponents to fill posts in his cabinet, in addition to his Vice President, also a former rival. He effectively removed most known obstacles to his re-nomination four years from now. I think that’s shrewd, and smart.
Barack Obama also shows a particular gift for “measured answers” when being interviewed. As an orator, he almost never misses a beat. He is confident, visionary and connects easily with “the masses.” When he is being interviewed, on the other hand, and he’s confronted with a question that could make things a little sticky, he is very measured in his response. He rarely just throws out an answer. He is deliberate, he is slow, he is vague. Don’t get me wrong – that makes me incredibly nervous. As a political and ideological adversary, I find it dangerous. But I recognize it as a “gift” well suited to his aspirations.
More than any admiration I might have for the new President, however, is my deep and abiding respect for the United States Constitution. That venerable document has, since 1791, set the standard for how the “transfer of power” from one government to the next is handled. This election is no different. This transition is no different. Today, we as a nation inaugurate Barack Obama as President, just as prescribed by the Constitution. Our nation has in the past inaugurated George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and 38 others before him in just the same manner.
“We the People” have spoken. That it may be an error does not enter into the equation, not at this point. The next four years will determine that. The duty – and the privilege – of every Christian (and I hope every citizen), including me, is to pray for President Obama. I will continue to do so, just as I did for President George W. Bush in the past 8 years. I will NOT stoop to the gutter level of those Leftists who hated George W. Bush, Constitutional principles, and Conservatives in general, so much that they never prayed for, supported, liked, worked with or were willing to listen to George W. Bush. Their blind hatred is neither born of, nor will it sustain, our liberties. They do not understand the Constitution, nor the system our Founders gave us.
So, please don’t read into this that I have had an “epiphany,” or that I’ve been “converted” to Obamaism. Au Contraire! I am weary. I am weary of President Obama’s ideology. I am weary of President Obama’s opposition to the right to life, and his apparent support of various “alternative lifestyles” agendas. I dread his apparent commitment to a large, intrusive, socialist style of central government. I am deeply troubled by many of his past – and present – associations. I am fearful of his foreign policy and national security plans. I shudder at how he might “support” – or fail to support – our ally Israel. And I find his disregard for understanding the Constitution as our Founders intended chilling.
But, those are concerns for a different day. Tomorrow we will return to the process of deliberation and debate. Tomorrow we will clash in the realm of competing principles and ideals. Tomorrow, we may come to the place that resisting the political powers-that-be in favor of the Constitution is our only option. But today, Barack Obama is my President. Today, I am praying for him, and for our nation. And come what may, I will continue to do so….
JDW
1/20/2009
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