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REFLECTIONS ON THE INAUGURAL SPEECH
Thursday, January 20, 2005
REFLECTIONS ON THE INAUGURAL SPEECH
If anyone believed – on the Democratic side especially – that the “world will never be the same notion” after 9/11 could somehow be reversed and that after a Bush presidency older foreign policy concepts could be revived, well, Bush ended any feelings in that direction this morning. The bold agenda summarized in his speech and its legacies are going to stay well after Bush will leave office four years from now. As I said earlier, there’s a lot to chew but by making the point that no one can credibly argue against spreading freedom he has thrown down the gauntlet and we’re in for an interesting and challenging ride. Basically, we’re back to the dream of the 1990s when after the collapse of the iron curtain we appeared to be moving to a happy free trading world of democracies, the difference is that now there will be a fight for it as there’s not only some very strong opposition, there are some out there ready to destroy the very notion of freedom. Of course, there’s always a fight for realizing a dream and the quest for a free world at peace is going to be monumental, with America leading the charge. I have yet to see some solid comments on the resource aspect of it all, given the the scope of the effort it will put a lot of strain on an already heavily challenged budget. Less government at home to subsidize more abroad? Here are some significant voices from around the blogosphere: Capitain Ed: Read the speech and thought it was brilliant and historic. Stephen Green: Sees an even greater focus on international affairs after 2006 and a likely second-term scandal. Kathy Kinsley: His best speech yet. Joe Gandelman: Has a valid point, noting that inaugural speeches have a limited shelf life. Indeed, grand words have to backed up by action and that goes back to my point about resourcing the vision. Cadmusings: Argues that this may have been one of Bush’s most personal speeches, freedom being the core of his beliefs. Andrew Sullivan: Wonders how the reconcile freedom with the expansion of government. Kevin Drum: is uninspired today, so disappointingly no commentary from him, so far. 
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