On...100 Posts...& 44

100th Post

Much has been already said of the new president and the collective force of hope yesterday so I won't take up much space on the subject, but in the mostly fine rhetoric of 44's speech there were a couple of passages that I really liked and hopefully will be remembered by the president himself as he begins his journey. [Did anyone else think he looked a wee bit tired as he walked down the hallway leading to the steps yesterday? He needs to get ready for perpetual tiredness]

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less.

It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.

Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

"It must be earned." Very key. "Our journey has never been one of shortcuts" though so many want exactly that and they certainly settle for less, that's what compromise is, that's what the New Deal was, that's what the "stimulus" boondoogle is.

The"risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things" could come straight from the Andrew Jackson handbook. I wonder if that was the connection at all. Probably not. I can just imagine what Old Hickory would have thought of yesterday. The old coot would have had a stroke.

And the very best part of the whole speech was:

We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

As hawkish as Churchill or Truman or JFK or if you will Jackson. Not exactly Lincoln. I'm surprised by all the Lincoln comparisons. This isn't a Lincoln speech. But it didn't need to be.