Naomi Wolf on Obama’s Speech: So Sophisticated You Have to Gasp
|
Tweet this story! Support our efforts for a sustainable world.
|
|
Prominent feminist and author Naomi Wolf (The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot), writing in the Guardian UK, takes a closer look at President Obama’s inauguration speech and sees an end to phony “morning in America” optimism and a refreshing acknowledgment of reality—as well as the opening moves in a brilliant game of political chess.
I know that Barack Obama is incredibly smart, and it’s not that I’m surprised that he gave a fantastic speech. But I’ve been following American politics for a long time, and sometimes you see something that works on so many levels that you kind of have to gasp at its sophistication.
This speech marked a sharp line in the sand, breaking overtly with the past administration. That message was clear and intentional. It is a much more confrontational approach than Âinauguration speeches have typically been in America. I am overjoyed.
[…]
The great leaders in the US weren’t the cheerleaders who promised Âmorning in America. They were the ones that forced us to look in the mirror. Since Reagan there has been this tradition, which has become a cliche, of promising morning in America, this fake optimism, we’re the best, the city on the hill.
In fact the great American task is self-scrutiny. Abraham Lincoln gave speeches about the civil war in which he said, in essence, “We’ve brought this on ourselves by enslaving Americans.” Obama’s speech was a diagnosis: “We have to take steps to rebuild our nation.” I’m not saying, “Hooray, he offered a tough, dark recognition of our reality.” I’m saying “Hooray” because he has recognised that the only way to save America is to confront it.
