George Bush's second inaugural speech reads well, doesn't it?
If only the speech revealed a conscience or character consistent with its content.
Freedom, O Freedom! Freedom, O, Freedom.
Washington Post analysts point out that the Administration has extremely close ties to some of the most repressive regimes in the world -- governments that top the list for human rights abuses.
Since this President has demonstrated his reluctance to reflect, it is unlikely that he will consider the meaning of his speech to the various conditions of Americans.
For example, could a person who is seriously ill, whose physician has recommended using marijuana medically, comprehend that this inaugural speech might ultimately apply to him or to her? Tthe patient would believe this only if he were consuming cannabis non-medically.
Sadly, such a powerful speech does not signal a new begining or change in direction in the President's policies. This speech should be compared to the packaging of a box of cereal promising freedom . . . from heart attack.
If one succumbs to cynicism when reading this speech, one can only associate with the speeches of Big Brother in George Orwell's novel, 1984. The President extols freedom in soaring terms on the day in which the political elite of the nation is embraced by forces of security force that are unprecedented in the history of inaugurations. Even after assasinations in 1963 and 1968, there was far more openness to the American people to witness and participate in the inauguration than there was today.
There are 2.1 million Americans behind bars convicted, or more accurately, coerced into pleading guilty, to some offense. Tens of thousands of them are dangerous, but at least a quarter -- roughly a half million Americans -- and in some jurisdictions, probably one-half the prisoners, are not a threat if released now, and supervised and re-integrated into society. These 2.1 million Americans are more numerous than all the farmers in America. But instead of being farmers, these prisoners are a crop harvested in the courts, and waited to benefit the prison industyr.
The security of Inauguration Day, and the imprisonment of so many Americans, reflects an official fear of the American people that is so great it is unprecedented.
But do read the speech, it is uplifting. One's exhilaration reading its powerful themes last about as long as ..... a hit of crack cocaine.
