OPINION: From the days of hope to the days of deed

Tuesday marked the end of the nation’s lengthy anticipation of our next president. Now we move from the days of hope to the days of deed — what will he do?

Of course, race is the natural focal point of the moment. How could you avoid it? The inauguration of Barack Obama as our president is certainly a major turning point in the nation’s history. The promise that “all men are created equal” rings more true with the first minority president taking the country’s lead seat in the Oval Office. Such a day was unthinkable for most of this country’s history. And the significance of Tuesday’s ceremony is apparent to anyone who wants America to be a place where you’re judged on your individual merits, not your skin color or your family name.

So, there is good reason for national self-congratulation on a racial milestone. But the days of ceremonies, speeches and plastic-mug merchandising of this historic moment will soon pass.

Now, we turn to the monumental tasks.

Bob Herbert, a New York Times columnist, recently compared the Bernie Madoff scandal to our nation’s money-for-nothing attitude of the past decade. I thought this was an apt comparison. Madoff stole an estimated $50 billion in a ponzi scheme, saying he “paid investors with money that wasn’t there.”

Hasn’t our nation also embraced this something-for-nothing way?

We entered a war against a country that didn’t really attack us, in search of weapons that weren’t really there. We paid with funds we didn’t have, backed by a draft that never happened, watched by a nation that didn’t really notice. Meanwhile, the nation purchased all those cars and toys that we didn’t really make, with credit we didn’t really have. Millions lived in houses they couldn’t really afford. They got mortgages from companies that bundled them and sold them at values they didn’t really have.

When things turned desperate economically, we spent two years looking for a leader who wasn’t there.

I’ve read Obama’s “Audacity of Hope,” looking for more about the new president’s views than what television provides in its melodramatic packaging. I find that I prefer Obama’s written word to his famous platform speeches. And I am encouraged that he values the counter argument, choosing to provide respectful flip side perspective to his own views. He seems to actively fight today’s standard style of political discourse — character assassination. For too long, we’ve exchanged wild knife swipes, preferring humiliation tactics to hard-nosed political debate on issues. I want to see political discussion elevated beyond the gutter, where it’s been for some time. And I appreciate anyone who makes that effort, whatever their politics and whatever their lot in life.

I also have some confidence that the new president will focus on the struggles of blue collar and middle class people to make ends meet. Over the past eight years, we’ve seen an increasing strain on people who really want to work hard and provide for their family in a modest way. I count myself in that group.

But I am realistic about what any man can do right now. I don’t believe in political saviors. I think the troubles of today are much more complicated than that. And while I feel the new president will bring contemplative decision making to the office, something we direly need, I think the over-the-top euphoria of the moment is closely tied to our current desperation and our deep need to feel good about something, anything. I am not holding out hope for any quick fix. I understand the call for a stimulus plan, but I feel a well-warranted skepticism about its potential effectiveness.

Ultimately, we are confronted with an awful question: which is scarier, the skyrocketing national debt or the crumbling job market? Right now, the freefalling unemployment problem trumps all else. Consider that even without a stimulus plan, the government will fall deeper into debt as unemployment and other entitlements pile up as jobs are lost. Conversely, if we throw a trillion dollars at the problem without real guidance, without any real job production, then we’re in even deeper trouble, aren’t we?

So, what do we do? Well, we have to hope our leaders will choose the right direction at this crucial point in our history. Of course, we feel utterly powerless in the face of such things, but we can make sound personal decisions. We can save and plan and do the things in our power to look toward tomorrow, not just today. We can abandon the “put-it-on-my-Visa” philosophy that fueled this great bust. I hope this will be the long-term national triumph from these tough times, a more responsible America. Still, I can’t help but acknowledge the painful irony of our predicament, that our government hopes to borrow our way out of this borrowers’ mess.

For all the gloom and doom, I think we’ll see brighter days ahead. But I truly believe the real economic turnaround will happen when American manufacturing returns home like the long, lost prodigal son.

In the meantime, we’ve got a tough road.

Let’s hope Obama will choose the right tools while tinkering with this stalled engine. Let’s hope his presidency is remembered more for his governance than his electoral breakthrough.

Zach Mitcham is editor of The Madison County Journal.