Today America enters a new beginning with the historic inauguration of Pres. Barack Obama, America’s 44th and first black President ever to be elected into the White House. He pointed out during his campaign, “Change has come to America.” I’m sure that the whole world waits with bated breath whether that change for America would also be good for the rest of the world. So far, we’ve only heard words from him, but now that he has finally been sworn as the 44th President, let’s see him roll up his sleeves, get to work and put his words into action.
One change that we expect from an Obama administration is America’s signing the Kyoto Protocol or the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) something that Pres. Obama’s predecessors former US Pres. Bill Clinton and former Pres. George W. Bush refused to sign. Joining the fight to preserve our environment has a huge impact on the future of America’s economy. When Pres. Obama joins the rest of the world in the fight against global warming, then this is where the greening of America begins.
By next year, ailing US car industry led by the once-giant General Motors is expected to launch the Chevy Volt, a car that runs on batteries. I’m sure Chrysler and Ford have something similar up their sleeves if they want to survive in a new green environment that Obama has promised to bring into America.
Perhaps the best suggestion for Obama that I heard over CNN came from a black professor who said that Obama’s success depends on whether “Is he going to be a thermometer or a thermostat? A thermometer merely reflects what’s out there whether it’s hot or cold, while a thermostat sets the pace for the temperature.” This is a very good analogy of what we ought to expect from an Obama presidency. History will be the judge whether he would be a great President or a mediocre one.
As his inauguration happened only midnight last night, we can’t give you excerpts of his inaugural speech. I’m sure that he made a great one, perhaps along the lines put forth by the late Pres. John F. Kennedy; after all, he (like many of us) was a fan of JFK and lived by the ideals that he set during his inaugural speech with these stirring words that reverberate even today, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country!”
That America is reeling from the worse recession since the 1930s is something that Pres. Obama has to live with. Will he be like the late Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) and save America from its economic woes? Only time will tell. For starters, the Obama inauguration cost US$150 million (that’s 7.1 billion pesos) while the inauguration of his predecessor former Pres. George W. Bush cost only US$42.3 million!
You can look at this as either wasteful spending (even if this is a historic inauguration) or confidence by Obama supporters that his inauguration marks the end of America’s financial woes. Let us wish Pres. Obama and America all the luck to bring them out of this financial rut.
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I said earlier that the Presidential race would begin in the second half of the year. Well it’s just the beginning of the year and already every Tom, Dick and Harry is making fun out of the suggestion by Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson for cajoling Supreme Court Justice Reynato Puno, who politely responded to this call that he would first consult his grandchildren.
The Chief Justice would certainly be a good alternative compared to all the presidential wannabees. The only problem that Chief Justice Puno should be concerned of is the reality that the person who made this public is Sen. Lacson, who has always been in the presidentiable line up for many elections now. Surely, there is an ulterior motive by Lacson here.
Knowing perhaps that he has a very slim chance of winning the Presidential race, Sen. Lacson suddenly told the press that he would give up his Presidential ambitions if the Chief Justice would run for the Office of the President. Naturally if the Chief Justice falls for Lacson’s bait, who do you think will be his campaign manager? Sen. Lacson of course! The Chief Justice has a spotless record in public service. The problem is, Sen. Lacson doesn’t. So will the Chief Justice sell his soul to become the next President? Abangan!