Obama’s second inauguration

This time, the lack of excitement was palpable. Gone were the heady times when an entire nation projected its hopes and dreams on America’s first African-American president. Barack Obama’s second inauguration was a decidedly more subdued affair, its only history coming from the fact that it fell on Martin Luther King Day and the president chose to take his oath on the civil rights leader’s Bible. In a way, this was to be expected. A president who has already made all the compromises that are an essential part of governance will not inspire people the way a blank slate does. The challenges of President Obama’s second term involve navigating a Republican Party that is unwilling to allow his agenda through Congress. The next four years will not be pretty but they may end up being crucial in shaping the direction of the US.

There were some bright spots in President Obama’s speech. There was a welcome recognition of global warming, an issue which the president had ignored while in office and on the campaign trail. This, however, is one of those problems that the Republicans refuse to even acknowledge exists, let alone one that needs drastic legislative action. If President Obama does end up taking action on this and other issues that he did not tackle head on in his previous term, as well as tackling the thorny problem of gun violence in the US, his second term will end up a lot better than his first one, which disappointed some of his supporters.

On foreign policy, the US president simply ignored the reality of his own record and actions. He talked of peace and all he had done to promote it but made no mention of the massive increase in drone attacks under his watch and the fact that he is currently at war in multiple Muslim countries. President Obama has continued many of his much-maligned predecessor’s policies but has pretended otherwise. One can only hope that this will change in his second term given that this time round, he doesn’t have to worry about getting re-elected.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2013.