YEAH
James,
Thanks so much for writing and thanks for sending me the transcription of the inauguration speech. I watched the inauguration with misty eyes, which certainly fits the emotionality of local mentalities ;-). The speech makes a great read and it is a pleasure to reread it. What struck me most, though, is how easy it is for me to understand what Obama is doing and how he plans to do it. I guess this is a generational thing because it appeared to me that my father, with whom I looked the event together, was not understanding it that fully, although obviously he was also equally impacted by the significance of the moment.
When they called Obama a “fudger” during the campaign, this could read a “mediator” to me, and when he crosses the boundaries of ideology and political positions he does the same thing that I do as an employer or a counsel, in order to produce greater good for all bypassing the traditional positions. He does have a very clear idea of what the “good” is for all, but as a new thing in modern politics this good transcends the ideological position. Consequently, Obama is prepared to use the ideology at the same level as any other tool that will pragmatically assist him in achieving his goal, but not more. What you want to achieve is involve everyone, as everyone can contribute to forwarding to fixing the mess we are in. This “good”-without-intermediaries is the force he is riding now and I am just thrilled that our generation could make such a contribution based on our criticism of the XX century positions.
Hope to see you soon. All the best, Mladen