Hope of Obama's inauguration will help with tomorrow's problems

WASHINGTON — For generations, people will recount where they were and what they were doing as Barack Obama became the 44th U.S. president and the first African American to hold the job.

Millions traveled thousands of miles by air, rail or bus to the nation's capital to marvel at this amazing turn in history. Even the weather cooperated, tempering a frigid 19 degrees with brilliant sunshine for travelers who began to line up hours, some even days, before the swearing in of Barack Hussein Obama.

In this inauguration, we have a story for the ages.

Obama brought change before he took the oath. Exhibit A is the nation's capital, a city of power and arrogance, happily taking on a teenage-like giddiness.

Amid the festivities, from celebrity basketball to inaugural balls, people walked around so lighthearted they practically floated. The emotion of the millions gathered on the National Mall was joy, but the sobering weight of the past reigned as a close runner-up.

One need not be a historian to see this moment as the personification of the democratic ideals of freedom and equality: the image of Obama standing with his wife, Michelle, at the U.S. Capitol, a building of stunning federalist architecture built with slave labor; the image of Obama sworn into office with the Bible used by Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president and signer of the Emancipation Proclamation, the document that set the path for today.

Somber history came full circle to mingle with heart-busting joy.

We inaugurate a president every four years, but this moment was clearly like no other. It has historical, yes even biblical, proportions.

I echo Michelle Obama's controversial words, spoken many months ago in a moment of naive honesty: I have never been prouder of my country, and of myself, than right now.

We were called and we answered in a way that will make us proud when we look back. The pathologies of our nation make for good news copy, but the reality is most Americans of all hues have worked hard and waited patiently for proof that they, regardless of skin color, mattered.

If the millions of people waving tiny flags or standing motionless shedding silent tears is any indication, today is that day. More people likely feel they have a stake in our country than ever before. Turned out, we were the ones we had been waiting for.

Obama has a better chance of instituting tough reforms — and they will need to be tougher than a few tax breaks and economic stimulus money — with an engaged populace.

Will this last? I'm betting on it. America had reached a fork in the road and it turned the correct way. High unemployment, record home foreclosures and fear that America has lost its way at home and abroad has led to a rejection of differences in favor of renewed attention to our commonalities.

We won't be perfect. Selflessness is not only a virtue, but also an art form for too many Americans. But we won't go back.

President Obama's speech hit the correct note both by being concise — not a spare word in it — and having a theme of inclusiveness.

It was appropriate that the president launch his term with words both reassuring and commanding. America has been at this rebuilding point before. A nation whose collective ancestors braved oceans to get here, who toiled in sweatshops and ventured West, can surely pick up its tools and begin anew. We are not starting from scratch this time.

Obama was aware the world's eye was upon him. His words managed to simultaneously extend an olive branch and remind America of its strength and resolve.

"To all the other people in other governments in the grandest capitals and the smallest villages," Obama said, America seeks peace. To those who think they can use terrorism to cow us, he warned they "cannot outlast us and we will defeat you." Obama spoke to a nation desperate to hear twin messages of peace and iron will.

Of rogue nations and those destabilized by despotic leaders, Obama had the crowd cheering when he said, "We will extend a hand if you're willing to unclench your fists."

We will move from being awe-struck by America's embrace of its first black president. Obama seems to want to remind us that while this moment has historical significance, our "patchwork heritage" has always been our strength, not a weakness.

The streets are full of revelers suddenly enamored of the political process. I'm among those intoxicated by the amazing feat. The challenges awaiting us tomorrow are sobering but America cannot squander the hope and promise laid out before it today.

Lynne K. Varner's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. Her e-mail address is lvarner@seattletimes.com; for a podcast Q&A with the author, go to www.seattletimes.com/edcetera