Sweet Blissful Ignorance

by publius

It’s been difficult to capture in words the swirl of thoughts and emotions I’ve experienced over the last few days.  There’s a fine line between recognizing the magnitude of the moment and being intolerably cheesy.  (Though I’ve really enjoyed Josh Marshall’s readers’ takes — especially this one).

And while I’ve had moments of joy, that’s not really what I’ve been experiencing.  It’s honestly more like relief - achat de viagra en ligne- and a solemn, perhaps somber, satisfaction after years and years of frustration, anger, and even deep sadness about the Bush administration and its actions.

Even today, it’s hard to forget those dark years — and quite easy to remember when the weakened shell of an ex-President on the stage today was a fierce and formidable partisan with real political power.  Things change quickly.  Scars linger, and remind.

So I’m happy — I’m very happy — but I remain anxious about how Obama will perform.  I worry too about how events will turn.  I don’t really want to have these thoughts right now, today — but I do, in spite of myself.  That’s because I lived through recent history and remember it.

So speaking personally, what’s truly great about today is the complete and total ignorance of what’s coming.  For that, I’m happy.

When bad events follow hopeful new beginnings, they forever color the original event.  For instance, the 1992 inauguration was similarly full of excitement and hope — but it didn’t ultimately meet those expectations.   For that reason, when we watch the 1992 speech today, the dramatic irony of later events casts a shadow on the speech.  We can’t see that speech through innocent happy eyes anymore, because we know what followed.

But today, we are blissfully unaware of anything that might come to pass.  We can enjoy it — the history of it, the aesthetics of it — on its own terms without the distraction of what’s to come.

Of course, dramatic irony works both ways.  If Obama proves to be a smashing success — an FDR-level success — then today will also be colored by subsequent events, but in a much better way.  That said, a lot of hopeful beginnings don’t end up that way — history can be a cruel teacher.

But for today, we can be hopeful — we can look on through innocent eyes.  And it was a great great day.

So here’s to President acheter cialis Obama — go soak it up and soak it in, people.  These moments don’t come around very often.  Let’s enjoy them — I think we’ve earned them.

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