The Right Kind of Celebration

Carol Platt Liebau | January 18, 2009 10:09 PM

Politico writes about the "naysayers" who are somewhat less than swept away by the Obamamania so evident in the MSM and elsewhere. They're being covered, in fact, as though they are some exotic group of Americans, much like the Flat Earth society.

So let's get this thing straight: The Obama inauguration is a moment of pride for America. Whatever one's politics, it is a cause for celebration that we have overcome the racial injustices that have scarred our past -- enough so, in fact, that we have elected the first African-American ever to the presidency. Not incidentally, voters proved wrong the legions of race-mongers, leftists and other America-haters who have long predicted that our fellow citizens would never put a black man into The White House because of endemic intolerance and bigotry. That's cause for jubilation, too.

All patriotic Americans will be hoping and praying for the safety and personal well-being of the new President, his family, and all those who serve in his administration. All of us are united -- whatever our party -- in wishing for the best for this country.

Do we hope for Obama's success? Of course, insofar as his success is coextensive with the prosperity, freedom, justice and safety that all of us want for America. But not if "success" is defined only as his ability to implement policies that will undermine liberty, prosperity and security in this country.

The moment Chief Justice Roberts swears in Barack Obama, he will be my President, and our Commander-in-Chief. And then, it will be interesting to see if those who have spent the last eight years insisting that "dissent is the highest form of patriotism" and excoriating President Bush in the vilest, most personal terms will acknowledge that resistance to Obama hagiography and disagreement with his policies -- expressed civilly, and only when warranted -- doesn't make one a freak, or a "naysayer," or anything else.