Saturday January 24, 2009
Not his best speech
GOING ULU WITH YUSUF MARTIN
Barack Obama’s speeches have always been uplifting . . . except for the one at the Lincoln Memorial.
Having fed the cat, watered the plants and fed myself, I was ready to have a couple of hours being brain-dead in front of the idiot box.
I turned to HBO, for no other reason than that it was there, and there it was —the American Presidential inauguration show, We Are One.
At first I thought I would watch a minute or two of quite boring speeches, then turn off the TV, and read — there was a Terry Pratchett paperback waiting to be finished.
We Are One — wasn’t that a song from The Lion King performed by Cam Clarke, Charity Sanoy and Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Chorus?
Is that a not-so-subtle message referring to President-elect (now president) Barack Hussein Obama’s Kenyan roots?
But I was hooked by the razzamatazz of celebrities, singers, music and heart-rendering speeches on liberty, oneness and freedom.
Barack Obama delivering his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration At The Lincoln Memorial” on January 18 — AFP Mesmerised like some moth flying to the light, I could barely break away from the celebration. Every few minutes, after being uplifted by the music, I would be moved by yet another meaningful speech. I was the proverbial putty in their hands.
And, of course, the whole show was designed to leave people like me in that condition.
Guests varied from Jack Black, Steve Carell, Tom Hanks and Martin Luther King Jr to Denzel Washington and Tiger Woods.
Performers and artistes ranged from Beyonce, Mary J. Blige and Sheryl Crow to ageing protestors like Pete Segar and The Boss (Bruce Springsteen).
A goodly mix of Herbie Handcock, Shakira, Stevie Wonder and Garth Brooks were enough to entice all but the most resistant.
A celebration it was — a celebration of achievement, a celebration of history, of nationhood, of man’s humanity to man, of accomplishment.
Thousands gathered to celebrate their American-ness and to wallow in their togetherness at that one moment in time.
Many didn’t notice the shaky theatrical scenery, the jerkiness of Tiger Woods’ speech, or the obvious nervousness of Vice President Joe Biden as he hurried through his speech and rushed back to the comfort of his chair.
It was a smooth operation. Smoother, in fact, than clockwork, and — bar the human errors mentioned — the show went well.
After the song and dance, the final act was the President-elect himself, planned no doubt to be the climax of the show — the big finish.
Having winced through Biden’s remarks on the intrinsic value of work, and the honour and pride to be found therein, I, for one, was a tad disappointed with Obama’s speech. I felt that he had delivered more stirring speeches during his campaign to become president, and that what should have been his greatest speech — the one to be measured against Martin Luther King’s famous speech, or that of Kennedy — was lacklustre.
Maybe his writers had given all the good stuff, and they, like he, were tired and just wanted to get the President-elect into the Oval Office.
Golfer Tiger Woods (left) also delivered a speech. (Although this Lincoln Memorial speech was tired, President Obama more than made up for it later, at the actual inauguration — giving a rock-the-world speech.)
It was a cold day at the Lincoln Memorial. Overcoats and speechifying were there to keep America, and the idea of America, warm. The crowds lapped it all up, but then, many had travelled thousands of miles to get there and they would have been foolish not to.
But overall the show went well and spread its message of class togetherness, racial harmony, unity against adversity, Americans working together and succeeding against all odds, of tough times ahead but which Americans would face with fortitude and concord for a better future together because, as the man said, WE ARE ONE.
Oh sorry, They Are One.
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