Right now there’s an experiment in collaborative writing going on over at Slatethat I think people here might be interested in participating in. You can contribute your own take on what Obama should say in his inaugural address. You can collaborate with fellow denizens of the blogosphere, Slate readers, past presidents and others to write and rate the results (well ok, most of the past presidents probably won’t be rating (hi Jimmy, are you online?). It’s worth a look, even if you don’t choose to write anything yourself, because they’ve included the text of past inaugural addresses to play with. In addition to following what others are proposing for this address, that flip through history alone is worth the price of admission (it’s free, btw...)
Throughout the short, turbulent life of this nation inaugural addresses have been used to galvanize and inspire, advance an agenda, put enemies on notice, rally us and inspire us. Though they may seem like trivia--particularly in a moment when we are faced with multiple crises, a well-crafted Inaugural speech can help define us and move us. It’s from these words that some of the most true and lasting turning points in our nation have been launched. Our inaugural addresses have been the sources of some soaring rhetoric ("Ask not what your country can do for you..."). And admittedly some boring.
What’s the point of the inaugural address? It seems to me the best of them are used to set the frame—to position us in our moment in history, and communicate a smooth transition while also signifying a break, a change. To give the people in the country a direction to follow, to set the tone, to speak not just to Americans but to the world community about our hopes, fears, and intentions. We may be moved, inspired, uplifted.
Today I think many of us eagerly await Obama’s speech (while realizing that this is a time of swift action and not just speech)). With his gift for rhetoric, it is sure to be soaring not boring, but I have a feeling some of us have an idea about what we would like him to say. Here’s your chanceto express that.
Two things struck me when I went to look at some of the past addresses: 1) Each inaugural address provides a snapshot into the moment in history. Both the fears and aspirations of the nation are crystallized in that moment every 4 years. Reading (and listening to) Kennedy today you can feel the cold war in the background even as you sense the prosperity of those times. And 2) Many of our country’s concerns have been with us over time, just changing guise here and there and reacting to the moment. I was intrigued by quotes from Polk, Cleveland and other unlikely suspects finding their way into remixed versions people are writing. Not my first stop for great ideas, but for some their words resonate today.
But what's most intriguing is what people are writing on their own. Current top post by "Honu" and "Nick" called "Together we can do anything" is a well crafted and very inspiring piece with fearless clear language. Here's a snip, but it works best in the context of the whole thing:
Our children's children will ask only this: What did they DO, back then? Did they rise to the challenges providence had set before them? Did they unite as one people, with a common destiny? Did they set aside the old partisan rancor in order to protect our great nation, to strengthen democracy and human rights at home and abroad and to safeguard the blessings of the natural world for all time? Did they live up to the great promise cradled in that name: America? What will these future generations say?
They will say, "Yes, they did."
Because, my fellow Americans, yes, we will. We embrace these challenges, all of them. Because that is where we find meaning in our lives.
Being American means we have the privilege, the right and the duty to strive for a more perfect society, not tomorrow, not next year not under the next leadership, but in our time.
A recent post by "Bells" is also good. There are many others. Can you help make these even better?
What would you say, emphasize, if you were giving the inaugural address today? What would you like to hear? What frame is important for the country and the world to hear right now in this time of many crises? How can Obama use the address to advance the agenda of change and to signal that this is a new day? How can he truly bring us together as a nation and call on us to meet the challenges ahead? That "discussion" is going on right now over at Slate.
Full disclosure: I’m loosely affiliated with (read fan, occasional free laboror and friend of) the folks who created MixedInk, the website that’s powering the Slate project and was also used for the "Netroots Platform" project last summer. They were inspired to create MixedInk in part by the community that’s evolved here at DKos and within the blogosphere in general and in answer to a need for useful collaborative tools in grassroots and political communication. Mixedink launched their main website recently where anyone can set up a topic and invite a community to create a text together –democratically. I think that's timely with the launch of Congress Matters. Maybe we can use it to make our own markup?