Obama Pledges to Restore U.S. Prosperity, Global Prominence

The 44th president of the United States says he inherits a difficult set of crises, but wishes to dispense with politics in order to restore America’s prosperity and predominance abroad.

Barack Obama offered a sobering assessment of the challenges facing the U.S., saying Tuesday in his first speech as president that despite the many crises the country faces, Americans will use their ingenuity and productivity to advance prosperity both at home and abroad.

The newly inaugurated 44th president told a million-plus crowd braving Washington’s winter and millions more watching on TV screens around the nation that the U.S. remains “the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth,” and will not be cowed by financial, moral, diplomatic or military threats.

“Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met,” Obama said.

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics,” he continued.

Obama inherits one of the worst economic crises endured by this nation and ongoing terror threats to interests at home and abroad. His senior staff will forego the inaugural luncheon to head straight to the White House to hammer out details of an $825 billion economic recovery and re-investment plan that the new president hopes to get through Congress by the President’s Day recess next month.

Domestic issues are not the only concerns facing the president. He has made it a priority to remove troops from Iraq, close the Guantanamo prison that has become a lightning rod to nations questioning America’s commitment to individual rights and fortify efforts to abolish Al Qaeda and Taliban elements in Afghanistan.

On top of that, while Obama pledged to rebuild America’s prosperity, he has stressed that the nation’s success is to be shared across the globe. He said common defense does not mean a sacrifice between safety and ideals.

“To all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more,” he said.

As to domestic demands, the president noted that homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses closed, health care denied, schools failed and energy resources wasted. On top of it all, confidence has been shattered and fear of decline nags.

He said he has taken the oath of office in the midst of “gathering clouds and raging storms,” but he sees a way out of the ongoing gloom.

“Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America,” he said.

The president said the way forward is to “in the words of Scripture … set aside childish things” and return “to the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”

As he has outlined in his stimulus proposal, the president pledged to create jobs through infrastructure projects — roads and bridges, electric grids and digital lines — and to restore America’s dominance in science and technology, to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost and to develop alternative and use renewable fuels to run vehicles and business.

While the president has said that the budget is likely to be in deficit for years, Obama knocked critics who say his plan is too costly.

“Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.”

Obama said government has also been used to secure the nation, whose principles and ideals are a force around the world. He pledged to leave Iraq with a responsible government in place and continue to build peace in Afghanistan.

He said his administration will work with “old friends and former foes” to lessen the nuclear threat and reduce global warming. He also warned those who would try to wreak havoc on the U.S. or elsewhere that they it would be costly to them to try.

“We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you,” he said.

“To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist,” Obama added.

Obama said the nation’s strength lies in part on its diversity — a “patchwork heritage.” He paid tribute to the military that is on duty around the world today and those who died in the fight for the cause of liberty.

He also urged Americans to continue to reach out to their neighbors and to continue to rely on faith and determination.

“Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true.

“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.”

After two weeks of back-and-forth sniping, the recount in the Minnesota Senate race between the incumbent Republican, Norm Coleman, and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, has begun.

Mr. Coleman had taken the lead after the initial vote on Nov. 4, but the paper-thin margin — a difference of 215 ballots of nearly 3 million votes that were cast — invited an automatic recount. What followed were lawsuits, bitter accusations of fraud, and reports of ballots turning up in strange places, like the backseat of one election worker’s car.

A victory by Mr. Franken would raise the number of Senate Democrats to 59, only one shy of the 60 needed for a filibuster-proof majority. It would leave just one more Senate race — in Georgia, where the Republican incumbent, Saxby Chambliss, is fighting to hold his seat — to be decided.

On Tuesday, Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, convicted last month on federal ethics charges, lost his bid for a seventh term to Mark Begich, the Democratic mayor of Anchorage, as the final ballots were counted there.

The recount in Minnesota started on Wednesday morning in a small number of counties and is scheduled to stretch at least until Dec. 5, when a state board convenes to certify the results. All of the ballots are being counted by hand, a laborious process that will take place at 120 recount stations, with trained observers monitoring each location.

About 80 people gathered at the Judicial Center building in Hastings, the seat of Dakota County, about 20 miles east of St. Paul. Thousands of paper ballots sat on eight tables in a room, while election officials riffled through them and two observers at each table — one from each campaign — stared intently. Behind them, the lead lawyers for each campaign wandered the room, stopping at tables to peak in and occasionally issue challenges. Dozens of other people, mostly reporters and campaign supporters from both parties, were also in the room, roped off behind bright yellow police tape.

The workers involved toiled almost hyper-vigilantly, creating the sense of an abiding regard for the rules that verged on paranoia. It was also clear that for many in the room, this was unfamiliar territory. The lawyers and observers repeatedly referred to guidelines for the recount that were cited in a training video they had watched.

As of Wednesday afternoon, nearly 15,000 of 226,000 ballots from eight precincts had been counted. Five of them were challenged, each by supporters of Mr. Franken.

Joel Beckman, the deputy recount official for Dakota County, said the recount had a long way to go. Because it will all be done by hand, many of the workers, concerned about their fingers, were employing new techniques to limit wear and tear. Some wore rubber fingers that resembled elongated thimbles. Others were using a type of pink glue — called Sort Quick — that enabled them to sift through ballots more quickly while still sparing their finger tips.

“At the end of the day,” Mr. Beckman said, “your fingers get a little raw.”

Article courtesy of The New York Times November 19, 2008