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Highlands Today

Hope Is Hollow Without People's Will To Make Things Better

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 21, 2009

The Mall in Washington, D.C., was an amazing sight Tuesday. Millions of people crammed together, some hopelessly far away from President Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony and inaugural speech. But they didn't care; those who attended were there to be a part of history, and to hope for better times in our country.

This inauguration was different in many ways, the most obvious was the swearing-in of our nation's first African-American president. More importantly, perhaps, is that partisan politics has been pushed aside for the most part in the hope that we as a nation are about to turn a critical corner.

All of this could just be wishful thinking, but most Americans care less about political parties right now and more about addressing the serious issues we're inundated with these days. They see wars, economic distress, bad international relations and a hundred other problems that seem to consume us. They want hope, and Obama - so far - is providing them that.

We hope, though, that expectations are not too high for this man. With the inauguration of any president we want improvements to come, and usually we're disappointed. It's as if the Washington, D.C., machine swallows them. But there's something different this time, or so it seems.

The change Obama talks about is more about us than anything he can bring. He can be the architect, but we have to build it. The real question is whether we are willing to do the heavy lifting required for that to happen.

We must change the way our federal government doesn't address big problems. And we must change the way that politicians and all Americans have been content to not take on the tough work that must be done for us to be successful. We've sat back and watched as infrastructure, our energy policy, health care, Social Security and 1,000 other important issues reach critical mass. We've hemmed and hawed, pretending we want to fix these things but not doing anything to address them. That time is here now. We have no choice.

We must have hope, and then be ready to do what's necessary to turn that hope into reality, even if it takes years, costs trillions and requires something from all of us. It's time.

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