And now, we have formalized our decision by swearing him in as the forty-fourth president of the US. We got our change we think. But he has not changed much yet - except the words.
The words are important. The words of the past administration had been words about fear, security, and about threats - everywhere there were threats. The words made us feel safe at first. We thought that someone else was worried about our safety.
But then we wanted change from these words. Those words made us act out of worry. They divided us. They sullied the reputation of the country abroad.
Many peoples have hated the US since 1945. Before that time, we pretty much stayed home and minded our own business. In the Great War, we flew over and fought beside our allies. But we came home again with more friends than enemies. After the second world war, we started sticking our noses into others' business. We drew borders. We created countries. We used Big Words like Freedom and Democracy while we imposed the freedom to think like we did on everyone who came along. Tough words. Fighting words.
The French hated us from the beginning.
But all that will be different now. Obama uses new words. He uses consensus. He says responsibility. The others used these words too. But they were just talking. Now we really mean it. That makes all the difference.
We change the words and words change us. The words we need now are solutions, discipline, cooperation, hope. Hope is a big one. We will try out these new words for awhile. See how they fit. We will be less afraid and more determined. We will worry less about security and more about human rights. We will not meddle or intercede, but we will support and assist.
Change has not come to America, Mr. President. But maybe we will begin to see that change is the only constant. Permanence cannot adhere to a changing world. Nothing is the same as yesterday. And tomorrow it will have changed again. America has come to change.
Let's start with the words and see where it gets us.