One Year Later - A Loud Message

[cross-posted from Order from Chaos]

One year ago, I trudged out into the cold frosty morning here in Washington, DC to be a part of history, at the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States. While I was unable to get to my appointed station, I got home and watched the bulk of it on television (where it was warmer and there were donuts).

Yesterday evening, in a loud scream from the American electorate, specifically those in the Bay State, a message was sent to President Obama, "we're in trouble, and now, so are you." There is a lot of finger pointing going around today as to what happened, but congratulations to Scott Brown, the Senator-elect from Massachusetts. Although don't be surprised if some of the men listed below drop by and visit with you to make sure it all goes well. There have been some titanic figures in the Class I Senate seat from Massachusetts, and they may just want to make sure you are up to the task. Let's hope so.

On this day in 1961, people gathered for another historic inauguration, the first Catholic President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, who had also held the historic Senate seat that was delivered to Scott Brown last night, when he defeated Attorney General Martha Coakley. He was young, telegenic, and he delivered a stirring, moving address. (If you are interested, you can follow @JFK_1960, as the JFK Library commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of Kennedy's pursuit of the Democratic nomination for president. Here are some excerpts of JFK's inaugural address, which have some messages on how the President and the Congress might be able to proceed from this point.

"We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom - symbolizing an end as well as a beginning - signifying renewal as well as change."

"The world is very different now . . . And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe - the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God."

"Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans - born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage - and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world."

"This much we pledge - and more."

"To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do - for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder."

"So let us begin anew - remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."

"Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us."

"All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country."

United States Senators from Massachusetts (Class I):

• Tristram Dalton, 1789-1791
• George Cabot, 1791-1796
• Benjamin Goodhue, 1796-1800
• Jonathan Mason, 1800-1803
• John Quincy Adams, 1803-1808
• James Lloyd, 1808-1813
  
• Christopher Gore, 1813-1816
• Eli P. Ashmun, 1816-1818
• Prentiss Mellen, 1818-1820
• Elijah H. Mills, 1820-1827
• Daniel Webster, 1827-1841
• Rufus Choate, 1841-1845
  
• Daniel Webster, 1845-1850
• Robert C. Winthrop, 1850-1851
• Robert Rantoul, Jr, 1851
• Charles Sumner, 1851-1874
• William B. Washburn, 1874-1875
• Henry L. Dawes, 1875-1893
• Henry Cabot Lodge, 1894-1924
• William M. Butler, 1924-1926
• David I. Walsh, 1926-1947
• Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., 1947-1953
• John F. Kennedy, 1953-1960
• Benjamin A. Smith, 1960-1962
• Edward M. Kennedy, 1962-2009
• Paul G. Kirk, 2009-2010
• Scott Brown (Senator-elect), 2010-