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Townhall
Being
Presidential
By Oliver North
May 02, 2013
Washington,
DC – On April 30, 1789,
at the Federal Hall in New York City, George Washington took the Oath
of Office
as the first President of the United States. He and the members of both
houses
of Congress then assembled in the unfinished Senate Chamber where
Washington
took less than 20 minutes to deliver the first inaugural address.
Precisely two
hundred and twenty five years later – at the same time of day – the
44th
President of the United States wandered into the White House Press
Briefing
Room for a surreal 48-minute exchange with members of the media.
The
difference in these two
presidential presentations, separated by two and a quarter centuries is
stark –
and alarming – for what was said, left unsaid and the manner in which
they were
conveyed. Observers described Washington’s delivery as “humble,” even
“anxious.” Some – noting more than a dozen references to “prayer,”
“divine
blessing,” “providence” the “Almighty Being” and the “Great Author of
every
public and private good” – said the new president was “reverent.” None
of those
match the demeanor of Barack Obama during this week’s séance. Instead
of
invoking the favor of God, our Head of State sought to fix blame for
his
failures.
When
Washington delivered his
address, the most important issue before our Legislative Branch was the
ongoing
national debate over the Bill of Rights. He devoted nearly a full page
of his
eight-page handwritten remarks to “how far an exercise of the
occasional power
delegated by the Fifth article of the Constitution is rendered
expedient at the
present juncture…” Rather than attack members of Congress who favored
or
opposed the first ten Amendments to our new Constitution, Washington
pledged
his “entire confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public
good.”
That’s
not the Obama approach. On
Tuesday Congress was his number one target. He whined, “We’re in
divided
government right now. Republicans control the House of Representatives.
In the
Senate, this habit of requiring 60 votes for even the most modest piece
of
legislation has gummed up the works…things are pretty dysfunctional up
on
Capitol Hill.” That was in response to a reporter’s question about gun
control
– the Second Amendment – part of that same Bill of Rights George
Washington
spoke of in his very first address as President. How’s that for a
contrast in
leadership…
Read
the rest of the article at
Townhall
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