A little more than a week after the observance of Martin Luther King's birthday and the Inauguration, I am haunted by a dream I had shortly before those two events. I dreamt that our president was addressing a huge crowd assembled to hear his words, about to be recorded for posterity. He stood on the Capitol steps and possessed the voice and power of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, though he was, indeed, the white Southerner who now runs our country.
These were his words, hypnotic in the same way as was King's "'I Have a Dream" oratory: "My fellow Americans," he began. " I stand here today for my second inaugural
address, but it will be vastly different from what you expect. I know many of you are excited at the prospects of my second term, the bright future you envision lying ahead with the mandate we have been given by the great voters of this country. I'm sure many of you are ready to celebrate the occasion in ball gowns and with the sound of champagne corks popping around you. Great musicians and entertainers have arrived to help us usher in this administration.
"But before you return to your hotels or homes to don tuxedos and tiaras, I'd like you to pause for a moment and consider my proposal. Instead of spending $40 million on a lavish night of parties, I suggest we cancel these events. The best way we can honor the spirit in which we planned to express our joy at being part of this American administration is to forego the festivities. I ask you instead to build a fire, collect your families or best friends around you, eat a humble meal and tell each other how thankful you are to be where you are, with people you cherish, in the richest country in the world.
"The dreams of our forefathers have been fulfilled in the lives of the majority of our citizens. We enjoy unequaled strengths as a society and are a power in the world. Along with expressing gratitude for your blessings, I hope that you will also take a few moments to rededicate yourselves to imagining ways in which we can use our power most effectively, and yet peacefully, in the larger world around us.
"We have seen many examples of poverty, misery and heartache in the years since I first took office. The Aids epidemic around the world, but most especially in
Africa where thousands of children are orphaned; the slaughter in Darfur; and now the tsunami devastation in southeast Asia, are but a few of the images that come to mind. How can we spend so lavishly to bring in the second half of my administration when so many suffer?
"How can we eat caviar when others don't have bread? How can we dance when new bodies are floating ashore in Indonesia? I may have thought before that we should enjoy our material possessions, and I still believe that each man is
entitled to enjoy the fruits of his labor, live where he wants, and provide for his family in whatever way he pleases. This is the American dream, after all.
"But, as the leader of our collective spirit, the United States Government, I can no longer condone extravagance as official policy. Therefore, I am canceling all events today and tonight that will not promote the wisdom I have gained of setting an example for the rest of the world. We, as a nation, must share our resources with the rest of humanity, not flaunt them in public displays.
"May you, in the quiet of your own lives, consider my leadership in beginning to learn to be a selfless society. We will continue to work on the problems facing our country and the world. Although $40 million may be a drop in the
Bucket, it is at least a start.
"I dedicate myself to leading this campaign, hopefully with the same success exhibited in my campaign for this office. We are all in this together."
With these words our President turned to his family and they embraced. The crowd was quiet in the cold morning air of the January morning, whether from disappointment or humility, one could not tell. Birds sang from the barren boughs of winter as the crowd dispersed. The silence was refreshing.
I awoke with at first a sense of elation, then the slam of reality. Oh, if this were not just a dream!
JoEllen Collins
