The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, takes the oath given by U.S. Supreme Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. during the inauguration ceremony in Washington, January 20, 2009.
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It would be nice to think the magnitude of the problems facing the nation would lead to a minimum of puerile contentiousness, but vile still seems to be the default position for some of Obama's noisier detractors--OBAMA FLUBS THE OATH was the inaccurate headline greeting the new President on the Drudge Report. Too many of us in the media remain reluctant "to set aside childish things." Happily, though, our new President seems to have an honest predilection for treating his opponents with respect. He seems intent on hearing their points of view and arguing, decorously, with them--that's why he accepted a dinner invitation at conservative columnist George Will's house. This is radical behavior in the village on the Potomac. It could force everyone to argue more carefully, to think twice before casting aspersions, to remember that the goal has to be more than temporal electoral victories--but, in this moment of peril, a better and stronger nation, a less ugly and dangerous world.