Missing the Story

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Over at the Inauguration Liveblog yesterday, Mike and Jim (read their very first posts) were discussing the fact that television coverage of the event was focused almost entirely on the historic first of a black president being inaugurated. But while that’s certainly what drew a lot of visitors to Washington this week and it’s the theme of a lot of t-shirts for sale on the streets, Barack Obama did not get elected because he would be the first black president.

On “Morning Joe” just now, Lawrence O’Donnell said that “the election was one of those rare times when you get to see the soul of the country” (I’m paraphrasing), meaning that Americans came together and elected Obama because it was high-time we had a black president. Well, it is high-time, but that’s not the reason he’s now in the White House. What the election said about the soul of the country was that Obama’s race wasn’t a barrier to being elected, not that it was the reason for his victory.

Of course, the unrelenting focus on historic firsts is easier than pointing out that a majority of Americans voted for Obama because they were fed up with the politics and policies of the Bush era, they wanted to be proud of their country again, and they thought Obama was the guy who could fix things. But that’s not exactly a unifying positive theme, so commentators are sticking to the “first black president!” one.

But if the coverage was absurd leading up to Obama’s speech yesterday, it’s been simply surreal since. Because inconveniently, Obama did not dwell on the historic nature of his presidency. He talked about…moving away from the politics and policies of the Bush era, the goal of making Americans proud of their country again, and doing the hard work of fixing things. It’s been hilarious to watch coverage of the speech because there are no clips from it that fit the “first black president!” packaging. Not only that, but the clips they do run don’t make any sense because they’ve provided no context. Why the heck is this guy talking about “putting away childish things” and the “false choice between our security and our ideals”? Doesn’t he know he’s the first black president?

Newspaper headlines around the country today have strained as well to find some quote that conveys the message of racial reconciliation. “Hope over Fear” (Boston Globe). “The World Has Changed” (San Francisco Chronicle). “The Time Has Come” (Indianapolis Star). They’ll make for good collectors items. But as Mike wrote yesterday: “When they dig up the time capsule, the folks from the future are going to wonder why we kept talking about the color of his skin on his first day on the job.”