I just sat down to read the speech of my President-elect for the first time. One line in particular concerns me:
"For that is the true genius of America -- that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow."
Of course, the line echoes the Preamble to the Constitution: "...in order to form a more perfect union." But the claim that "our union can be perfected" puts forth a very different understanding of this nation than that of the Founding Fathers. Notice that their use of the phrase implies that we will never achieve perfection--that the most we can ever hope for is something "more perfect" (emphasis mine). This is in line with their vision of humanity as inherently flawed--a vision no doubt informed by their religious beliefs, if not their life experiences. They viewed the idea of perfection with skepticism, and certainly designed their (and now our) government as one that would not eradicate imperfection so much as minimize or harness it. To undertake "to perfect" this nation, rather than to make it "more perfect" is hubristic, dangerous, and reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of its founding.
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I think Obama, more than most Presidents (certainly our current one), has a grasp on the ins and outs of the constitution. He taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago for crying out loud.
I simply think what he is saying here is, we are a great country, but we can be better.
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