I expect today is about the internet's peak bandwidth day, half due to streaming video around noon (we got a warning at work that the LAN was experiencing rolling outages due to extremely high personal internet use) and half due to inauguration posts just like this one.
Martin Sheen, as Jed Bartlet, was famously always asking "what's next?" His tone wasn't a question of wonder but rather process. He knew there was much work to do and had the tasks in mind, and "what's next?" was the prompt to move forward. I've noticed coworkers asking themselves, when things are hectic and we've got much to do, "what's next?" That's what they said when the speech was over and we trickled down from the loft.
The bedrock core of my belief in this country is manufacturing. The framers set up a system with incredible flexibility and foresight, but ultimately our economy makes those documents stand up and ours is a manufacturing economy. I hope it stays that way; for the first time, somebody important has said that it will.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
I loved that roll-up-our-sleeves aspect to this day. Celebrating is good but now it's time to get to it. The makers of things are ready. What's next?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009