Society

Tuesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

A Young Nation Rises Again

In many respects this was a deeply traditional inauguration speech. It didn’t reach the heights of Obama’s “Jeremiah Wright” speech in Philadelphia, but it didn’t need to and was, in any case, an address given to a very different kind of occasion. The Wright speech was interesting, not merely because of how Obama addressed the controversy, but because of what it told us about how he thinks. This, by contrast, was a grander, more formal affair. Less personal and so less interesting. But it didn’t need to be a perfect speech. Nor did it matter much that it wasn’t. It did more than enough to get the job done; what

Peter Hoskin

Alex Massie joins Spectator.co.uk

I’m delighted to welcome Alex Massie to our team of regular bloggers on Spectator.co.uk.  Alex is a seasoned journalist who’s gained a devoted following on the blog he set up back in April 2007 – The Debatable Land.  Now that blog’s been ported over here, and you can follow it by heading to this address: http://www.spectator.co.uk/alexmassie.  What will you come across?  Quite simply, some stunningly incisive writing – on everything from British and American politics to cricket.  Perhaps the best place to start is Alex’s own introductory post here.  Do check it out.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Obama’s domestic policy risk

“We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth.  Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began.  Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year.  Our capacity remains undiminished.  But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed.  Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. For everywhere we look, there is work to be done.  The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Memo to Miliband: Obama thinks it <em>is</em> a war

Interesting line in Obama’s speech: “Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.” I actually prefer this to the war on terror formulation as you can’t be at war with a tactic. It is clearly meant to send a signal that Obama, whatever some European governments might like to think, is no deluded dove.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Restrained but effective

On pure rhetorical terms, the speech was not as great as Kennedy or Reagan’s first. But it gave us a guide to his presidency. We saw an Obama here who was lifting a nation up, bracing it for the challenges ahead but with confidence in the future. Indeed, the passages about how America would overcome its challenges were positively Reaganesque. In terms of domestic policy, Obama came across as a classic new frontier liberal: full of talk of opportunity and personal responsibility. On foreign policy, Obama made clear he represented a break with the Bush administration while striking a hawkish tone. Obama was restrained today, more so than I expected.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Obama’s speech with commentary

My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.  I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. The traditional praise for his predecessor. Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath.  The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace.  Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. A Lincoln reference.  At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or

Peter Hoskin

Obama’s inauguration: live blog

Welcome to Coffee House’s live blog of Barack Obama’s inauguration.  Obama’s at Capitol Hill now, and the ceremony will start shortly.  Stay tuned, and keep refreshing the page for updates. PH: Plenty off security concerns surrounding events today.  In a bulletin yesterday evening, the FBI said they have reason to believe a Somalia-based Islamist group – called al-Shabaab – may be plotting something.  The Times has a good piece on the security measures that are in place:    JGF: 4.40PM Joe Biden, who I suspect will keep us all entertained these next four years, come out just before Obama. When the President-elect enters, the whole place goes crazy. PH: Expect

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

Whatever else you might want to say about Peter Wehner’s reasons for why Americans should thank George W Bush (and there’s lots you could say!) you can’t accuse him of setting the bar at an intimidatingly high level: “Restoring dignity to the Oval Office, acting with civility and grace, loving his country, and serving her well.” Well, OK! How many Presidents* actually hated the United States of America? UPDATE: Jefferson Davis, I guess. But that’s a slightly different case…  

The Spectator

Stay tuned for live inauguration coverage

The Coffee House team will be live-blogging Barack Obama’s inauguration from 16:15 onwards.  In the meantime, here’s a selection of Obama-related articles from The Spectator: I have seen your future, America, and it doesn’t work – James Delingpole You think Abraham Lincoln had it tough? – James Forsyth Obama is on course for victory. But he isn’t ready for the White House – Christopher Caldwell Obama’s America will be more equal but less mighty – Reihan Salam Obama is just Bryan Adams without music – O’ar Pali

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Class Matters

At dinner the other night I was asked, “Do you think he will live?” The he in question, of course, being Barack Hussein Obama. Nor was this the first time I’d been asked this. I suspect that such fears are more widely held than you might care to think. And that left me thinking that for all that there’s plenty of fine reporting from America in the British press, there has been, in some respects, a collective failure to understand how much the United States has changed. That is to say, it is always easier to focus upon tales of American weirdness, of gun-toting rednecks and bible-thumpers and all the

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Will Mark Penn Watch the Inauguration?

Remember Mark Penn? Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist provided much entertainment during the primary campaign. It’s especially worth reminding you of the most famous memo he sent Hillary in which he promised that Barack Obama was, well, toast: His roots to basic American values and culture are at best limited. I cannot imagine America electing a president during a time of war who is not at his center fundamentally American in his thinking and in his values… Let’s explicitly own “American” in our programs, the speeches and the values. He doesn’t… We are never going to say anything about his background – we have to show the value of ours when

Peter Hoskin

Will Obama shun Brown?

This from Ben Brogan: “I’m told Mr Obama’s interest in British politicians fluctuates with the polls: when Mr Brown was in a hole and David Cameron was flying high, the Obama mob were keen to maximise time with the Tory leader. With every poll that passes showing Mr Brown sliding backwards, does that reduce the chances of an early invite to touch the hem of The One?” Numerous Labour people I speak to still feel that this April’s G20 summit in London – which Obama is attending – will be a major PR coup for Brown.  The idea is that the Dear Leader will be able to play MacMillan to Obama’s

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Inauguration Rules

The best article I’ve read on Presidential Inaugurations remains Ted Widmer’s piece in the American Scholar from 2005. The entire thing is a treat but he handily summarises the essential rules of Inauguration Speeches as: 1. I am not worthy of this great honor. 2. But I congratulate the people that they elected me. 3. Now we must all come together, even those of us who really hate each other. 4. I love the Constitution, the Union, and George Washington. 5. I will work against bad threats. 6. I will work for good things. 7. We must avoid entangling alliances. 8. America’s strength = democracy. 9. Democracy’s strength = America.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

The markets tremble

How’s this for a frank assessment of the UK economy? “I would urge you to sell any sterling you might have. It’s finished. I hate to say it, but I would not put any money in the UK”. It’s by Jim Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum Fund with George Soros. The markets agree with him – the pound is, again, off between 2% and 3% against major currencies (for the latest, click here). The market is beginning to get a handle on the sheer extent of the damage of Brown’s policies – and, crucially, his inept banking regulation. UK banks (in particular, RBS) lent aggressively to everyone from dodgy Russians to leveraged buy-outs. Given that bank

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Douglas Alexander attacks Obama’s regulatory chief

Douglas Alexander has a piece over at LabourList trying to claim Barack Obama for Labour. But Alexander needs to do his research better, as in his piece he attacks the man Obama has picked to overhaul the entire US regulatory system. Alexander writes: “As I argued recently in the Telegraph, David Cameron, like John McCain, finds himself stranded in the wrong place because you can’t privatise, deregulate or even nudge your way out of a global financial crisis.” Now, the problem with this is that the co-author of Nudge is Cass Sunstein who Obama has appointed to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Sunstein, a former colleague and

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Changing the tone

It is almost a ritual for an incoming president to announce that he wants to change the tone in Washington, D.C., a town where partisanship gets in the way of the people’s business far too often. But few have made as impressive a start on this front as Barack Obama. After last week’s supper with conservative columnists, Obama held a dinner to honour John McCain last night. The President-elect’s speech, of which video after the jump, was a generous tribute to his former opponent. Of course, Obama benefits politically from reaching out like this and there is a world of difference between warm words at a supper and genuine bi-partisan

Peter Hoskin

Your brief Inaugural Address primer

So here it is.  The day when Barack Obama succeeds George Bush to become to the 44th President of the United States of America.  James has already written a preview of Obama’s inaugural address – but if you want to squeeze in some extra relevant reading ahead of 1700 GMT, then you could do worse than Jill Lepore’s piece for last week’s New Yorker; certainly one of the liveliest, most information-packed short histories of the inaugural address that I’ve yet come across.  This article from Sunday’s New York Times is also a neat, little scene-setter. Otherwise, the best place to start is where many Presidents-elect start when preparing for their

Monday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Moving Day

Hello Spectator readers! It’s a great pleasure to be here. My thanks to the boffins for all their work in transferring this blog from its old home at The Debatable Land to these plush new surroundings. I’ve been reading the Spectator since I was a teenager and, in fact, spent a couple of weeks’ worth answering the phones work experience at the magazine way back in, I think, 1992. So what may you expect from this blog? Well, I generally write about American, British and Scottish politics from a jaundiced libertarian perspective (is there any other kind of libertarianism?) Current preoccupations include, but are scarcely limited to, the future of

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Tories must prove they’re still committed to the reform agenda

One of the real puzzles of this reshuffle is why Nick Herbert, one of the best policy brains in the shadow Cabinet, has been moved to shadow DEFRA. The decision to hive off a Department of the Climate Change and Energy from it has taken away its most politically important and intellectually challenging responsibilities. A more obvious place for Herbert would have been in Eric Pickles’ old job at the Department of Communities and Local Government or at the Department of Work and Pensions. The decision not to send him to either of those spots has created concern that the Tories are backtracking on the welfare reform and localism agendas.