A Retraction (of sorts)

A number of people emailed and commented about my post of inauguration thoughts. I’d like to respond. Hopefully this can prevent any further distortions or faulty conclusions based on what I wrote.

I’ll not take back what I said because, as I stated in the first paragraph of Tuesday’s post, those were uncensored thoughts, an honest stream of consciousness. Politics are tricky, and everyone involved is passionate. That often leaves independents, like me, battling both sides.

I am not proclaiming blind support of President Obama. We differ on some very key issues which I will continue to follow and guard. Neither am I proclaiming blind support of President Bush. We also differed on some very key issues. While I am not at all happy with Obama’s position on abortion, I am glad to see someone new in the White House. I believe our nation needs change. I will not like all of the change, I’m sure. Already changes have been made that trouble me. But Obama is our President and, as I stated on Tuesday, that position is ordained by God and requires our respect (Romans 13:1).

One clarification I do need to make. I wrote: “I understand [Obama] writes his own speeches.” First, I did not say my understanding was absolute truth, only that this was what I understood to be true. Secondly, I have since researched this further (at the encouragement of you, dear readers) and found that Obama does indeed write many of his own speeches, just not all of them and not all alone. He wrote his first book, Dreams From My Father, entirely on his own. Since becoming a more public figure with greater responsibilities, he has employed a team of writers who helped him write his second book and a number of his speeches since. The White House gives credit for the Inauguration Speech to President Obama, though I’m sure this is mostly because he delivered it.

Here are some links to interesting articles about this topic. The first two talk about Obama and other presidents who were also writers. The second two dive into the relationship between Obama and his chief speech writer, Jon Favreau. All four articles are quite fascinating.

• How Obama Writes His Speeches, Time Magazine, 28 Aug 08
• All the Presidents’ Literature, The Wall Street Journal, 10 Jan 2009
• Obama inauguration: Words of history … crafted by 27-year-old in Starbucks, The Guardian, 20 Jan 2009
• What Would Obama Say?, New York Times, 20 Jan 2008