Folks continue to ask me if President Obama’s mention of Hindus and Science Funding in his inaugural speech didn’t make me swoon in delight. Trust me, when he said those things, I almost jumped out of my chair to yell “Represent!” and do the Badger dance. (I also almost texted Liprap with, “Duuuuude, he said Jews and Hindus. What about the Hinjews?”)
That my faith and passion the very future of this nation were recognized by the leader of the free world is refreshing and gratifying, but what remains exquisite is the acknowledgment of my entire history, our entire history, everything my family and yours went through to get here. As Anna says, it was “four decades of my family’s history refined, magnified, sanctified. Contained within a few lines, delivered via a few minutes of oratory, it felt like a punch to the gut, and that was before I realized that he wasn’t talking about my parents.”
That nod. It made all the difference. Dear Mr. President, on your first day at work, give that Jon Favreau a raise.
As a second generation American, I totally, 100% agree. I felt more American yesterday than I have in a very long time. What a fantastic speech.
Obama’s comment on diversity was, I believe, a direct reference to what Thomas Jefferson wrote when some Jesus Freaks wanted to put a reference to Christ in the Virginia Constitution. Read on (emphasis mine):
“[When] the [Virginia] bill for establishing religious freedom… was finally passed,… a singular proposition proved that its protection of opinion was meant to be universal. Where the preamble declares that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word “Jesus Christ,” so that it should read “a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion.” The insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend within the mantle of its protection the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo and infidel of every denomination.”
–Thomas Jefferson: Autobiography, 1821. ME 1:67
Woohoo! There WAS no mention of the HinJews, was there? Oy mani padme oy, we need to inform whitehouse.gov…
Or am I now going all JewBu?
Yeah, enough with the Mani Padme already. Are you trying to sell HinJewism or what? Ganesha just threw his yarmulke to the ground and walked away. :-)
Awww, man, and I thought a possible tenet of HinJewism was to promote Ganeshlichkeit amongst all the peoples of the earth.