March 4, 2008 - The significance of today
March 4, 2008
On March 4, 1789, the first Congress under the U.S. Constitution was convened. Today was also used
as Inauguration Day until 1937.
Now, I'm a pretty patriotic person most all of the time, as it is. You don't run for
political office, like I did 20 years ago this year, without feeling a need to be of service to the
public (state representative, if you're curious. Seven people in the race; I finished fifth. I
prefer, to this day, to say I finished in the top five, rather than the bottom third).
But I'm struck today by what I imagine must have been the political, cultural and social
atmosphere of 1789 – a country without cohesion; financially strapped; a costly and bloody conflict
only just concluded; isolated in the world save for one; and no blueprint, no precedent on which to
proceed.
Exciting? Absolutely. Terrifying? You better believe it.
And yet we are the beneficiaries of the selfless brilliance personified by those who were
present during those historic days.
I wonder how the representatives of today's society would have met those challenges of more
than 200 years ago. Actually, I think I already know.