The Inauguration

The national mood seems strange. Economic uncertainty gives many families good reason to fear bad news. The excitement of an Inauguration -- of this Inauguration -- lends an air of festivity amid the gloom. A balance of wary but steady, concerned but confident may be the one the citizenry needs to strike.

Historic references abound. Barack Obama enters the White House at the most difficult hour at least since Ronald Reagan's first term, and probably since Franklin Roosevelt confronted the Great Depression or even since Abraham Lincoln was greeted by secession and the inevitability of civil war. He inherits a mess. In Eliot's "Burnt Norton," we read: "What might have been is an abstraction/Remaining a perpetual possibility/Only in a world of speculation."

The economy remains stronger than it was in 1933, in part because of reforms enacted in the wake of the earlier catastrophe. An edge, though, is palpable. Individuals have seen their net worth shrink; many have lost their jobs. There is a sense abroad in the land that the cycle is closer to its beginning than to its end. It does not help morale that so few seem able to explain what has happened and what might await. People hear words such as "subprime" and "derivatives," but who truly understands? What do they know of value who only values know? When the crisis exploded in full fury last fall, the facial expressions and body language of officials and players projected neither competence nor calm. Obama must fill a void. For the time being his demeanor marks a welcome improvement. Ultimately, image must transform itself into substance.

The administration in waiting has been pushing a stimulus program and -- successfully -- asked Congress to release the second half of the bailout funds approved last year. Our suggestions for additional stimulus include accountability, transparency, tax cuts for individuals and businesses, and public works. The massive deficits sure to come would have stunned our fathers and their fathers before them -- and, at one time, ourselves. The determination to restore confidence ought to diminish detours toward issues such as the card check bill, which would make it more difficult for the economy to climb out of the hole. Obama's economic team is mainstream. In the U.S., is there any other?

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National security defines the federal government's principal obligation, and as commander-in-chief, Obama will face threats on numerous fronts. The surge, which candidate Obama opposed, and other factors have led to progress in Iraq, although it would be folly to proclaim victory. Every accomplishment could be blown away in a second. Conditions in Afghanistan have deteriorated. If al-Qaida is weaker than it was in 2001, then it is stronger than it was in 2004. North Korea and Iran have not scuttled their campaigns to amass nuclear arsenals. The Iraq war may have emboldened Tehran in particular. Pakistan and India are an enormity away from diplomatic crisis escalating into military confrontation. The Russian bear is not a teddy. A China beset by economic troubles and social unrest could grow more overtly dangerous. Globalism not only predates Thomas Friedman and, for that matter, Marco Polo, but also has led to war. Despite its many benefits, trade does not guarantee peace. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez wants to foment anti-Americanism -- not a difficult task right now -- but he resembles a thorn. The U.S. will be tempted to overreact. Except for a clumsy attempted coup several years ago the Bush administration did not. Obama probably will not, either.

Reality chastens, and Obama will not withdraw forces from Iraq as precipitously as MoveOn.org and the Daily Kos would prefer. He will disappoint The Nation. He has promised to emphasize Afghanistan, where the great game never has played out to the West's satisfaction. Merciless is the Hindu Kush. Futile indeed are men who would be kings. The near certainty of a nuclear North Korea and a nuclear Iran will revive MAD -- the doctrine of mutual assured destruction, albeit with modifications. Although warheads fired from North Korea or Iran could not physically destroy the U.S. and its allies, they could inflict a level of paralysis and hysteria just as devastating. Deterrence from the U.S., NATO, and other arrangements would rely on the assurance of the annihilation of the rogue states. If private citizens received classified briefings regarding terrorists and weapons of mass destruction, no one would sleep at night. Observers who claim terrorism does not pose an existential threat are wrong. Between the prayers that open the day and the prayers that close it, children of God contemplate the obliteration of the universe and the incineration of their fellow human beings. Yet in the perfect kingdom no sword is drawn; faith, the epistle reminds us, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Obama's renomination of Robert Gates as secretary of defense rates as his boldest post-election stroke and his best. His selection of Leon Panetta as director of Central Intelligence baffles. Hillary Clinton has the potential to become an acclaimed secretary of state, especially if she remembers that her husband's administration left a series of problems not only unsolved but unconfronted -- problems pushed aside. Character flaws prevented Bill Clinton from achieving statesmanship. Obama is not similarly disarmed.

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In two days Barack Obama will take the oath of office in an Inauguration of sublime anticipation. His record suggests Americans will hear a stirring speech. Grant, then, to the president, and to all those in authority, wisdom and strength, fill them with a love of truth and righteousness. God bless America; America bless God.