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Two years from now, on January 20, 2009, an inaugural address will be given. I don't know who will give it, I don't even know who I want to give it yet, but I do know this: it will be quite an opportunity for someone.

You see, I'm really hungry for a president who can weave metaphors that grab hold of the hearers, who can inspire a nation with thoughtful reflection and insight, who can . . .

Oh, who am I kidding? I'm hungry for a president who can speak in complete sentences that actually mean something. *Sigh* My bar has really gotten low over the last six years, and I'm guessing that I'm not the only one feeling that way. Tonight's State of the Union Address will likely only add to that hunger.

In my book, an inaugural address – especially for a new president – boils down to giving a personal statement of the meaning of thirty-five simple words: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. 

Once upon a time, we had presidents who could do that. For instance, James Madison in 1809 saw the president as a humble servant of the people, and drew strength from the Constitution itself to sustain him in his own weaknesses:

I repair to the post assigned me with no other discouragement than what springs from my own inadequacy to its high duties. If I do not sink under the weight of this deep conviction it is because I find some support in a consciousness of the purposes and a confidence in the principles which I bring with me into this arduous service.

  • To cherish peace and friendly intercourse with all nations having correspondent dispositions;
  • to maintain sincere neutrality toward belligerent nations;
  • to prefer in all cases amicable discussion and reasonable accommodation of differences to a decision of them by an appeal to arms;
  • to exclude foreign intrigues and foreign partialities, so degrading to all countries and so baneful to free ones;
  • to foster a spirit of independence too just to invade the rights of others, too proud to surrender our own, too liberal to indulge unworthy prejudices ourselves and too elevated not to look down upon them in others;
  • to hold the union of the States as the basis of their peace and happiness;
  • to support the Constitution, which is the cement of the Union, as well in its limitations as in its authorities;
  • to respect the rights and authorities reserved to the States and to the people as equally incorporated with and essential to the success of the general system;
  • to avoid the slightest interference with the right of conscience or the functions of religion, so wisely exempted from civil jurisdiction;
  • to preserve in their full energy the other salutary provisions in behalf of private and personal rights, and of the freedom of the press;
  • to observe economy in public expenditures;
  • to liberate the public resources by an honorable discharge of the public debts;
  • to keep within the requisite limits a standing military force, always remembering that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics–that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe;
  • to promote by authorized means improvements friendly to agriculture, to manufactures, and to external as well as internal commerce;
  • to favor in like manner the advancement of science and the diffusion of information as the best aliment to true liberty;
  • to carry on the benevolent plans which have been so meritoriously applied to the conversion of our aboriginal neighbors from the degradation and wretchedness of savage life to a participation of the improvements of which the human mind and manners are susceptible in a civilized state

–as far as sentiments and intentions such as these can aid the fulfillment of my duty, they will be a resource which can not fail me.

Madison wasn't perfect – as he would be the first to admit – and the last item in that list certainly sounds dated and patronizing, to say the very least. But the Constitution he basically drafted was designed for such imperfections, with checks and balances built into the government to hold the each branch of it accountable to the other two. 

Two years from now, on January 20, 2009, someone new will be giving an inaugural address. But I don't want to wait until then to hear it. I want to hear about the Constitution right now. I want to hear what it means to you. That includes any candidates, announced or otherwise, who may be lurking — don't be afraid to speak up.

(Yes, I know I said a few things about "waiting" the other day, but you'll note that at the end I said some things can't wait, and "saving the constitution" was one of them. But I digress . . .)

That's where it starts, after all – with you and with me, collectively known as "We, The People." 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America.

"More perfect" leaps out at me today – we're not there yet, and we can do better. We can do better at holding a runaway executive branch in check. We can do better at promoting the general welfare and not simply the welfare of those with money and political connections. We can do better at domestic tranquility in our care for the poor, the outcasts, and those on the margins. We can do better at being We, The People.

Tonight, Bush will offer yet another State of the Union, as his predecessors have done before him. Yawn. Two years from now, on January 20, 2009, someone new will be giving an inaugural address. Past presidents have offered their thoughts, and the next one could do a lot worse than borrowing from some of them (with attribution, of course).

If commenting on this SOTU feels like shooting fish in a barrel, think ahead to 2009. The folks running for office are in "listening mode" right now, trying to gauge the tenor of the campaign ahead, so let's give them a little help. What have you liked from past inaugural addresses? What would you like to hear in the next address?

Better yet, what would you say, in your own words, if it were you giving that speech up there at the Capitol? What does it mean to you to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution"?

  • What themes would you lay out for us?
  • What images would you paint for us?
  • What metaphors would you employ to share your vision with us?
  • What heroic figures of the past or present would you hold up for us?
  • What future would you hold out to us, to inspire us to join with you to bring it about?

And you never know: someone connected to a campaign might just read your words, and the next thing you know, they might actually get spoken on January 20, 2009. 

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