Changing Of The Guard

I never really sat down and watched an inauguration before.

Sure, I caught bits and pieces of the Obama ceremony, being that it was a historic moment for our country.

Other than that, I usually just assume that things went off as they were supposed to.

That changed Tuesday, however, when I decided to call up the live feed of then-Gov.-elect, and now Gov. Tom Corbett’s inauguration ceremony in Harrisburg.

I’m not really sure where my interested spawned from. Let’s just say I got a desire to see democracy in action.

Ironically, what I found was that a ceremony involving those who do the “people’s” work was most likely not viewed by the people.

Sure, I caught a bit of it. But I’m a journalist; it’s my job to keep up with this stuff.

For others, however, there’s no doubt the timing was poor; the inauguration took place at 11:30 a.m. on a weekday morning, a time when most people are working.

It’s kind of a shame, in my opinion, that these things are scheduled for a chunk of the day when most Pennsylvanians are unavailable.

Oh well. I suppose it’s better to do these things during the day when at least the participants are awake and available. It’s not like elected officials would gather to do something in the middle of the night or anything like that, right?

Timing aside, I found the ceremony to be decent enough. It was somewhat inspiring and gave me a sort of renewed enthusiasm for things to come.

Corbett seemed to say all the right things after he officially became governor, which took place after Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille administered the oath of office to Corbett. The new governor was sworn in while his hand was placed atop the bible belonging to our commonwealth’s founder, William Penn.

“Today we celebrate a very long and proud sustaining tradition of democracy,” Corbett said upon taking the lecturn.

What I liked about his speech was Corbett’s remarks concerning the need to reform government here in Pennsylvania, something he started working on while in his previous position as state attorney general.

Corbett’s former office led investigations on various high-level politicos, some of which led to indictments and convictions.

The fact that the new governor is dedicated to rooting out corruption makes him OK in my book.

But now comes the hard part. Now it’s time to govern, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that others in his position have made promises in the past on which they reneged.

Sure, I’m as cynical as the next guy, and have trouble believing politicians who say one thing, since it often means they’ll do something else.

On the surface, Corbett seems sincere enough. And his inaugural remarks were somewhat reassuring.

“It will take courage to pursue government and legislative reform,” he said. “We must act to renew the people’s trust in government. We need good government. The people now demand it and they deserve it.”

His words are true. His intentions good. But now comes the difficult part.

I guess it remains to be seen how Corbett will handle himself as an executive leader. I’ll sure be watching. And I’m sure many of my fellow Pennsylvanians will be as well.