LIVEBLOG: The inauguration
Bush 41 just tapped the guy saluting him on the ass. And he looks like a tired old man.
The flags and the crowds are incredible.
1129: I have no deep thoughts here…I’m just enjoying the spectacle. I’m almost even enjoying the talking heads. And I keep tearing up when they do the closeups on the crowd.
1131: Chris Matthews: Still a tool, after all these years. “MSNBC is the network of change…” Jackass.
1132: Bush looks terrified. And he’s getting booed. And he actually looks like he HEARS it this time, unlike the previous times. I gotta say…I don’t think this is the place to boo him. Boo him at his war crimes trial.
1138: Dick Cheney was just smiling. Somewhere, a good thing died.
1140: Barack already looks like the weight is bearing down on him. I should add, it’s not all negative. I can’t even sit DOWN right now.
1152: Had to take a break to get my laptop out so I could sit in front of the TV. Also ordered pizza for jess and me, because I’m about to break my tv because of this preacher. I really wish they’d at least done a effing non-denominational speech . I hate that guy. Yay, Aretha Franklin!
1154: Yay for not over-ornamented songs. Her voice is weird, but will you look at those damn crowds. And the tears. And, as jess says, wow…look at that hat.
1156: Yeah, I lied about that ornamentation thing.
1157: had a comment, but my headphones showed up. Something about boring old white men. BUT BIDEN TOOK HIS OATH! FUCK YEAH!
1159: Yeah, yo yo ma. Nice! Simple Gifts! John Williams! Aaron Copeland! Yeah!
1203: Wish I knew whether other presidents had had this kind of class of music and entertainment. My gut says no, and that’s good enough for the other side…
1205: I’m umm…tempted to stand here at home. Chills chills chills.
1206: FUCKING W000000T!
1208: Starting right off with the burden. Good. Buzzkill, but good.
1209: Brings up the “founding documents”, aka the constitution. Also good. Not so good with the far reaching war thing.
1212: Somehow, Barack’s rhetorical techniques would sound cheesy coming from a lesser man.
1214: Shout out to science. YEAH!
1216: We reject the false choice between our ideals and our safety. YEAH YEAH YEAH. Jess says: they’re showing bush. {laughter}
1219: SHOUT OUT TO THE NONBELIEVERS! THANK YOU OBAMA!
1224: Tearing up again.
1227: Good speech. Jess caught an admiral stepping out of the crowd behind barack to snap a photo on his personal camera. :-) Nice.
1240: That felt good. Now I want my damn pizza.
I watched it in our auditorium at work (big screen!) and it was pretty good. Pretty much agree with your assessments. I thought of you when he said the non-believers bit, heh. But that was pretty cool. Also I think the admiral in the backgrond was Adm Mullen (CJCS).
Hi,
I’m Olivier, one of Alexandre’s friends. I currently work on the West Coast.
Indeed the speech was good.
I am confident that Obama will be able to re-establish a wealthy economy. I am not sure but it seems that he is the best for that.
But on the foreign policy, he am not confident at all that he will change fundamentally the conduct of the US of A. Because this conduct is driven by the advantage the US can get from it and not anything else. Obama is very expected in many countries throughout the world. This is especially true in poor countries, or countries at war. But if they happen to be desappointed by the US behavior, I think it could be dangerous in the long run, for everyone.
Totally unrelated :
It strikes me how people, here in the US, ‘believe’ in Obama as they believe in God. I think there is a danger in such a behaviour ( Biden said something like that to, if I am right ). What do you think about that ? (because I understood with James comment that you were non-believer).
Bouly.
@James: Yeah, prolly, which makes the whole picture thing even funnier. I do wish Obama was a bit less religious, but at least he mentioned us. Most folks try and pretend we don’t exist.
@Olivier: I kinda disagree with you. I think Obama will do a lot to make us a lot less forward with our military behaviour, and I really don’t think he’s going to “pick up some small country and throw them against a wall just to show we mean business”, like the republicans like to do. And I also think that while people may be disappointed because we won’t do as much, internationally, as they’re hoping the contrast between the Obama years and the Bush years is still going to make people happy…contingent on the next president, of course. If we elect some jackass again after this, then you’re probably right.
As for the economy, my jury is still out on that. Obama has a lot of Clinton people on his cabinet, and clinton appointed greenspan, and greenspan basically single-handedly caused this mess with his “flaw in the model” bullshit….so… I’m not actually that confident Obama will really be able to get much done.
Two factors we haven’t even talked about are the republican caucus’s ability to obstruct, and the Bush administration crimes trials. If the former happens, and the latter doesn’t, than Obama is going to be a failed president. Period.
Interesting times.
Finally, I really don’t think people have hero worship about obama. They like what he represents, they like that he asks us to fulfill our potential. And the contrast between him and Bush could really, truly not be stronger. However, I don’t think they really see him as a religious figure. They’re weighing what he says and does pretty carefully. There are a few people saying “just have faith”, but most are saying “we can work together with this man…he’ll compromise with us even when we disagree”, which is a damn big difference.
Thanks for visiting!