- Great speech (watched it twice) -- not the best I've heard, but it was good (I was around for the Kennedy speech).
- Loved the gentleman that did the closing prayer ("Amen!").
- Got chills watching Mr. and Mrs. Obama walking down the streets of Washington.
- When did Bill Clinton go bald?
- Former President Bush looked like he couldn't wait to get out of there and I thought his having to sit through the speech was a bit humiliating (don't start - I'm not a Bush supporter either, but he is/was President and deserves our respect).
- I hated the fact that the media is already saying Obama can't possibly live up to what the country expects of him -- that he's reached the pinnacle already.
- Joe Biden had this look on his face the entire time like he thought something was "cute".
- Poor Ted Kennedy. I think we're about to lose another icon.
- Al Roker rocks, with or without his hat.
- The scene looking over the mall and park in front of the swearing-in ceremony was the most patriotic thing I've seen in a very long time.... all those people! Amazing.
Jan 20, 2009
My Inauguration Review
Just so everyone doesn't think I'm anti-Obama (I'm not, honestly -- I'm PRO USA and therefore believe our President deserves utmost respect and support), I wanted to add to this post that I did, indeed, watch the entire Inauguration ceremony. Here's my review of same:
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3 comments:
I'm not an anti-Obama person, I'm just an anti-socialist person, and I'm not too excited about having a socialist for president. I'd much rather have seen someone like Colin Powell or Condelessa Rice as our first Black American President.. but, I, like you Joan, will be respectful of the office, though I'm concerned about the direction such a moral liberal intends to take this country. Time will tell. There are certainly some things that he plans to do that I am in support of. Hopefully those will come to fruition... ;)
I did not vote for him either but certainly hope he can bring about needed change the country needs. We did steer drastically off course the past 3-4 years in particular and the spending has been outrageous. The Republicans need to get their act together.
The best thing I think Obama has done is to bring hope to the hopeless. You couldn't help but be moved by the 2 million people standing out in the cold resting all their hopes and prayers on this one man. If he can help to bring families together, people not to have children out of wedlock, not to be criminals, have faith in the system to go to school and be productive in our society and be the best they can be...then that is a great thing he has done already. I believe he wants to do well and will try, unfortunately other than some monetary control we must always ride out recessions. Democrats have a problem in big spending and big government and his $800 billion plan could be better served by giving each American $5,000. That is what it would be. We could then really get the economy moving by spending the money as we save fit instead of $50 million going to save the whales fund. Seriously!
I am most disgusted with the media. The man can and will do no wrong and they will not report accurately. It has been 4 days of over the top Obama LoveFest mentality and I can't take it anymore! His speech was not good and very bland at best, nor was Michelle's designer dress that they spent so much time covering, but did you hear that???? They reported that his speech was the "somber tone the country needs." And some commentators stating that Bush didn't have intellectual curiosity and terms such as this was very disgraceful as was the crowds singing "na na na na Good-bye" when Bush left in the helicopter. I also can not stand the "O-B-A-M-A" fist chants and the media calling him by his first name "Barack." Where is the respect for the office? Would we call George Washington "George?"
Change for the better? We can hope. And then again, unless you read and delve into issues yourself, we won't really hear what is going on.
Kim
I too thought it was a good speech. It was sobering, serious, and unyielding in laying out the problems ahead. There were no “feel good” moments thrown in – just a challenge to forge ahead with changes that must happen for us to regain the respect of the world and our position as the preeminent economic engine of the West. I was here to witness Kennedy’s inauguration too, and remember his speech well. And when he declared that Americans would “pay any price” and “bear any burden” to assure freedom he was addressing a generation of World War II veterans, who had already tasted what that price and burden were, and the children of the Great Depression, who knew and would not shy away from hardship. I feel like that generation had the strength of character to take on enormous challenges. I’m not sure our generation has.
We as a nation haven’t been asked to sacrifice on a large scale since 1945, although some of our families certainly have, and have given much more than their share. We are complacent and more than a little spoiled. Our businesses are used to exorbitant profits and exploitation (yes, I say exploitation) of workforces in developing parts of the world in order to guarantee those profits. The major economic movers of this country have sold us out for their bottom line, relocating necessary manufacturing industries, necessary for our economic independence and the subsistence of our citizens, to countries where they can pay workers 1/10th of an American wage and pocket the other 9/10ths. And I’m very tired of it.
I saw an example of the skewing of worker/management compensation rates at my former government agency employer before I retired. When I started there 30 years ago the salary range was fairly flat from the lowest manual worker to the top man, and was open for perusal by all. Now, under the guise of “attracting the best” for the upper management positions, of which there are many more than in the past, they circumvent salary caps by paying huge bonuses and retirement packages, to management that has proven they are far less capable than their modestly paid predecessors. At the same time they instigated more complex compensation plans for workers, with secrecy policies that ensure workers can’t know how they compare with similarly skilled fellow employees. They continued to cut the ranks of their direct employees and outsourced more and more technical design work, at higher cost than their in-house engineering staff. All this time the salary of technical employees, of which I was one, barely tracked cost of living increases and for many specialties lagged market levels.
I believe if nothing else President Obama has inspired the citizens of this country to start to take a long hard look at how we do business and live our lives. That’s a start.
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