Obama’s Inauguration Address
What a speech (full transcript here). It lived up to, and surpassed, my expectations. The bar keeps being raised and Obama keeps getting better.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake.
And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more. Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
It’s simply worth another read.
Update: View video. Courtesy of TPM.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=305aYAAOUFk&eurl=http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Tags: President Obama
The part you highlighted was one of my favorite parts. I’ve read that the pundits are asking “where’s the soundbite?” I think the whole speech was so good that it’s hard to pick out a line.
That’s because we think alike, UI! That part of the speech signaled the end of the politics of fear.
Give me liberty, or give me death… 2009 style.
My other favorite part was when he was acknowledging the historical significance of his inauguration. He said something about how his father would not have been served in a restaurant 60 yrs. ago.
Good for him being the first African American, it is indeed symbolic.
However, when I hear fairness I smell more government and more taxes.
In America, any child can grow up to lose primary after primary.
Mike there is nothing wrong with more government and taxes, it ultimately protects us from people like you and “charlie cop out copleland” I don’t you know you that well but I do know that an arrogant, hard headed, tunnel vission “charlie cop out copeland” would not be missed.
Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly has a very smart critique of Obama’s speech today.
anon @5 — that is another early entry in the Comment of the Year for 2009!
What I remember most from todays speech is “We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.” This is a vision and determination that Mike Protack and charlie cop out copeland don’t understand.
Good old Mike P we tried it his way for 8 years and look where that got us. He still wants to go down that same path . Which puts him with the people who try the same thing over and over hoping to get a different result. And we all know what they are called. Gee isn’t this the guy who keeps trying to run for governor over and over again? and keeps getting beat by a downstate chicken farmer?
You’re right Mike. Fairness sucks.
I highly recommend reading the link Cassandra provided. It was a really interesting take. Obama was talking about making hard choices and sacrifices but that they are worth the effort. I just love how he clearly outlined what a more progressive presidency looks like. It’s one of those speeches that you just keep finding more and more things in.
Cassandra Great link
“petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, ”
“the time has come to set aside childish things.”
I found his contempt for the GOP agenda very refreshing.
I’ve been reading that the security for the inauguration was very f’ed up. Apparently a lot of ticketholders were not allowed in. Did Jason get in?
I agree delacrat. It was a strong rebuke of the past 8 years,
Although, at the time I have to admit that it was a tough speech to hear. I badly wanted the sound bite. I wanted to be brought to tears – but as I think about it now, and having listened to it on TV, I realize that the easy sound bite, the lazy appeal to the heart is exactly the kind of “childish thing” we need to put away.
Pandora there for a moment I thought he was going to quote Ben Franklin. “those who would sacrfice Freedom for Security will have neither”. Bush and the wingnuts still don’t understand the meaning of that quote.
If only Obama could have found 40 other senators who agreed with this speech when he was Senator Obama, we wouldn’t be in half the predicament we are in today.
TT, he stressed that theme, while saying there’s no reason to shred the constitution. Bravo.
the easy sound bite, the lazy appeal to the heart is exactly the kind of “childish thing” we need to put away.
ummm…. that doesn’t apply to DL, does it?
Delacrat and Jason, When he quoted 1 Corinthians 13 (“set aside childish things”), believe it or not he wasn’t just aiming at the GOP. He was aiming at all the petty bickering , indignant knee-jerk reactions, talking over each other, tearing down, ridiculing, etc., engaged in by both “sides.” Rush and now Rachel Maddow are looking a bit dated after Tuesday. Most Americans are comfortable in the middle, that’s not really a character defect – it’s human nature.
Lee Ann,
Most Americans are comfortable in the middle
Based on what evidence? Most Americans are comfortable being ignorant and apathetic – just look how many bother to vote. Most people who care and understand the issues are not in the so-called “middle” – what ever that is.
Rachel Maddow hardly looks dated – or childish. To associate her style of thoughtful commentary with the vile, dishonest, sexist, and racist Rush Limbaugh is pretty ridiculous. They aren’t opposite sides of the same coin at all.
Most Americans are comfortable in the middle
Policy will have to run hard to the left for a while to get back to the middle.
anon: “If only Obama could have found 40 other senators who agreed with this speech when he was Senator Obama, we wouldn’t be in half the predicament we are in today.”
Well, he did vote for “warantless wiretaps” and refused to make any persuasive speeches while he was a Senator, so it was his choice, not his colleagues’.
UI: “He said something about how his father would not have been served in a restaurant 60 yrs. ago.”
I thought it was a very smart choice and almost Clintonesque how Obama phrased it, “…might not have been served…”
By the middle, I mean Americans who actually want to move forward, not prosecute Bush et al as war criminals or get hopelessly mired in gridlock and name-calling for the sake of party or ideology. The fact that people here assumed Obama was only speaking to the GOP just shows how tone deaf both extremes are. We won, already. One thing we can learn from George Bush — if he can be a gracious loser, we can be gracious winners.
Where’s R Smitty when I need him??
By the middle, I mean Americans who actually want to move forward, not prosecute Bush et al as war criminals
Based on what evidence is there this “middle” or are you just making stuff up as you go along?
I guess you think that the Nazis shouldn’t have been prosecuted after WWII at Nuremberg? Or the Japanese shouldn’t have been prosecuted for water boarding Americans? And I guess you think that it is OK for America’s enemies to torture American soldiers?
How about in the name of equal justice under the law? Of fairness? Or do you believe that there should be one standard of justice for government officials and a different one for everybody else, Ms Public Servant?
Well, then, why don’t you prosecute every member of the House and Senate, including Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, for voting to go to war? My point is, it would never end, and people (not people who contribute to liberal or right-wing blogs) just want to move forward. The polls are saying it, not little ol’ me.
There is a correction that is overdue, but it is not a correction to the “middle.” If there is a right and a wrong course of action, picking the average of those two does not make good policy.
The correction is toward having rational adults making the decisions instead of deranged ideological maniacs. I think you will agree Lee Ann that the country has seen the Republican vision for American and they want no part of that.
The polls are saying it, not little ol’ me.
What polls? Please provide a link, then. And, regardless, do you think that justice should be pursued or not based on polls?
War itself, unfortunately, is not a crime. Voting in the Senate is not a crime. Certain acts committed in the conduct of war are criminal under U.S. law. Violations of the 4th amendment and lying to Congress are crimes.
If there is some evidence that Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden committed crimes, then, yes, prosecute them. Do you have some evidence of this, or are you still making stuff up?
The wheels of justice grind slowly. Just because you think it would “never end” (which is false) doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t begin.
Nobody said equal justice under the law is easy, but we shouldn’t stop trying for the sake of expediency.
Maybe “middle” was the wrong choice of words.
I agree with Jason, “the correction is toward having rational adults making the decisions instead of deranged ideological maniacs.”
See you at the faux inauguration.
Maybe “middle” was the wrong choice of words.
No, making stuff up to support a false premise was the wrong thing to do.
Next time little ol’ you might try not to be an apologists for war criminals, perjurers, and torturers, and fail to understand the basic principles of equal justice under the law.
It is what “rational adults” do.
Great speech, right on target.
Lee Ann- sit by me. Probably, anyone who does these blogs is more to the right or left of center, because of interest in politics. Moving forward is a public interest, that requires some yielding, acquiencenses, and graciousness. You seem to capture that.
anon1 is bent on scorekeeping, trying to equate atrocities ejudicated at Nuremberg, to indignities perpetrated in this desert mess. Picking at a scab, is one way to never heal. Confusing a scab, with an open gaping, eviscerating wound of WW2 proportion is distorted, but nonetheless anon1’s take. This “pound of flesh” mentality does certainly muddy the waters for bi-partisanship, unity, and cohesiveness, when the country is so ripe for it all. What a shame anon1 can’t grasp that. I hope RSmitty shows up soon for you, because I know I’ll be facing the firing squad. The middle it is LeeAnn–hope to see you there!
anon1 is bent on scorekeeping
Anonone is bent on equal justice under the law.
Too bad you’re not, Joanne. Torture, perjury, and killing are not mere “indignities.” They are crimes.
I think there is a strong bi-partisan case to be made for investigations and criminal trials.
Sweeping the 8 years of Bush lawbreaking under the carpet and hoping that everyone forgets about it will just keep the issue alive.
If laws were broken criminals need to be held to account. It is not partisan, it is a simple fact.
The self-righteous (and courageously anonymous) over-the-top bloviation is proving my point. I am walking over to Leg Hall now.
Yeah, Ms Public Servant, pointing out that you were just making stuff up is “over-the-top bloviation.”