I don't get non-rhyming poetry. Never had, never will. The speech was ok, a bit gloomy but pragmatic. A lot lighter on the hopenchange than I expected.

Val:

It struck me as a great speech (but I am always a sucker for such things). As you sugges it was moderate, and I could not detect any marxist or antidefense jargon at first listening

Let us hope ...

take care all

Larry

He took a couple of jabs at President Bush which is not only unprecedented, but totally classless

Nothing wrong with Obama's speech. In fact, he used terms with regards to national defense and dealings with dictators and communists that, had he uttered them in the primaries, would have put me much more at ease at the prospect of an Obama presidency. Of course, he may not have won the primary had he used such terminology.

All that's left now is for President Obama to act and deliver on his words. Let's hope he does.

Agree that it was ho-hum, although there were some nuggets of moderation. However, he did take a swipe at Bush insinuating that the US has not been a force for good in the world (ask Afghans and Iraqis you bastard), and then attacking the measures that have kept us safe for seven years. He pulled out the old leftist mantra that we 'dont' have to sacrifice our freedoms to ensure our security'. As if any of us have really been 'repressed' during the Bush Presidency. That line alone tells me our defenses will be weakened under his administration. Interestingly, he briefly attacked those rulers who 'stifle dissent'. Well, then we should use that line when his administration starts to cuddle up to the Castro's! Overall I'll give him a pass, but the final benediction by Lowry was awful. He played to class hatred and then insinuated that 'whites' are wrong - definitely not what I wanted to hear.

Moderate words have been spoken

Now acts of moderation must follow

Watch what Executive Orders are signed tonight or tomorrow. That will be the measure of things to come.

Mambi, where in the speech did he say that US has not been the force of good in the world. I didn't see it in the transcript.

Of course an interesting read is this article in today's WSJ on Article II inherent powers.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123240914892295861.html?mod=djemEditorialPage

The speech was OK. Bill Bennett played Reagan's first inaugural speech this morning on his radio show and a lot of the same themes were there. I like Ronnie's version better, of course.

The fact is that he was particularly careful to not come across as a hate filled commie. Let's hope (pardon the pun) that that's the real Obama.

C. Mike: I was paraphrasing because I couldn't remember the exact statement. However, I know I instantly reacted negatively and thought about Bush. Lets see, it was something about the US needing to be leading the world in the right direction, or toward good, or something like that. But the way he phrased it was pointing to our current policies as not having been directed toward a good cause, and we needed to do that now. Dude, I wish I had it with me. I'll look and see if I can find it. Again, it was insinuated, not something direct.

Wasn't very impressed with the speech but that's okay Bacardi (Joe Biden) and Cola (B.O.) will get the job done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38cuaOggIdc

The one redeeming factor of the Obama presidency is you can't blame Republicans anymore. Let see what they do with their mandate.

I saw the inauguration at work. I think the speech left a lot to be desired. He could have been a bit more gracious toward President Bush. The one that left me dumbfounded was the retrograde Rev. Joseph Lowry when he said the following:

'Lord... we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen'...

Give me a break. An African-American was just sworn in as the 44th President. Get over it already.

pixelchica,

I agree. Rev. Lowry's cute rhyme at the end of his speech was the low-light of all the speeches. Unfortunately the past attitudes reflected in his comment are all too alive and well.

C.Mike: Here is what I was referring to, it's very subtle, but look at the last line in context with the rest of the paragraph: "As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, ... drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man... Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake... 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." Notice the "To lead once more", thus insinuating that Bush's administration hasn't been leading. Am I too harsh?

Mambi,
As usual you are right on target. It reminded me of the elder Bush's kinder and gentler, implication, than Reagan.
I got the exact same reaction when I heard that phrase by Obama.

I also did not like the swipes at Bush. Low class. I also did not like the tip to "one world think" i.e. (and I paraphrase) ending tribal lines. How about tolerance for those who are different? I intend to keep my "tribal" identities thank you very much, not adhere to some UN mandated world citizen identity. I also did not like the Christian - Muslim reference. What happened to our Judeo-Christian tradition? I agree with Michael Medved. Long on platitudes short on inspiration.

I had missed that line Mambi. Thanks.

I guess taking his commentary to its ultimate conclusion would be that prior to him the US has simply been hanging out with its d**k in its hand the last 8 years. Uncool I agree. I have no problem with the preface to that comment.

Overall the speech was fine, now... we just have to wait and see since at the end of the day, what's important is not the talk, but the walk!

President Obama:

"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

===
IMO ... history has shown that there's not much "mutual" of anything between us and the "Muslim World".

And ... what if the fist is only unclenched long enough to take from us and then clenched back to continue business as usual?

As Gandhi stated: "You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist" ... and these fists we are talking about are superglued with relentless hatred towards us. For once it would be nice for "change" to happen on this respect ...

BTW, it seems "Lady O" likes Cuban designers ... :)

I wish you well :) Melek

"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink." ~ G. Orwell

Melek; nice post, especially about 'unclenching it long enough to exploit us'. I spoke earlier of about this part of the speech also, "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history." OK, does that apply to Cuba? Corrupt, silencing dissent - sure looks like it fits a 50-year brutal dictatorship with a clenched fist. And you're correct, will they unclench it just enough to get what they need to survive as a regime. Lets hold Obama to the first part, and not let him forget about your astute observation. Lets see...

Blah speech - if it is remembered it is only because Obama is good speaker. On paper it was pretty crappy.

Didn't watch one second of coverage today. My students asked if we could watch it and I said "Is he being inaugurated in Spanish? No? Well then we're not watching it. APRENDAMOS, COÑO."

I was not impressed at all. $160 million dollars and this is the best they could do?

As to First Lady Michelle Obama, her yellow dress was horrible. Definitely not her color.

Ziva Sahl,
He said that we are a nation of Christians, Moslems, Jews, Hindus and non believers. If you take those in their order, he is counting the number of each and naming them in descending order in our population, right? Are there more Moslems than Jews by number here?

Melek,
Obama's strong assertion of warning to Islamists and other murdering fanatics got a huge hand. How do his words on this differ from Bush's and why is Bush so disliked then?

On the whole, while he had some nice rhetorical flourishes and I liked his references to our founding fathers, I found a good bit of the speech rather dull and rhetorically flat.
I don't know why he keeps being called a great orator. He is robotic in his reading and with no music in his voice.

His line "Fourty four Americans have now taken the Presidential oath." is factually incorrect. Grover Cleveland was the 22d and 24th President, but he was the same man.