I am fooling myself if I think I am getting anything done until after this is over, so might as well live-blog this. I am watching on CNN on the off chance Toobin is on, because he is consistently the most interesting person on cable.
George Bush looked so old when he walked in, and I still really respect him. I loved being in the military when he was President.
Bill Clinton looks pretty damned good. Looks like he has lost some weight.
I don’t know if there is a more adorable set of kids than the Obama young’ens. Where is their dog, damnit?
11:29 am- IM from Tim F. “This is like watching Troy (Polamalu) run back an interception for an hour and a half.” Did I mention the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl?
11:30 am- My goodness that is a mass of humanity assembled there today. I bet the porta potties are a disaster.
11:32 am- Someone should tell John Boehner the fake tan thing doesn’t work in January for folks from sunny… Ohio. On the other hand, it does give something to throw back at Republicans when they trot out the Pelosi face-lift stuff.
11:36 am- Bush and Cheney introduced. Crowd seems well behaved. Cheney in a wheelchair.
11:44 am- The man of the hour is introduced. I still can’t get over the size of the crowd. Obligatory “Obama” chant, no sign of the wave being performed. Yet.
11:47 pm- DiFi is speaking. In unison, 10,000 overwrought bloggers begin writing posts titled “That isn’t change you can believe in.”
11:48 pm- Rick Warren introduced to a smattering of applause. I have no ear for what he is talking about, so I have no way to judge it.
11:53 am- Have not been a church-goer for years, but I still know the Lord’s Prayer. Never understood the difference between the “trespass” v. “sins” versions.
11:54 am- Aretha Franklin introduced. Quite literally, the fat lady is singing for the Bush administration.
11:57 am- Robert Bennett looks almost exactly like a dear family friend from my hometown.
11:58 am- John Paul Stevens looks old, but still energetic. Biden sounds pumped.
11:59 am- Biden sworn in. Contrary to some rumors, Cheney did not disappear in a puff of sulfurish smoke.
11:55 am- Aretha Franklin is still full of win (and wind, I suppose). Some pipes on that woman.
12:00 am- Now we rock out to some mad cello in a composition by John Williams. If Jar Jar Binks pops up, I am chucking the remote at the tv.
12:02 pm- Wolf Blitzer just announced it is past noon and that Obama is the President without the oath. That can’t be right, can it? It isn’t official till the oath, right?
12:05 pm: Chief Justice Roberts is administering the oath. Couple of stumbles. Did the oath change midstream or something?
12:06 pm: It is official.
greynoldsct00
Carter had more spring in his step than Bush senior…
dbrown
Sounds like you are starting to get into this – good. Enjoy, because you helped make it happen. Thanks!
John Cole
I’ve always been excited about today. The previous week worth of silliness was what was too much for me.
greynoldsct00
Oh man, they’re Boo-ing Bushie
Marked Hoosier
Greatest Crowd Ever… singing "Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!"
robertdsc
Michelle Obama looks radiant. Beautiful, even.
Marked Hoosier
Atrios has a great comment, "Who invited Mr. Potter?"
Zzyzx
I’ve been singing that for a while now myself.
Shinobi
For once I have something in common with the Iraqis, I’ve been waiting for today since we invaded.
Laura W
Not "a mass of humanity".
A chia pet with teeth.
(Thanks for getting me away from Tweety and over to CNN. And for live blogging!)
(Do live blogs need editing? "Their dog", if yes.)
Snark Based Reality
Play that music louder! Louder I say!
flywheel
God, Cheney looks like a cross between Ebeneezer Scrooge and Mr. Potter.
Bye-bye, McNasty!
The Moar You Know
Carter is in good shape. Bush I not so much, but he’s still walking, which is more than we can say for Cheney.
Shawn in ShowMe
I wonder what Obama’s thinking right now?
Face
You will probably be excoriated for this comment. Respect must be a two-way street, and if you truly felt this man really gave two shits about average everyday Americans, I’d have to call into question your honesty.
(unless you meant G. Bush the Elder)
gopher2b
Obama looks older already. Man, I wish him luck. We’re lucky to have him.
Tom65
Where’s Bette Davis when you need her?
Walker
Given that John was referring to his military service, I assume that he did mean the elder.
gopher2b
Harry Reid is such a douchebag.
TheHatOnMyCat
There he is. It doesn’t get much better than this, does it kids?
Krista
He meant the Elder. John wasn’t in the military when Dubya was President.
JL
The flags are amazing.
NonWonderDog
"Barack H. Obama"
Oh, come on Mr. Announcer Guy! Use his full name!
Limniade
That crowd shot is incredible.
Mwangangi
I think I’m having trouble typing… so I’ll just watch quietly
MikeJ
I was disappointed that he didn’t have a white cat with him.
peach flavored shampoo
@Marked Hoosier: who’s Mr. Potter?
Vincent
I had the same reaction but I’m pretty sure that’s who he meant. I think Cole’s military days were in the last century, heh.
Martin
I like the look of Cheney in a wheelchair. How many people on the platform are scoping out a clear path to the Capitol steps? How fucking symbolic would that be…
Krista
Augh…I’m trying to watch the live feed on CNN, and it’s so busy that I’m in a waiting queue. Come ON, already! I wanna see!
demkat620
I never in my life thought I would see the day when we had a woman Speaker of the House or an African American president.
Wow! Verklempt now!
flywheel
Oh, yeah… Suck it, Rush!
John Cole
Cheney always reminded me of the Penguin, but I am down with the Mr. Bigglesworth reference.
Marked Hoosier
@peach flavored shampoo: Remember It’s A Wonderful Life?
gopher2b
Yeah, I’m sure Mr. Announcer Guy is calling the shots and free-wheeling with the agenda. That’s pretty clearly what Obama wanted.
Joshua Haaland
@Krista:
MSNBCs gummed up too. I’ve had to switch to NPR.
Shawn in ShowMe
@Krista
Try McClatchy
Martin
Wow, appropriately cold reception for Warren. Thankfully he wasn’t booed.
Face
Okay. My apologies, John.
MikeJ
Bigglesworth? I guess, but I was thinking of the original:
http://www.virginmedia.com/movies/galleries/animal-movie-stars.php?ssid=2
Martin
CSPAN is streaming great for me
libarbarian
Warren is speaking and I’m feeling a stinging feeling on my cheek.
Ouch.
BDeevDad
@Joshua Haaland: Thanks
DougJ
Why does Rick Warren make me think of the “tiny baby Jesus” scene from Talladega Nights?
gopher2b
CNN is pretty good. I tried Foxnews first because I (wrongly) thought me and three other guys would be the only ones using it.
dan robinson
When I was a soldier in the early 70’s, there were a lot of race relations classes. There had been race problems in Vietnam, where there were parts of Saigon that were places where the brothers went, but no white folks.
I was in the NCO academy at Ft. Bragg and during one of the classes, a class on race relations, a guy walked up the aisle wearing the uniform of the NVA. He started shouting that we were all hypocrites and that the idea of racial equality in the US was a sham.
He got about halfway up the aisle when a sergeant from the 7th SF group left his feet and started following the guy up the aisle, shouting down the man in the NVA uniform. The NVA guy was one of the instructors, but the SF guy was shouting "Stop saying that" and "That’s not true".
Then the SF sergeant said "When you’re hit and you’re laying there and there is somebody leaning over you, you don’t think about the color of his skin." He got the last part out through choking sobs.
I think at that point the sergeant from the SF realized that it was part of the class and he felt a little exposed. Another SF guy left his seat and walked him back. There were a lot of men crying when I looked around. I was one of the few guys there who had not been to Vietnam. These guys had been somewhere I hadn’t been and they shared a bond that I didn’t understand. When we dressed in class A uniforms, there were a lot of Silver Star ribbons and there were some DSCs, some DSMs.
I think that people, when you give the chance, will usually tend to do the right thing.
Notorious P.A.T.
Cheney looks like Mr Potter from "It’s a Wonderful Life".
Sure Bush 41 looks bad. Wouldn’t you if your child fucked up the greatest country on Earth?
4tehlulz
@libarbarian: Left or right?
Or did you mean on your face?
TR
Rick Warren is slapping me in the face!!!11!!one!
flywheel
I can’t listen to Little Ricky. Barf.
gopher2b
Jesus. His father wasn’t an "immigrant" you dumbass. Get basic facts correct. My god.
Tim F.
Obama did not make a big deal out of his blackness during the campaign, ever. I wish that Warren wouldn’t.
Mwangangi
I wish my MSNBC feed wasn’t ahead of my CNN feed… I’m getting Warren in disjointed stereo, but CNN has better resolution
MikeJ
bbc.co.uk has it streaming, and not locked into the UK as their video usually is.
greynoldsct00
Priceless!
peach flavored shampoo
@Marked Hoosier: Nope. Something tells me that I should be, tho.
Still waiting for The Darkie to bust out his Koran, crack open a scud of 8-ball, and Fred Barnes’ head to instantly explode.
dan robinson
"We, the People" means that we, the people, own the fuck ups of the last 8 years. We, the people, are responsible for the things done in our name.
Yeah, that sucks.
Shinobi
Freep is working well for me actually. Cnn hates me. Whoa, could Warren say Malia and Sasha weirder?
Plus, I hate that we pray at the inauguration. ::is an atheist at Rick Warren::
TheHatOnMyCat
As slaps in the face go, that wasn’t all that bad.
Zzyzx
Wow, check out that hat :)
Ben
Well, we made it past Warren and the Republic is still more or less intact.
Shawn in ShowMe
Little Ricky’s a wrap. Everybody still OK?
DougJ
@lib
I don’t know about the rest of you but I feel like Faye Dunaway in the “my sister, my daughter” scene from Chinatown after that Rick Warren prayer.
Marked Hoosier
Aretha, that is a big bow…
Xel
I still don’t understand how I, like, belong to god. But it seems as if Warren is trying to end on an OK note, at least. Of course, it seems as if being united by "freedom" doesn’t have to explicitly mean that gay people are free to enjoy all the liberties of heterosexuals.
I still feel that Warren and other people who aren’t as ready to accept a gay president as much as a black president are sort of getting away with it simply because they are very sincere and heartfe-
OK, Aretha just started and I’ll shut the fudge up.
Comrade Darkness
sing it, sister!
—–~~~—-
Obama isn’t just returning some much needed class to the white house, he’s also bringing the hip. God love ’em.
Tim F.
Warren could not resist making this about Jesus. Thanks for the sectarianism, asshat.
Punchy
Bush pardon himself and order a strike on Iran at 11:55….or 11:58?
Louise
ARETHA! I haven’t seen her bosom covered in years. She looks better this way. And that, my friends, is a hat! Sing it!
TheHatOnMyCat
Aretha’s voice is aging, but she can still stop a show.
Shinobi
Let it Ring Aretha. You rock out with your big ass bow.
Xanthippas
Rick Warren was kind of lame. And what was with the over-enunciating of the Obama kids’ names?
drag0n
Interesting… there’s an Op-Ed by Bruce Fein in The Washington Times (of all places) calling for investigations of the Bush administration.
MikeJ
Getting Cheney out of office first.
Shinobi
I like Biden’s Tie.
Comrade Darkness
Oh, oh, is Obama going to say Barack Hussein Obama?
Please please please. Heads need to explode.
gmcnorelation
When Aretha cam on, did HBO’s coverage start? JUst a few moments before BHO’s does….
Zzyzx
Ok I now can officially state that I shook the hand of the Vice President.
Yay for bizarre rally in Tacoma!
DougJ
@dan robinson
Nice story.
greynoldsct00
We’re almost there!!!
MikeJ
And I forgot to add, nice to see JPS there. I imagine he’ll turn in his notice in a week or two.
SGEW
Joey Biden is now officially our Vice President!
Joooooeey!!!
Warren Terra
(1) WTF with Warren claiming we’ve had 44 peaceful handovers of power? That’s just ignorant.
(2) Aretha Franklin was impressive, but ABC’s broadcast chose to use file footage of American landmarks instead of crowd shots, a pity.
bootlegger
I liked the ecumenical side of the Rickster’s serenade, but all that god-talk gives an atheist like me the willies. Though I suppose the religious folk are lovin’ it.
TheHatOnMyCat
That was a slap in their faces.
4tehlulz
GTFO DICK
Comrade Darkness
What, they couldn’t reanimate Beethoven from the dead for the occasion? Wow.
Xanthippas
Itzhak Perlman! Man, he’s looking old.
Joshua Haaland
@bootlegger:
Meh. I’m religious and I don’t care either way. God’s bigger than both Rick Warren and the controversy surrounding his invocation.
Mwangangi
John Williams of Star Wars and other soundtracks fame?
gah…too many keyboards and mice…
DougJ
I always like that Shaker song. But overall this arrangement is a little John Williams cheezy. I feel like I’m watching the intro to the NBC Nightly News.
TheHatOnMyCat
Ok, Barack has been sworn in by Wolf Blitzer.
It’s official.
Xel
Way to be bland as all heck, Rick.
What the awesome? Music specially made for Obama by John Williams? Damn yeah.
IT’S OFFICIAL, SWEARING IN OR NOT. NOON HAS COME!
Way to go America, I am sure I’m not the only Swede to say so.
The Other Steve
I’m listening on the radio. At work, so no TV…
Aretha Franklin just finished, and now they’re playing the music composed by John Williams.
It’s 12:01am EST. They just announced GEORGE BUSH IS NO LONGER PRESIDENT!!!!!!
demkat620
Joe’s got the power! Bye Darth!
Tim F.
If everything stops now, do we get president dubya and VP Biden?
TR
"I Am the Lord of the Dance"?
So Obama’s secretly a Shaker? Conspiracies within conspiracies, people!
BDeevDad
NPR just stated that even without the oath of office, George Bush is still now the former POTUS.
Napoleon
@peach flavored shampoo:
I assume the reference comes from the fact Cheney is now in a wheelchair, as Mr. Potter was in "Its a Wonderful Life" and in addition he has a rough resemblance to the character from the movie.
bootlegger
@Joshua Haaland: Fine, just keep Him off my lawn!
SGEW
Cheesy arrangement, sure . . . but what an all-star ensemble!
Gravenstone
@John Cole:
Um, methinks the white cat was an Ernst Blofeld reference.
Laura W
@TheHatOnMyCat: Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!
(oh noze. The site is slowing down. Please don’t crash today!)
Xanthippas
I think it’s supposed to sound like that. Vaguely regal but American.
bootlegger
The youngest Obama is having trouble sitting still. Glad to see I’m not the only parent with that headache.
Tim F.
Please please please make this piece an american history montage that ends with star wars.
TheHatOnMyCat
Here we go! Congrats everybody!
Shinobi
he screwed up the oath, cute
greynoldsct00
YEEEEE!
Napoleon
I see starburst!
bootlegger
Barack Hussein Obama is choking the oath! Heads explode!
Mwangangi
Hussein… bitches!!!
Notorious P.A.T.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Comrade Darkness
Eat that right wing. Bah ha ha hah ha!
Your poisoning the country with derisive, insular hate did not stand.
amorphous
channelsurfing.net for the win. squeaked in just in time.
Xel
Naaw, Obama stumbled twice!
AWESOME!
Also, HUSSEIN! Yeeeaaaaaaah!
MikeJ
USA! USA!
NonWonderDog
I think I would listen to Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma play Pop Goes the Weasel and enjoy it, so I definitely wasn’t bothered by John Williams cheesiness.
Marked Hoosier
I see Roberts didn’t keep those gold stripes that Rehnquist put on his robe as Chief Justice. What does Roberts have against flair?
amorphous
@bootlegger: @Shinobi: @Xel: Why is President Obama’s administration such a failure? (Can we start yet, John?)
Reverend Dennis
"Hail to the chief, he’s the chiefest chiefest chiefest,
Hail to the chief, he’s the chiefest chiefest chief…"
/Obligatory "Blazing Saddles reference.
Krista
Whew…CBC came through for me. I didn’t see the oath, unfortunately, but at least i can now watch his speech.
Xanthippas
Obama! Obama! Obama!
Brick Oven Bill
Six minutes late and not too smooth. But congratulations President Obama.
bootlegger
The longest running peaceful and voluntary transfer of power of any nation on the planet. Its a good day to be an American.
DougJ
I’m disappointed he hasn’t talked more about sacrifice.
Louise
Wheeeee!!! YAY!!!! HALLELUJAH!!!
The Chief Justice got so flustered by saying "Hussein" that he screwed up the oath. You could see Professor Obama giving him the hairy eyeball.
And now, the harsh realism part. I love how he thanks Bush for his service to the country, then proceeds to describe the sorry state we’re in. SNAP!
TheHatOnMyCat
I feel a barnburner of a speech coming on.
gopher2b
I think the whole internet just crashed. CNN went blank and nothing else would load. What was the "flub"? He didn’t say Koran did he.
MikeL
Mark these words:
"I hope that Barack Obama is a failure as a President."
Leon H Wolf
January 20, 2009
bootlegger
@amorphous: Cuz he said "faithful" in the wrong part of the sentence which means he doesn’t have to be faithful, he can do whatever he wants and not violate his oath.
You think that was an accident?! Bwahahahahahahahahah!
Notorious P.A.T.
Well, he made you, so he owns you. That’s why he gets to tell you what to do with your naughty parts.
dan robinson
When I became a man, I put away childish things.
TheHatOnMyCat
Fuck yeah. Great speech.
Laura W
@Louise:
Aaaaaaack-waaaaaaaaaaaaard was going thru my mind at the point of pivot.
I seem to not recall how to spell that word. You get the point.
Comrade Darkness
@gopher2b: "What was the "flub"? He didn’t say Koran did he."
He got ahead of the guy feeding him the lines. Twice. Eager beaver, that one is.
Notorious P.A.T.
Facts? Science?!? Harness the wind and sun? This address is a slap in the face to the past 8 years! !
BDeevDad
@MikeL: Actually, that was Limbaugh.
amorphous
Hi guyz, we’re over here now ——->
Louise
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." YES.
Love the close-up on GWB as he says that. You’re DONE, Shrub. GO AWAY.
flywheel
Little W boy has no idea what President Obama is talking about.
sparky
if this is a barnburner speech then someone forgot to bring the matches.
TR
That cutaway shot of Bush during the foreign policy bit … priceless.
gopher2b
@Comrade Darkness:
Now he can just say he has a lot of work to do and he wanted to get started.
Zzyzx
HELL YEAH! Obama is rocking!
dan robinson
"Reject, as false, the choice between our ideals and our safety." Amen.
Comrade Darkness
@sparky, we’re entering into a marathon of work in this country, not a sprint. I think he needs to tone down the emotion and work on the nesting instinct in the lizard brain. So, I think he’s doing it right.
Notorious P.A.T.
"Alliances? Justice? Shared prosperity? He’s going to destroy all my accomplishments!"
Shawn in ShowMe
"We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."
Nice.
Tim F.
Every live feed that I can find died. ^%*&$%*&(
smiley
@BDeevDad: I turned Rush on for a minute to see what he was doing. The radio equivalent of live blogging. Saying totally classless BS. What a surprise.
gopher2b
@Tim F.:
Foxnews is working pretty well. Can you stomach it?
Shinobi
http://freep.gns.gannettonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=OBAMAINAUGURATION
Tim, this one is still working.
amorphous
@Tim F.: channelsurfing.net
sparky
@Comrade Darkness: i understand your point but i don’t know if this is the right metaphor for what is going on right now. after all this is really a catastrophe of greed and hubris.
but i’ll be happy to be wrong.
JL
Thank you President Obama!
Notorious P.A.T.
@smiley:
Hillbilly Heroin will do that to a man.
BDeevDad
@smiley: You have a stronger stomach than I. I found the story on Digg.
sparky
incidentally, cspan has been pretty good–nothing but visuals and the actual proceedings. why anyone would want to watch the networks after this is beyond me.
libarbarian
@4tehlulz
All four actually.
Two are painful, but two are exciting.
Punchy
Damn…that whole thing from memory? Wowsers.
smiley
I believe I just saw his African grandmother standing a couple of rows back. Anyone else see her — and was that her?
Ninerdave
Obama did that on purpose, to mock the whole process and America in general.
Comrade Darkness
@sparky, I think he said the right things, but I’m hardly a group psychologist or anything. The speech is probably less important than the administration’s ongoing steering of the national dialog. That leadership was sorely sorely lacking by Bush. The bully pulpit of the presidency is one of its biggest powers. I think Obama understands this the way Reagan did.
sparky
i’m not religious but Joseph Lowery is the most moving speaker, by far, IMO. bravo!
Tim in Wisconsin
What’s the over-under on the first claim that since Obama stumbled over the oath (the wording of which is specified in the Constitution), he’s not really president? My guess is 3:00 EST.
gopher2b
@sparky:
I’m not religious either but I’m thinking of joining a predominantly black church. They seem like they’re kind of fun.
smiley
@sparky: Quite the contrast to the self-important douche bag Warren.
sparky
@Comrade Darkness: i agree, but i think he is underestimating how deep the ruts Reagan made are. remember what happened to Carter when he tried talking straight?
i think it does need to happen, though, so since i’m not writing the speeches i should just STFU.
David
When it went past noon, the woman on CBS said that, with Bush and Cheney’s terms up and Obama not yet sworn in, Biden was technically president. I’ve got no clue who’s right.
Keith
Oh well, my prediction of Cheney ordering a pack of Daleks to exterminate everyone on stage didn’t come to fruition.
Sasha
"A nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers."
That is certainly the first big shout-out to atheists I’ve ever heard.
Notorious P.A.T.
@David:
But he was only sworn in as VP, not P. Doesn’t that make a difference?
sgwhiteinfla
The "red meat" of the inaugural speech was hot fire. Obama went not only at Bush and Cheney over torture but also Boehner and McConnell over his stimulus spending bill. And the best part was they were all stuck up there on stage and they had to take it while the world was watching. Priceless
David
Well, if there was no valid president, then the VP takes over automatically, right?
kay
Just for the record, Justice Roberts screwed up the oath.
You’re all sort of "sporty" so go to the tape. Roberts switched the word sequence, baffling Obama, thus Obama’s smile.
I don’t mean to be small, but John Roberts can’t recite 35 words? He thought he’d do a little rewrite?
TR
The president-elect’s term of office begins at noon on inauguration day, oath or no oath. Congress ratified the election results a week or so ago and set this in motion. The oath is just for show.
OriGuy
Roberts fumbled the oath, not Obama.
I was watching in the showroom of the Las Vegas Hilton, where Barry Manilow’s show is. There were a couple of hundred people there, watching the MSNBC feed. Nobody booed Bush, but nobody cheered either. Lots of applause for Biden and Harry Reid. Feinstein got applause. Next to Barack (Hussein, thank you very much!) himself, Malia and Sasha got the biggest cheers.
Rick Warren managed to get in "in Jesus’ name" without actually saying it. Lowery didn’t even go near that.
Lizzy L
According to the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, the presidential and vice-presidential terms ends, and the terms of their successors begin, at 12 noon on January 20th. Article II, Section 1 states that he shall take the Oath "Before he shall enter on the Execution of his office."
I read this all to mean he’s the President (and his predecessor is not) at 12 noon on Jan 20th whether he’s taken the oath or not, but he can’t act until he’s taken the oath. Or something like that…
Ash Can
Bottle Rocket is home from school today with the sniffles (just like on Election Day). When Roberts and Obama messed up, I said to him, "See? EVERYONE makes mistakes. Even the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the President of the United States!" We both cracked up, and what a great little lesson for him.
Elie
Bush was soundly booed. It will be the only justice that he receives. He and Cheney told us that they didnt care what the people thought about the way they governed and the people had their say to that.
He/they squandered what they were given and gave us hard times, heartache and shame. Glad you still respect him as a person John Cole. He however, in my opinion, deserved every boo….they will be ringing in his ears for a long time…
Ed Drone
The benediction was great, with quotes from lots of black songs and poems, not to mention the psalms and the Gospels. What was the opening passage from? It sounded like "Lift Every Voice and Sing," but I know it’s not. The "if you’re black" lines were from Bill Broonzy’s "Black and White Blues," I know for sure, but I want those opening lines.
Where can I find the text of that closing prayer?
Ed
grendelkhan
You know what this means, don’t you? Obama isn’t really President! A crack team of kerning experts has split from the birth-certificate contingent, and will now be spending at least the next four years claiming that Obama is, in fact, not the President, because he dropped a vowel in there. Or something. There was probably a Koran hidden in that Bible too.
Ed Drone
I stand corrected. Those lines were indeed from "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the "Negro National Anthem."
Ed
Ash Can
Bottle Rocket is delighted that there are Chicago grade school kids just like him living in the White House now.
mitch
This is excellent news for John McCain.
WoodyD
Yeah, that was great. But I do wish he would have said atheists and not "non-believers." But anyway, may the FSM watch over President Obama.
And the Obama girls are so adorable.
We have some champagne left over from New Year’s. I don’t think it’s too early to pop a cork and toast President Obama, First Lady Michelle, Malia and Sasha. Today we can all be proud and hopeful.
Jon H
I brought a bottle of champagne into the lab today. After watching the oath and speech in the cafeteria, we came back up to the office and I shared the bottle with my boss and coworkers.
– JH
gex
I’m just really tired of people who are against gay equality going on and on talking about how we’re all equal and they want us to be all equal. This goes for Rick Warren and for BHO. Both call for unequal treatment of gays – and yes, I count BHO’s separate but equal proposals unequal – but act like they’re all for equality.
Look they have their opinions and they’ve both said their piece on their stances. But as long as the Supreme Court has found marriage to be a fundamental right, they can just quit pretending they are all for equality.
Comrade Darkness
A new first and about time. A president who salutes with the shaka.
Jon H
@gopher2b: "Jesus. His father wasn’t an "immigrant" you dumbass. Get basic facts correct. My god."
He was the GOP’s favorite kind of immigrant: he came here legally, then left.
D-Chance.
12:06 pm: It is official.
So, are we saved yet?
mannemalon
I was there. Bush was booed LOUDLY. Not just a little bit. And also was sung "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goooodbyyyeee".
Matthews took note of it in his post inauguration coverage. Said he didn’t like it, but understood it.
I’m not sure if it made it all the way up to the stage, but where I was standing, it was LOUD.
DonnaInMichigan
I guess being booed……..
Is easier to take then getting shoe’d….
Oh well..all in all….it was truly a good day for America.
Johnny Pez
@smiley: No, that wasn’t Barack’s Kenyan grandmother, that was Michelle’s mother.
Mike
John may be the only person in the world for whom the unadorned phrase, "George Bush" still means George Herbert Walker Bush. At least I think that’s who he expresses his abiding respect for above.