Inauguration 2009

[SSLFan]

Well everyone, today marks a milestone in history as our 44th U.S. President will be sworn in to oval office today. "Barack Hussein Obama" will be take his oath and pursue the highest position in the land. (Yipppeee!) A U.S. senator from Illinois, Obama will make history by becoming the first African-American president in our country's history. Being African-American myself, this is definately a great momment in history, but not just for blacks, but for all of America. Imagine, Dr. King's dream coming true? You couldn't have told me that I would live to see this. It's just amazing, and such great and rich history in the making. I encourage everyone to go out and celebrate, for this is...history! This is such a great momment in time for America...
As Kermit would say, "Yaaaaay!"

(bad pun, xD)

 

[Drtooth]

Hey, a political discussion... what could possibly go wrong?

 

[CensoredAlso]

I am taping the event as we speak, changing channels every now and then to get different perspectives; as a student of media I'd be very silly not to, hehe.

I did a write-in for the election; I did not vote in a major party and don't regret that. But I do hope this inauguration will help our country serve as an example to the rest of the world regarding diversity and opportunity.

Still, I'm amazed we can afford such a gala during an economic recession...

You know I'm going to watch Duck Soup now to put all this in perspective.

 

[Oscarfan]

We watched in via the Internet at our school, admist the constant freezing of the video.

 

[ryhoyarbie]

Still, I'm amazed we can afford such a gala during an economic recession...

One thing that I don't like, nor a lot of other people like either. Over 100 million for the party for the Obama's? They could have just had a drink and not have a party that costs that much money. Hope the money for the party goes to helping the economy.

 

[CensoredAlso]

One thing that I don't like, nor a lot of other people like either. Over 100 million for the party for the Obama's? They could have just had a drink and not have a party that costs that much money. Hope the money for the party goes to helping the economy.

I think collectively we haven't fully taken the problem in yet. It doesn't seem real enough for everyone. I mean there aren't any breadlines like in the 1930's. Still, we should be prioritizing.

To clarify, I do think it's good to finally have an African American president, honestly. And I do also hope eventually it won't be so weird to have an Italian American Catholic or Jewish person as a leader either. Both groups went through oppression in this country too.

 

[Drtooth]

Still, I'm amazed we can afford such a gala during an economic recession...

Politicians.... no matter what side they're on, be it right, left or inbetween will ALWAYS have a gala event no matter what happens. Same thing could have happened if McCain or one of the odd indie guys got elected.

You know, just like how there's never enough tax dollars to fix a bridge, but always enough to buy a hammer or a toilet seat for the same amount of money as fixing one would cost...

No matter how tight the budget is, there's always room for stuff like this, even when there shouldn't be.

(That said, if it were me, I'd've gotten all the leftover candy from Christmas no one wanted, cheap fruit punch, and Wienie Burgers for everybody... of course, I'm ridiculously cheap)

 

[StreetScenes]

as an historian, i must weigh in on this...yes, it seems excessive, and i dislike such things as a taxpayer. but the one thing that stood out to me while half-watching my choppy internet feed, was the ritual involved. 2/3 of my attention was going towards writing about ceremonial symbolism of state power 400 years ago, while the other 1/3 of my attention was noticing that we do the same thing. every society in the world ever has spent ridiculous amounts of money on weird rituals to project an identity that serves to tie individuals in the realm together by making them aware of their relationships to their society and government. although it may feel like just a party, it actually does serve an important function in maintaining the effectiveness of government.

 

[CensoredAlso]

It just emphasizes to me how it's mainly the wealthy who get to the important places in government.

 

[ryhoyarbie]

It just emphasizes to me how it's mainly the wealthy who get to the important places in government.

Haven't you heard, the wealthy get to serve in the highest seats and have the highest positions in the land while the rest of us are the peasant folk. Just like the olden days of monarchs!