Motley Moose – Archive

Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

It's Inauguration Day!

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The great day is here.  It’s been eight years since George W. Bush stole the presidency to begin his horrifically misguided adventures that opened for us the immense possibility of doing something entirely new and untried.  It’s been two years since Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton began their improbable journeys by announcing their candidacies for the presidency of the United States.  It’s been seven months since Barack Obama cinched the nomination.  It’s been five months since Barack Obama received the nomination of the Democratic Party for president of the United States.  It’s been two-and-a-half months since Barack Obama won the election.  It’s been a month since the electors from the several states cast their ballots to fulfill their constitutional duties to make Barack Obama president.  Today, we rid ourselves of George W. Bush.  Today, Barack Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States.

Good on us.


23 comments

  1. Kysen

    Tonight we are having a Celebratory Feast here in teh Kysen household.

    Celebrating the ability to say ‘The President’ with respect again.

    Celebrating the next step in the healing of our Nation.

    Celebrating the End of an Error.

    Good on us, indeed.

  2. for all the reasons we have all said and thought so often.  A year ago I had several conversations that included the “America is not going to elect a black president” phrase (from both white and black friends).  The “black president” part of it may be one of the most poignant points and the cause for great celebration, but for me at this moment it is less that fact itself but what it says about our country that overwhelms me.  

    We are not as divided as our politics suggest.  We are not as shallow as we think.  We are not as foolish as our critics believe.  

    This really is a great nation.

    One interview along this thread always sticks with me, it was the guy who started the Survivor series – a former SAS officer – who came to the US after realizing (in his words) that despite the service to his country he was limited at home by the circumstances of his “lower class” birth.  He described a moment of epiphany he had after selling ties on the street in California and various other entrepreneurial ventures: “It hit me all at once that it wasn’t just a cliche.  That, truly, in America no one cared who your family was or where you went to school.”

    As much as I respect so many other countries in the world, there really isn’t anyplace else that I know of where your background just doesn’t matter as little as it just doesn’t matter here.  Outside of our lapses, this truly is the place where most of the time most people just couldn’t care less where you came from and what you look like, your actions and your capabilities are the primary source of how others view you.

    We may not be perfect, but more than any other place in the world our children are not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their characters.

  3. as he walks towards the stage. I’ll bet that smile is gone tomorrow when it all hits him.

    Now Warren is giving his invocation. I could do without this part.

    I wish he would listen to his own words when he talks about freedom and justice for all. Hey Rick, that includes gays.

  4. we now have a chance to start cleaning up Bush’s mess.

    I’m reminded of my son’s wedding. I had to speak a few words as the father of the groom and what I said then is as pertinent today as it was that day. Then I was speaking to the bride and groom. Today it applies to an entire nation.

    “The easy part is over. Now the hard work begins.”

  5. rfahey22

    I really wish that I would have gone, but logistically it would have been a nightmare.  Maybe in four years.

  6. Jjc2008

    Honest, to the point, returning to the idea of “commons”………the right wing for so long has convinced too many that common cause was communism and evil and the “us against them” mentality…..was “American.”

    It does take a village. I think President Obama made that clear.  I hope and pray more and more Americans LISTENED, really, really LISTENED AND HEARD AND CARE.

  7. GrassrootsOrganizer

    “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers … 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.”

    heh. heh.

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