I voted for Obama, but since I’m still stuck at work, didn’t see the inaugural speech. I read it online, instead.
For what it’s worth, it didn’t read like a very good speech, but neither did it read like a hopeless bushworthy mess of generalities. I didn’t see many details and I wasn’t expecting any; this was an inaugural speech, not a campaign debate.
Frankly, what kind of specifics do you think he should have had? The vague talking points of Bush in 2001? “We will reform Medicare and lower taxes” kind of stuff?
The liberal double-standard is breathtaking. The libs whip themselves into a frenzy about how stupid Bush is for waving to Stevie Wonder (a story, by the way, that Snopes says is fake); but let Vice-Plagiarist Joe Biden actually call for a guy in a wheelchair to stand up for a round of applause, and you can cue the crickets as far as the libs are concerned. That’s no evidence that Biden is a moron (which he is), it’s just “Joe being Joe!”
In fact, a double whoooooooooosh!!
Goodness gracious, guys. I know you’re doubtless feeling pretty gloomy these days, what with having a Democrat in the White House and all, but do try to keep in mind that some people are still feeling chipper enough to crack jokes, even if you don’t feel up to laughing at them. We don’t expect you to seem cheerful, but at least you can try not to seem clueless!
No excuse for Roberts, but doesn’t just about every elected pol who gains some national recognition practice saying the oath in front of the mirror enough to have it memorized?
Obama is notable for being able to string ideas as well as coherent sentences together without any kind of script. After 8 dreary years of Shrub’s moronic ramblings, not to mention his inability to even read from a teleprompter, it’s quite refreshing to have a chief executive who can actually talk.
If Obama had gone for the soaring rhetoric and highfalutin’ oratory then you’d sniff that he’s all glitz and no substance. His speech was rather somber in tone, listing some suprisingly specific goals as well as reminders about responsibilities. It was eminently suitable for the tough times he, and we, face, IMO.
I cringed through the poetry reading though. Wow, that sucked.
I giggled at Starving Artist’s whoosh, and then outright lost it at Stephe96’s whoosh. Way to go, guys- you’re totally living up to the mediocrity of the last eight years!
In defense of the whooshed, not everybody has seen Idiocracy and you’ll get the same shocked response if you quote that very same line while reading correspondence from drooling claimants at your desk and your office manager happens to be passing by on the way to her office. Or so I’ve been told.
I love the sound of snivelling sour grapes on Inauguration day. Here, why don’t you use my dick to wipe the snot off your face, you blubbering titty baby.
"You know, it’s always a bad practice to say ‘always’ or ‘never’ "
“Over the past fifteen months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go.”
“What they’ll say is, ‘Well it costs too much money,’ but you know what? It would cost, about… It – it – it would cost about the same as what we would spend… It… Over the course of 10 years it would cost what it would costs us… All right. Okay. We’re going to… It… It would cost us about the same as it would cost for about – hold on one second. I can’t hear myself. But I’m glad you’re fired up, though. I’m glad.”
“Everybody knows that it makes no sense that you send a kid to the emergency room for a treatable illness like asthma, they end up taking up a hospital bed, it costs, when, if you, they just gave, you gave them treatment early and they got some treatment, and a, a breathalyzer, or inhalator, not a breathalyzer. I haven’t had much sleep in the last 48 hours.”
“In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died—an entire town destroyed.” (Actual death toll: 12)
“Sen. Clinton, I think, is much better known, coming from a nearby state of Arkansas. So it’s not surprising that she would have an advantage in some of those states in the middle.” (He was talking about Kentucky)
“Here’s something that you will rarely hear from a politician, and that is that I’m not familiar with the Hanford, uuuuhh, site, so I don’t know exactly what’s going on there. Now, having said that, I promise you I’ll learn about it by the time I leave here on the ride back to the airport.” (Imagine if Sarah Palin had said this!)
"Americans… still believe in an America where anything’s possible - they just don’t think their leaders do. "
"I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. "
"I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we’ve struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We’ve made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions. "
"Where the stakes are the highest, in the war on terror, we cannot possibly succeed without extraordinary international cooperation. Effective international police actions require the highest degree of intelligence sharing, planning and collaborative enforcement. "