Updated Obama Primer

By Carol Gee

"Barack Obama 1-2-3-4-5"

This post was first written on 3/22/08. For today I've updated the original a bit and reposted it. It amounts to a little "pocket reference" for keeping connected with (or regarding) President Obama.

Obama on the Web - In chronological order:

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need -- Obamba Blog, Obama Store: This is the original campaign web site, Obama for America*.

The Inauguration of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden -- This was the site of the Presidential Campaign Committee, fronted by Senator Dianne Feinstein.

USA Service.0rg -- This was the web site that was used with the thousands of volunteers who participated in the MLK National Day of Service on January 19.

Welcome to the White House -- The main website of President Obama's administration. It replaced White House.gov in the blink of an eye at noon on January 20. It can also be reached via a link (click Executive Branch) at "Federal Government" at USA.gov.

USAspending.gov -- is the result of legislation authored by Senators Obama and Coburn in 2006 and launched in 2007. To quote Obama,

"We should do everything we can to ensure that the American public can easily access and track how the Federal government does its business," said Senator Obama. "Our government took an important step last year by launching USASpending.gov and giving ordinary citizens an important tool to hold Washington accountable.

"*Obama for America becomes Organizing for America" in a merger with the Democratic Party. David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager, will remain involved. Former Governor Tim Kaine has replaced former Governor Howard Dean as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Marc Ambinder explains (1/17/09):

The Obama political machine is merging with the Democratic National Committee.

The President-elect launched Obama 2.0, or Organizing for America, this morning with a YouTube video.

An Obama political aide said that OFA will be housed at the Democratic National Committee, resolving a longstanding debate about whether the entity should be separate.

A press release prepared by OFA calls the organization "the next phase" of the Obama organization, and will offer "volunteers the continued opportunity to work for change in their communities by organizing in support of reform in Washington."

From the original post -- March 2008

Barack Obama: My Space

Barack Obama: Wikipedia

3/18/08:" The Speech" from NYT Obama on Race

Foreshadowing References -- I found it interesting to see his progression in print as I wrote the first post.

Roots -- From Voice of America, "Obama Receives Hero's Welcome at His Family's Ancestral Village in Kenya" Nairobi 27 August 2006.

National oratory -- Barack Obama: 2004 Democratic Convention Speech

Environment -- From Grist/Muckraker Barack Star :"Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama's got green cred." By Amanda Griscom, 04 Aug 2004 To quote:

"Environmentalism is not an upper-income issue, it's not a white issue, it's not a black issue, it's not a South or a North or an East or a West issue. It's an issue that all of us have a stake in," Obama shouted. "And if I can do anything to make sure that not just my daughter but every child in America has green pastures to run in and clean air to breathe and clean water to swim in, then that is something I'm going to work my hardest to make happen."

The crowd went bananas in response to this call for unity across ethnic and socio-economic lines, as though they'd been waiting for exactly this kind of dynamic leader to free environmentalism from the perception that it's predominately a white upper-middle-class issue.

Obama's environmental activism stretches back to his undergrad days at Columbia University, during which he did a three-month stint with a Ralph Nader offshoot organization trying to convince minority students at City College in Harlem to recycle. Later, when he worked as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, he fought for lead abatement in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood.

Harvard Law Review -- Barack Obama in New York Times Feb. 6, 1990, "First Black Elected to Head Harvard's Law Review." To quote:

The new president of the Review is Barack Obama, a 28-year-old graduate of Columbia University who spent four years heading a community development program for poor blacks on Chicago's South Side before enrolling in law school. His late father, Barack Obama, was a finance minister in Kenya and his mother, Ann Dunham, is an American anthropologist now doing fieldwork in Indonesia. Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii.

''The fact that I've been elected shows a lot of progress,'' Mr. Obama said today in an interview. ''It's encouraging.

''But it's important that stories like mine aren't used to say that everything is O.K. for blacks. You have to remember that for every one of me, there are hundreds or thousands of black students with at least equal talent who don't get a chance,'' he said, alluding to poverty or growing up in a drug environment.

. . . On his goals in his new post, Mr. Obama said: ''I personally am interested in pushing a strong minority perspective. I'm fairly opinionated about this. But as president of the law review, I have a limited role as only first among equals.''

Therefore, Mr. Obama said, he would concentrate on making the review a ''forum for debate,'' bringing in new writers and pushing for livelier, more accessible writing.

. . . Professors and students at the law school reacted cautiously to Mr. Obama's selection. ''For better or for worse, people will view it as historically significant,'' said Prof. Randall Kennedy, who teaches contracts and race relations law. ''But I hope it won't overwhelm this individual student's achievement.''

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Chris Matthews, verbal diarrhea, and the Obama Inauguration

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I love a good takedown of a self-important media blowhard as much as anyone, even if it's a liberal-leaning enthusiast for "change," which is why I appreciate Jack Shafer's biting critique of the manure-spewing Chris Matthews:

Nobody in TV news stir-fries his ideas and serves them to the audience faster than MSNBC's Chris Matthews. Drawing from a larder filled with old anecdotes, unreliable metaphors, wacky intuition, and superficial observations, the always-animated Matthews steers whatever's handy into the hot wok that is his brain. The sizzling free-associations skitter through his limbic system, leap out his mouth, and look for a resting spot in the national conversation, where they steam like fresh lava in untouchable heaps.

Read the whole thing.

Shafer focuses on Matthews's Inauguration Day "cooking" -- one must pity Shafer for having to endure so much Matthews in so little time -- and, needless to say, there was a lot of material, much of it, as usual, pathetically self-referential, pretentiously self-absorbed, and arrogantly self-aggrandizing.

My favourite bit: Matthews declaring that the crowds were actually cheering for MSNBC as "the network of the 21st century," then later name-dropping all the celebrities he met (including quasi-celebrity Val Kilmer, to whom he gave a ride home). Awesome.

Obama takes the oath... again

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Yes, because Chief Justice Roberts flubbed it, screwing up the one job he had to do, because he and Obama just weren't on the same wavelength, and because idiots like Fox News's Chris Wallace made a big deal of the error and asked if Obama really was the president, even though he was, already, at noon on Inauguration Day, before he even swore on the Lincoln Bible, and because some "experts" thought it might be a good idea, and because of "an abundance of caution," as White House Counsel Greg Craig put it, and simply because the issue had to be put to rest, Obama took the presidential oath again, tonight, this time at the White House, presumably with Roberts not screwing up.

Okay. Can we move on? It's over.

A quiet moment

By Carl

The day itself passed uneventfully, 1.75 million people gathered to witness history live as it happened. No one was arrested. No one was killed.

Ah, but the event!

Every Tuesday, I go to a local Irish watering hole. They don't serve food, so I pick up a salad along the way. On a good day, a day when there's a soccer game or baseball game, there might be a dozen, maybe 20 people. I figured it was the safest place to watch the Inauguration.

When I got there, there were 150 people crammed into the bar. The proprietor, a tall balding man, had taken a moment to reserve me a table. I prefer sitting at the bar, but there was no way I'd get that close. I understood how those folks at the back of the Mall felt.

I took my seat in front of a 50" screen LCD TV. CBS was on. I arrived about 11:45, because I had figured the suckers would wait until noon, not realizing there was a whole pageant ahead of that.

I sat through Rick Warren's prayer, a wholly unctuous event, to be sure, but not too bad considering how the liberals around me had portrayed this hatemonger. Was it me, or did his invocation take longer than Obama's speech? I'm not sure.

A brief musical performance later, Biden takes his oath. The bar is suddenly silent. History has that kind of draw for people. You want to focus someone's attention on something, make it truly historic. In his own way, Biden made history, being the first Catholic (remember, this is an Irish bar) to become vice president.

"So help me God..."

The bar erupts in sustained applause. If Biden had been able to do that on the stump, I have no doubt he would have been taking the last oath of the proceedings.

I'm munching on a leaf of romaine as Yo-Yo Ma and Itzakh Perlman trade riffs during a Quaker hymn. Marvelous. The quartet practically fulfills Reagan Interior Secretary James Watt's vision of "a black, a woman, two Jews, and a cripple."

Finally, the big moment: Obama's swearing in. Not a movement in the bar, not even a mouse. The flub by Roberts, egged on in part by Obama's initial confusion, gets a bit of a chuckle, and a mulligan. Both men oathed for the first time. I guess that was to be expected. It was humanizing for both.

"So help me God..."

A thunderclap of applause, followed by literally ten minutes of hand-clapping. The bar exploded. By now I've finished my first adult beverage and the barkeep wanders over across forty feet of floor space to offer another.

I tip well, what can I say?

As Obama begins his address, the barkeep whispers in my ear as he delivers my second pint, "I could never imagine this place being this crowded and this quiet," followed by a snarky reference to all the soda drinkers. The rookies who come in only to watch big events and feel obligated to buy a Coke.

It's true. It was silent. I mean, dead silent. September 11, that was quiet. Even the streets of New York took on an almost Sunday morning quality to them.

Today made that day look noisy. Cab drivers pulled over outside. People stopped in the street to watch through the window.

The speech.

Rumour has it that when Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, perhaps the single greatest piece of oration in American history, no one applauded. Lincoln himself told a bodyguard that the speech, like a bad plow, "won't scour."

Historians tend to think that this speech so stunned and captivated audiences that the dignified silence that came after Lincoln was finished was more an acknowledgement that they wanted more, so impressed were they.

Obama's speech, in many ways, was like that. I found it interesting that some of the applause lines fell sharply flat of applause ("What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply," leaps to mind). You could see in Obama's eyes the expectation that people would leap on that, but they did not.

The speech was that impressive. I clapped at that line, but I may have been the only person in the world to have done that.

The theme of his speech was clear: maturity. Often, I'm reminded of the fact that when the Clintons cleared out in 2001, the Bushies warned the planet that "the adults were in charge now."

A boast from a fraternity house full of boastful adolescents. Sigma Fucka Duck.

Obama didn't boast about wresting the country from immaturity and leading them to maturity. He spoke honestly to us. If you wonder why there were so few applause breaks, this may be the linchpin: we had never been talked to this honestly and openly since Harry Truman. Even Jimmy Carter couldn't pull it off this well.

He spoke of service and duty to our nation, much as JFK did a generation before. He spoke of sacrifice for the good of others. He spoke at length about the troubles facing us, not in a tragic, dramatic way, but in a realistic and honest way. He spoke to us, not down to us. He treated us like adults. He presumed there was a basic comprehension not of what has happened, but that the future is uncertain.

He led, in short. Contrast that with the speech Bush gave after 9/11:

And I pray they [ed. note: the children] will be comforted by a Power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23:

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.

All fine and dandy to invoke the Deity. To be sure, Obama did it often enough in his speech yesterday, but to leave the fate of the nation into the hands of a God whose ultimate goal is by definition unknowable is not leading.

It’s taking the easy way out. Compare Obama's passage on terrorists:

And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that, "Our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."

...with Bush's:

The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge -- huge structures collapsing have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong.

If you had given these passages to me blind, I would have guessed Obama's was Bush's, the strong, single-minded obsessed steely eyed defender of America, and Bush's was Obama's, the supposedly weak-kneed liberal pansy, all touchy-feely. Obama simply said that when the dust clears, al Qaeda will not exist, but we will. He didn't need to scare anyone, or make them feel more uncertain than they already were.

Indeed, his entire speech yesterday sounded to me like a point by point repudiation of the Bush Administration: the "patchwork heritage" of our diverse society, open hand not closed fist, chiding the indifference to suffering (an indirect reference to the poor trapped by Katrina, I thought, but very carefully couched), but especially piercing was the “"return to the values" passage: fair play, courage, honesty.

During the primary, one criticism I had of Obama was that actions speak louder than words, and I still hold to that.

But I gotta tell you, these were some loud words!

(Cross-posted at Simply Left Behind.)

Inauguration Wednesday

By Carol Gee

Wednesday's promised analysis of my predictions made yesterday:

Inauguration (January 20)... In advance, here is my fantasy, my prediction --

The day will be cold and gray. The crowds will be huge, millions, in fact. And they will be well-behaved, for the most part. Except for those people desperate to use one of a limited number of Porta-Potties. It could get ugly. Not everyone will be able to use their cell phones or Blackberries at the same time, due to overloading of the system. But eventually everyone will get home and get back in touch.

The day was cold and sunny, bright and beautiful. Estimates of crowd size centered around two million. They were well-behaved. Initial reports were that there were no arrests. Cell phone service was reported to be "problem-free" to "spotty." Extensive research proved unsuccessful as to whether there were enough Porta-Potties. Perhaps one of my readers knows. Finally, it is too soon to tell whether there are still lost souls wandering around in Washington D.C.

The moods will be wide-ranging -- excited, joyful, moved to tears, confused, anxious and relieved. People, filled with optimism, will have a spirit of helpfulness, of generosity and of shared community. They must be prepared for a great deal of celebration and stress, all at the same time. And they will have to be rather physically fit. The walks will be long, the pavement hard, the grass bumpy and the seating nonexistent. The people who come to see the Inauguration will be kids,... adults and a few very fit Seniors. They will come in all colors and from many different nations in addition to the USA. They will get tired and hungry...

The crowds appeared to be universally happy and excited. Many did shed tears. And there was a great amount of apparent camaraderie. I did read scattered reports of impatient incidents, however. As promised bridges were closed and security was extremely tight. The people all seemed young and vigorous and very diverse. Indeed, many were from out of the country. No one looked ravenously hungry, though we speculated that some "ate mayonnaise sandwiches" in order to make the trip.

The people who are participants in the Inauguration will be well organized, patient, nervous or excited and overcome with emotion at times. There will be lots of Democrats, some Republicans who are required to be there because of their office, and some who want to be there because it is of historic importance. Most will wish President Obama and the First Lady well. Security will be omnipresent and as tense as at any time in memory... And the media will cover it all.

Under close observation participants seemed to be well organized, though the parade did run somewhat late. Everyone looked relatively patient. I detected that President Obama was a bit nervous at the beginning of his speech. Who would not be so, upon seeing the sea of humanity covering the Mall? Chief Justice Roberts' slight oath flub could have been because he is a newbie at oaths of office. Rep. John Boehner never looked happy. President and Mrs. Obama greeted, and were greeted by what seemed like, everyone. Security stopped everyone at the door of the vewing stand. Each party dutifully waited to be announced. I watched MSNBC and C-SPAN; the coverage was different but generally good.

The Inaugural speech will be magnificent and memorable to the millions watching. The Inaugural Poet will wax poetic. The Bible will be Lincoln's, and it will carefully be returned to where it belongs. All the Obamas will be beautiful and stylish. All the Supreme Court Justices will look distinguished. The bands will march smartly in straight lines. The parade will be on time, as will all other elements of the ceremony. And, the day... will make African-Americans and all Americans proud that history is being made in a profoundly important way.

The inaugural speech was not the best speech ever given by the new President, but it served is purpose very well. The domestic/political/economic aspects were adequate and will be functional as a plan for where to begin work. But it was in addressing the world where the speech soared. My favorite line was about "unclinching your fist" to "shake the hand" of unfriendly countries. The Poet was a wonderful wordsmith, modern, powerful and talented. Her cadence was striking. One of my favorite very intimate visuals was when Michelle Obama held the Lincoln Bible for the administration of the oath to her husband. I liked the humanity displayed by the Supreme Court justices: Roberts not perfect, Alito insulted enough to skip the ceremony and O'Conner still robed. The parade, running late like most parades, gave us bands that were as American as apple pie, contrasting in capability, all happy to be included. My favorite parade moment was seeing Montana Senator John Tester astride his steed. The Obamas made up time as they went from Inaugural Ball to Ball. Important history was made on Tuesday.

The power to govern will quickly pass from party to party, peacefully. The White House will get to work quickly, Tuesday afternoon, actually. People from other countries may wonder how we manage to do it this way for hundreds of years. And some may wish they were American. Others will go home and vow to work harder for better government, or peace or maybe revolution. And many others will go back to their own nations feeling that the earth is a bit smaller, and that we are all neighbors, able to be united in spirit despite differences.

The torch of governance passed peacefully from "43" to "44." Now former President Bush listened calmly as his successor subtly took him to task as he spoke to the crowd and the world. And the crowd booed Mr. Bush, it was reported. The new skeleton White House staff were whisked by van to take over at noon. Those outside of the United States, who watched all this, will indicate by their actions as time passes, what they make of the transition between administrations.

The time has come to close. These are my predictions and assumptions. I will post again, post-Inauguration to let you know how I did. Have a great day. Enjoy, celebrate, reflect and hug those you love. Today is January 20, 2009. I thought it would never come. And now it here; I intend to enjoy it to the fullest.

And it is time to close today's post. Where I lacked information I invite my readers to fill me in. I hope that all of you had as good a Tuesday as we enjoyed. It was a magnificent new beginning, for which we had waited 8 years.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Goodbye, Mr. Bush, and good riddance

By Michael J.W. Stickings

It's over, at long last. Eight years of a disastrous presidency, one of the worst in history.

I've thought about writing a post about it all, some sort of summation, but what more is there to say? What more can I add to what others have written?

Although this blog hasn't solely been about Bush, I have written a great deal about him over the years, and it has beeen very much my record of, my thoughts on, his presidency, along with so many contributions from my many co-bloggers.

And it feels like the Bush presidency ended with a shrug. It was time, long past time, and everyone knew it. Even his hardcore supporters, or many of them, knew it. It hasn't even felt like Bush has been president for some time. 2008 was all about Obama and Hillary, McCain and Palin, and Bush has been the lamest of lame ducks, with no one beyond his bubble paying much attention to him, with the world no longer bothering to take him seriously, as some never did, and, since the November election, with the president-elect being far more relevant, and for more presidential, than the president himself.

It will be weird, I suppose, without Bush in the White House, without Bush to write about on a near-daily basis -- without such a massive target -- but it is now Obama's time, time for change, for a new beginning. It's almost like history passed Bush by while he was still in office, and I thought of that often today as I watched the Inauguration. There was Bush, a man rejected by a large majority of the American people, a man who lost the support of much of his own party, a man whom his own party's nominee ran against, a man at whom Obama directed much of his speech today, if only indirectly. The country voted for change, and that change means both Obama and not Bush. It was the end of his presidency, but did anyone care?

Bush carried himself well today, I'll give him that, and he and Laura seemed genuinely friendly with the Obamas, but there was still something sad and pathetic about it all, about how small Bush has become, about how utterly irrelevant. History had passed him by, the world had passed him by, the country had passed him by, and it's like he was just hanging around waiting for it all to be over, waiting for the helicopter to come pick him up and whisk him away to some faraway place where he no longer has to be anyone important.

And then -- poof -- it was over. Just like that.

Don't let the door hit ya

By Creature

Screwing up the oath

By Michael J.W. Stickings

It was Chief Justice Roberts, not President Obama, who messed up the oath, flubbing his part. He put "faithfully" in the wrong place and said president "to," instead of "of," the United States.

Blitzer: "John Roberts had one job to do today and he sort of screwed up."

Yup.

Benen has more.

BREAKING NEWS: Kennedy collapses

By Edward Copeland

Sen. Ted Kennedy, ailing with a malignant brain tumor, collapsed in convulsions at the inauguration luncheon and was removed on a stretcher.

Sen. Robert Byrd also was stricken at the luncheon, but not as seriously.

**********

UPDATE: It is being reported that Kennedy is "feeling well." It was "simple fatigue."

From all of us at The Reaction, Senator, get well soon. Both senators.

Best headline ever

By Creature

AP: Ex-President Bush and wife leave capital for Texas

Obama's First Inaugural Speech

By Michael J.W. Stickings

[For all of our Inauguration '09 coverage, click here.]

Some initial thoughts:

-- I would not call it one of Obama's bravura performances -- it was not as strong as his election-night speech -- but it was the right speech for the occasion, full of bold, high-minded rhetoric and yet sufficiently sober in light of the challenging times and the challenges ahead, grounded in American history and lifted up by American ideals, an appreciation of the current reality as well as of the possibility of a better future, a call to unity and sacrifice as well as an ode to liberty. I didn't quite get the chills, as I have from many of his other speeches, but there is no denying the magnificent solemnity of the occasion (the whole inauguration has been a pretty awesome spectacle).

-- Much of the speech, especially early on, was directed, indirectly, at Bush, at the failures of his presidency. And how fitting it was for Bush to be there to hear it. (It's not just post-partisan change that Obama offers, remember, it's change from Bush.) Key passage: "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America." Why today? Because Bush was still in office yesterday.

-- Also: "As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals," a rebuke of Bush's national security policies.

-- And: "Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions," another rebuke.

-- This personal note was one of the most powerful parts of the speech: "This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath." It is truly an incredible day for America," one that many, just a generation ago, if not more recently, could hardly have seen coming.

-- Obama's call to sacrifice reminded me (fondly) of Bill Clinton in '92: "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility, a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

-- Chait: "The reference to 'stale political arguments' sounds like a slap at both the right and the left. But in fact it's only a slap at the right. Conservatives are the only ones who think the size of government is an end rather than a means. Liberals are the ones who only care about what works." As Carl put it a short while ago, it's safe to be a liberal again.

-- I noticed the reference to "non-believers," as did Fogg and Cohn. It's about time we were given the respect we deserve.

-- The theme: progress through overcoming -- the overcoming of hardship and adversity, the American "journey," the need for "big plans," for "what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose."

-- It was, on the whole, the speech and everything surrounding it, well, amazing. But now comes the hard part...

This land was made for you and me

By Capt. Fogg

"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."

-- Barack H. Obama, 1/20/2009

And isn't it time someone affirmed that fact? In a country that still, in many states, requires religious belief as a test for office, in a country where accepting Jesus of Nazareth as a savior as a requirement for public office is on the books in at least one state, isn't it time our leaders stood up for the freedom of religion we have been promised?

The Obama Inauguration

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Stay tuned. We'll have much more on Obama, Bush, the inauguration, and so much else throughout the day, with new posts set to be published shortly.

Meanwhile, I'm off to watch the proceedings on TV. (Yes, I wish I were there.)

**********

Yes, it's all a bit much -- more the media coverage than the events themselves -- but I tend to agree with Michelle Cottle:

In addition to feeling the burden of the nation's current situation, the Obama people are keenly aware of the widespread, pent-up desire to celebrate this day with all of the "ridiculousness" that this country can muster. The entire globe is watching. We should not shortchange the moment.

Moreover, I'd argue that the current anxiety and pessimism people are feeling make a large-scale, communal moment of celebration all the more important. In general, during tough times, people crave a little glamour and escapism. (There is a reason that the Great Depression spawned a Hollywood glut of high-society comedies.) More specifically, when there is an uneasy sense that our nation is struggling, people need to be reminded of its greatness. We need to feel like our best times are yet to come. We need spectacle. We need uplift. We need pomp and ceremony and, yes, silly whistle stop tours and cheesy speeches that self-consciously remind us how far we have come. It may not be entirely rational -- and perhaps even a tad counterproductive. But it's also human nature.

With all that is going on in the world, both at home and abroad, it is indeed a time for celebration -- a healthy and necessary prelude to the hard work (and tougher times) ahead.

It is an awesome spectacle. And a new day for America.

Inauguration Day Tuesday

By Carol Gee

The day Tuesday happens to be big in the political world. Elections are often held on Tuesdays. And this year Inauguration (January 20) falls on a Tuesday. So what on earth can I say about the Inauguration before it happens? I want to be in front of my television instead of my computer. I must imagine it in advance. Here is my fantasy, my prediction --

The day will be cold and gray. The crowds will be huge, millions, in fact. And they will be well-behaved, for the most part. Except for those people desperate to use one of a limited number of Porta-Potties. It could get ugly. Not everyone will be able to use their cell phones or Blackberries at the same time, due to overloading of the system. But eventually everyone will get home and get back in touch.

The moods will be wide-ranging -- excited, joyful, moved to tears, confused, anxious and relieved. People, filled with optimism, will have a spirit of helpfulness, of generosity and of shared community. They must be prepared for a great deal of celebration and stress, all at the same time. And they will have to be rather physically fit. The walks will be long, the pavement hard, the grass bumpy and the seating nonexistent.

The people who come to see the Inauguration will be kids old enough to walk a long ways, adults and a few very fit Seniors. They will come in all colors and from many different nations in addition to the USA. They will get tired and hungry, but generally will remain of good cheer.

The people who are participants in the Inauguration will be well organized, patient, nervous or excited and overcome with emotion at times. There will be lots of Democrats, some Republicans who are required to be there because of their office, and some who want to be there because it is of historic importance. Most will wish President Obama and the First Lady well. Security will be omnipresent* and as tense as at any time in memory. Google will capture# the Inauguration from space. And the media will cover it all.

The Inaugural speech will be magnificent and memorable to the millions watching. The Inaugural Poet will wax poetic. The Bible will be Lincoln's, and it will carefully be returned to where it belongs. All the Obamas will be beautiful and stylish. All the Supreme Court Justices will look distinguished. The bands will march smartly in straight lines. The parade will be on time, as will all other elements of the ceremony. And the day following Martin Luther King Day will make African-Americans and all Americans proud that history is being made in a profoundly important way.

The power to govern will quickly pass from Party to Party, Peacefully. The White House will get to work quickly, Tuesday afternoon, actually. People from other countries may wonder how we manage to do it this way for hundreds of years. And some may wish they were American. Others will go home and vow to work harder for better government, or peace or maybe revolution. And many others will go back to their own nations feeling that the earth is a bit smaller, and that we are all neighbors, able to be united in spirit despite differences.

The time has come to close. These are my predictions and assumptions. I will post again, post-Inauguration to let you know how I did. Have a great day. Enjoy, celebrate, reflect and hug those you love. Today is January 20, 2009. I thought it would never come. And now it here; I intend to enjoy it to the fullest.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo"* and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Joy mixed with the bittersweet

By Edward Copeland

Today is a joyous day on so many levels, a day I didn't think I'd see. Even though it was obvious early on in last year's endless primary process that Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee and the general election's outcome seemed preordained fairly early in the fall, there always was that slight, nagging doubt that my country could really do the right thing and elect a young man with limited government experience, a Kenyan father, a white Kansas mother and the middle name of Hussein to the highest office in the land. Forget about the murkiness of 2000, Americans gave the worst president of all time a second term in 2004, could the electorate become that much smarter in four years?

Since May, this has been a rough year for me healthwise as I've watched the election and history unfold from beds, first in hospitals, now at home. I imagine that tears of happiness will flow as I watch Obama take the oath of office and the long national nightmare of the past eight years comes to an official end. However, another type of tears may appear today, those for a friend who isn't here to witness this momentous occasion.

In many ways, Jennifer made me a Democrat. I always was moderate, but I grew more liberal as I aged and as a kid, even considered myself Republican a lot of the time. Back in those days, no one threw around terms such as conservative or liberal when you were that young, either as description or pejorative. Jennifer though was unabashedly liberal when I met her in high school. She also was younger than I was.

We both had, in our separate junior years, an American history teacher who remains one of the best teachers I've ever had. She was very conservative, but you learned the facts. She also happened to be a notary and could register you to vote. So, when I turned 18, I went back to her classroom to register. Jennifer didn't believe me when I said I was going to register as a Democrat, so she followed me and I registered as a Democrat, which I would have done anyway, but which seemed like a dare.

Jennifer died unexpectedly in April 2006 at 35. Today, I'll be thinking about her a lot. We had talked about Obama after his amazing keynote speech in 2004. We even discussed the possibility that he could be the first African-American president, but we didn't imagine it would be four years later. Hell, at the time, we didn't see how Kerry could lose to that moron in the White House, so he'd be running for re-election in 2008 anyway.

January 20, 2009 always will be remembered as one of the greatest days in the history of the United States, no matter how well the Obama presidency turns out. I just wish my friend were here to see it.

Sickly sweet

By Creature

I'm just as thrilled as the next guy that Barack Obama will be inaugurated tomorrow, but the level of sap on my TV these past few days has me feeling a little ill. It's not that I mind the coverage, it's that I mind the amount and the irrelevance of some of it.

Inaugural events --

By Carol Gee

(Image: wordle.net)
Inaugural Events Update -- from Emmett S. Beliveau, Executive Director, 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee
To quote:

This will be an inauguration for all Americans, and we have an exciting list of events planned . . . an update about some of the items on the agenda:

Sunday, January 18th -- We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, free, live broadcast on HBO -- At 2:30 p.m. EST, HBO will offer a free nationwide broadcast of the We Are One concert featuring Bono, Bruce Springsteen, John Legend and more. Check your local listings to find out where you can watch the free HBO broadcast.

Monday, January 19th -- Renew America Together: National Day of Service -- The Obama and Biden families will be participating in volunteer service in the Washington, D.C. area, and would like you to take part in your community. Join any one of more than 10,000 service events already scheduled across America, or host your own:
http://www.USAservice.org/calltoservice

Kids' Inaugural: We Are The Future -- After being part of the day of service, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden will host a free Kids' Inaugural concert for the children of military families. Performances by Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, Bow Wow and others will be broadcast on the Disney Channel and Disney Radio beginning at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Tuesday, January 20th -- The Neighborhood Ball -- On the night of the Inauguration, the newly sworn-in President and the First Lady will attend the first-ever Neighborhood Inaugural Ball. Join the celebration by hosting or attending a Neighborhood Ball in your own community: http://www.pic2009.org/ball

ABC will broadcast the Washington, D.C. Neighborhood Ball, and the Presidential Inaugural Committee will be live blogging from the ballroom.

These are just a few of the events planned in the coming days. Visit www.pic2009.org to find out more. And to make sure you get up-to-the-minute updates about these and other Inaugural events, text OPEN to 56333.

I thank everyone who has committed to volunteering at the Inaugural events, or supported us with a donation. You make all of this possible, and have helped us to organize the most open and accessible inaugural in our nation's history.

We look forward to celebrating with all of you. Thank you, Emmett

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

And here's to you, Barack Obama, a world turns its hopeful eyes to you

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Here's our Photo of the Day: Obama and Biden on their way, by train, to Washington, a historic, Lincolnesque journey to Inauguration.

(Update: They've arrived. And the American people are indeed optimistic.)

(Photo: NYT.)

Barack Obama is a major league asshole...

Guest Post by Ted Leibowitz

...for choosing homophobic Proposition H8te-supporting minister Rick Warren to give the inaugural invocation.

Here's an ad that Warren made supporting Proposition H8te:



Seriously? Warren and his "we're not homophobes but gay people should not be allowed to marry" crowd keep talking about the biblical definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. How many wives did the biblical big guys have?

Samuel 12:7-8 "And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master s house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things."

Rick Warren's bible tells of the Lord God of Israel giving a man multiple wives. Not allowing, actively giving. Enough with the "marriage is between one man and one woman and has been for 5000 years" bullshit.

As recently as 1890, just over 100 years ago, the Mormon Church (you know, those fine folks who sought to "protect marriage" by pumping tens of millions of dollars into the pro-Prop H8te campaign) not only allowed and practiced but advocated for polygamy. The only reason they disavowed the practice was to gain statehood for Utah.

5000 years my ass.

As for the procreation argument, what do these homophobes think about heterosexual married couples who plan to not have children? Should they not be allowed to be married? Should married, childless couples be stripped of the rights granted them when they tied the knot?

The honeymoon is over, Mr. Obama. Time to start acting like the forward-thinking leader this country and planet so desperately needs. Embracing Rick Warren lends legitimacy to his intolerance and is a huge step in the wrong direction.

Hat tip to AmericaBlog, go there for more on the topic.

Update: Huffington Post weighs in, says nothing.

Update II [12.18.08]: Obama's defense of his choice of Rick Warren saying, "We're not going to agree on every single issue" misses the point of why people are upset about it.

Update III [12.18.08]: Wonkette weighs in and uses profanity, too. You go, girl.

The problem for Obama with the Rick Warren pick isn't social issues. That makes it seem like it's all about gay marriage in particular, or gay rights in general. It's not. The problem with Rick Warren is that he's a clear and present homophobe who equates gay marriage to polygamy, incest, and pedophelia. He says he's not a homophobe, yet he equates gays to criminal predators:

WARREN: "I'm opposed to having a brother and sister being together and calling that a marriage. I am opposed to an older guy marrying a child and calling that a marriage. I am opposed to one guy having multiple wives."

INTERVIEWER: "Do you think those are equivalent to gays getting married?"

WARREN: "Oh, I do."

In the clip below, Hillary Rosen provided interesting context on the humanity and decency aspect of denigrating a social group using the bible as statue: "At one time the bible was used to justify slavery. If [Warren] was a preacher out there using 'moral weapons' against African Americans (instead of gays), we wouldn't even be having this conversation."



Rick Warren preaches a faith based on fear, hatred, and divisiveness. Rick Warren equates gays marrying to criminal acts. Rick Warren and his bigoted, hateful views should not be on the inauguration stage. The way we in 2008 look back on racist public figures from the 50s and 60s is the way our children will look back on Rick Warren.

(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)

[Creature's note: I would like to welcome Ted, my co-blogger and best friend, to The Reaction. Welcome, Ted, and congrats for landing a coveted guest posting slot here at the best group blog around.]

[MJWS's note: I've long been a fan of Ted's blogging over at State of the Day, Creature's home, and he's a welcome addition to our team here at The Reaction. I'm sure he's already turning heads with this post title. You can be sure that he'll continue to prod and poke, stimulate and provoke, in posts to come. And for more from Ted, check out BAGeL Radio, one of the finest music outlets around.]

Oh, Lord

By Mustang Bobby

A lot of people are understandably upset that Barack Obama has invited Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his Inauguration next month.

Barack Obama’s choice of a prominent evangelical minister to perform the invocation at his inauguration is a conciliatory gesture toward social conservatives who opposed him in November, but it is drawing fierce challenges from a gay rights movement that – in the wake of a gay marriage ban in California – is looking for a fight.

Rick Warren, the senior pastor of Saddleback Church in southern California, opposes abortion rights but has taken more liberal stances on the government role in fighting poverty, and backed away from other evangelicals’ staunch support for economic conservatism. But it’s his support for the California constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage that drew the most heated criticism from Democrats Wednesday.

“Your invitation to Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at your inauguration is a genuine blow to LGBT Americans,” the president of Human Rights Campaign, Joe Solomonese, wrote Obama Wednesday. “[W]e feel a deep level of disrespect when one of architects and promoters of an anti-gay agenda is given the prominence and the pulpit of your historic nomination.”

And this backlash has delighted the righties, who are chortling that the queers are all in a tizzy over Pastor Rick. That's their way of covering up the fact that there are probably a fair number of wingers who are not happy that Mr. Warren is giving the blessing to the enemy... or were hoping for the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

I'm not exactly sure why the inauguration of a president requires the inclusion of the clergy to conduct a ritual, but other than the obvious political posturing and pandering that is woven into the fabric of the moment, it is a tradition and it would have been a huge story if that part of the ceremony had been left out. I can't remember it ever being a big deal as to who it is who gives the invocation, although I can imagine that some people weren't happy when John F. Kennedy had Cardinal Cushing give the invocation at his inauguration.

As the article notes, Pastor Warren was outspoken in his support for the passage of Prop 8 in California, comparing same-sex marriage to polygamy and incest, which is, to me, the same as saying getting a driver's license leads to grand theft auto. So I hope that this one event is the last we'll be hearing from him in terms of public speaking on behalf of the Obama administration. Far be it from me to tell the president-elect who to choose as his spiritual counsel, but I hope that his actions speak louder than words, and I hope that what follows in the next four years will do more to piss off the Religious Right -- the end of DADT, repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, and the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would be a start -- than it will to mollify them with a thirty-second appeal to a mythological being.

(Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.)