Obama’s inauguration
I’ll join the chorus of what is likely hundreds of thousands of bloggers who are commenting on Obama’s inauguration. I didn’t go to the event itself, but at least when I’m old, I’ll be able to say I blogged on it.
I’m probably too cynical to be moved to tears by his speech, but I was impressed by how pointed some of his points were. He made it clear that anyone who would “stop clenching their fists” would be welcome as part of his program. He also said that those abroad in the practice of blaming everything on the West (read: the US) will have to answer to their own people for their actions, not ours.
Obama’s presidency, obviously, means the world to African Americans (and black people everywhere, probably) for its historic significance, and the fact that the highest glass ceiling has been broken. It doesn’t mean that racism is gone; it just means that racism alone can’t prevent someone from achieving their dreams. Powerful. I felt my lip tremble seeing older African Americans in the audience watching with a mixture of pride and unexpected joy.
For many more people, those of us who are just a shade (or two) darker than the typical person in high office, and those of us who have funny, unpronounceable names, we feel a bit of a barrier broken, too. Remember, Obama’s first name is routinely misspelled…and he still won with a healthy margin in the election. For those of us with “foreign-sounding” names, that gives us hope, too.
I’m also struck by how louder the celebrations are this time around, compared to 2000 and 2004. But, then again, I’m in the Bay Area, most of my friends are college-educated and Left-leaning, and Hollywood and newsmakers tend to be, too. I’m sure there are thousands of Pentecostal churches across America (80 million Americans are Pentecostal, mind you) with millions of weeping, mourning congregants.
The honeymoon will eventually end, and the backlash by conservatives will eventually mount, but Obama has made it clear that he doesn’t plan a Rove-like war for its own sake. Reasonable pushback from the opposition is always healthy, if “reasonable” is still in the GOP dictionary. Let’s hope the Republicans can take the next 4-8 years to grow up.
Rich Lowry (National Review) was talking about Bush’s sincerity and honesty, as he leaves the White House, and I thought of what George Constanza said, when Jerry asked him how to lie: “It’s not a lie if you believe it’s true.”
- Excited
- Fascinated
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
The Republicans will never grow up. It’s their same juvenile extremist behavior that got Obama elected. Their party is in shambles now. And unfortunately, only a few on the Right realize that some cleaning up needs to be done.
And it’s making them even angrier that Obama’s leaning toward the center.
Comment by virgomonkey — January 27, 2009 @ 4:38 pm
Amen!
Comment by JM — January 27, 2009 @ 11:32 pm
It’s ok to have a comment.
Comment by dudeguy — February 1, 2009 @ 1:02 pm
I used to read your blog but you have so much advertising on it now that I can’t even see your posts!
Comment by Silvia — February 3, 2009 @ 12:18 pm
Thanks for this post.
Comment by yourguy — February 3, 2009 @ 5:14 pm
What do you mean “if reasonable is still in the GOP dictionary”? I suppose you think that 8 years of calling Bush Hitler and a fascist; 7 years of crowing that 9/11 was an inside job; and 5-6 years of trashing our troops and working for America’s defeat in war all adds up to reasonable? I guess it does when it comes from the Left.
Comment by Seane-Anna — April 19, 2009 @ 12:14 pm
Seane-Anna: I’ve got to say all the right-wing delusions of Democrats being a bunch of turncoats is really gotten tiresome. How much more of tossing around this meaningless canard do you need to do to make yourself feel better? Why don’t you go look up some statistics like a nice girl about how many on the Left think Bush is like Hitler, how many think 9/11 was an inside job, and how many don’t support the troops. Or would the truth make your sick little fantasies come down too quickly?
Comment by JM — April 19, 2009 @ 9:57 pm
Delusional? Dude, it’s YOU and your leftie pals who are delusional. I didn’t say ALL of the Left said and did the things I referenced but A LOT of them did and the effort of libs like you to down play them is downright shameful.
Sick little fantasies? Who passed a city ordinance calling Marine recruiters “unwanted and uninvited intruders”? Who shouted that the military was teaching kids how to kill babies? Who burned an American soldier in effigy at an “anti-war” protest? Who made a movie portraying our troops as a bunch of raping, murdering thugs? Who tried and convicted our Marines of murder in Haditha before a trial was even done? Who accused America of running another Auschwitz in Gitmo? Who said the victims of 9/11 were “little Eichmans”? Who said and did all of these things, and more, JM? Hint: it wasn’t conservatives/Republicans.
Sick little fantasies? The only people suffering from sick little fantasies are supposedly patriotic libs/Dems like you who are in BIG TIME denial about the fifth column rats who’ve grabbed the helm of your side of the political aisle. If those people don’t speak for you, JM, your argument is with them, not me.
Comment by Seane-Anna — April 21, 2009 @ 6:49 pm
Seane-Anna: I point out general trends, and you cherry-pick a few nutbags to ascribe to everyone associated with the Left.
If I wanted to do some cherry-picking of my own, I might ask you if you’ve carved a backwards B on your face and said a fictitious black man attacked you because you had a McCain sticker on your car. Or if you’ve ever compared gay people to people who have sex with animals. Or if you’ve called for the assassination of our president. Or asked Asian-Americans to change their names to ones that are easier to pronounce. Or say that Obama’s tax policy is akin to Nazi Germany gassing Jews.
Who did all these things and more SA? Hint: it wasn’t liberals/Democrats.
You’ve got enough nutbags on your side of the fence to know better about making such generalizations. Focus instead on matters of policy and actual movements/events involving more than 1 person, unless you want me and anyone with half a brain to write you off as stupid.
Comment by JM — April 22, 2009 @ 11:02 am
JM, I will give you a lengthy response,
Bill O’Reilly-yes, THAT Bill O’Reilly–divdes your side of the political aisle into two groups: responsible or moderate liberals and what O’Reilly calls the far-left. O’Reilly claims the far-left are kooks who don’t speak for moderat e liberals, however, moderate liberals don’t condemn the far-left kooks forcibly enough, much like moderate Muslims don’t condemn radical Muslims forcibly enough. I agree with O’Reilly and you, JM, are exhibit A.
Instead of unequivocally condemning the loonies on your side of the aisle you respond by whining about loonies on the Right and implying I’m stupid for daring to point your loonies out. You accuse me of making generalizations, forgetting that you started this debate by making a sweeping generalization of the GOP in your post. That’s what got me started, or didn’t you notice?
And as for your accusations against the Right yes, I actually have done a couple of those things…sort of. I haven’t compared gays to the bestiality people but I have argued that normalizing homosexuality can and will lead to the normalization of other deviant sexualities such as pedophilia, incest, and bestiality. I believe that and I don’t apologize for it. And while I haven’t called for Obama’s assassination I DID write on my blog that I’d be glad if he was assassinated on live tv like Oswald. I’ve moderated my view of that now. I’d still be glad if Obama was assassinated, it just wouldn’t have to be on live tv. Hee, hee.
One more thing.
Why are you upset about Asian-Americans being asked to change their unpronouncable names? Are you implying this is racist? In the 19th and 20th centuries east European immigrants were sometimes asked, or even told, to change their unpronouncable names, and they were White. What’s wrong with asking Asians to do what Whites were once asked to do? Huh?
Comment by Seane-Anna — April 22, 2009 @ 6:10 pm
There comes a point when debate becomes impossible with people with repulsive, immoral values. That point has been reached. Goodbye, Seane-Anna.
Comment by JM — April 23, 2009 @ 7:43 am
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/8/14/766896/-The-best-comment-on-the-Whole-Foods-fiasco
hi,
please make this a separate post?
A Day in the Life of Joe Republican
Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare
his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some
tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With
his first swallow of coffee, he takes his daily medication. His
medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought
to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer’s medical
plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for
paid medical insurance — now Joe gets it, too. He prepares his
morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe’s bacon is safe to eat because
some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing
industry.
In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo.
His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in
the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right
to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.
Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath.
The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko
liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He
walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to
work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation
fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public
transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a
contributor.
Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical
benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy
liberal union members fought and died for these working standards.
Its noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some
bills. Joe’s deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some
godless liberal wanted to protect Joe’s money from unscrupulous
bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.
Joe has to pay his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided
that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and
earned more money over his lifetime.
Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at
his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His
car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating
liberal fought for car safety standards. He arrives at his boyhood
home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by
Farmers’ Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural
loans. The house didn’t have electricity until some big-government
liberal stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural
electrification.
He is happy to see his father, who is now retired.
His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some
wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of
himself so Joe wouldn’t have to.
Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk
show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and
conservatives are good. He doesn’t mention that the beloved
Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe
enjoys throughout his day.
Joe agrees: “We don’t need those big-government liberals ruining our
lives! After all, I’m a self-made man who believes everyone should
take care of themselves, just like I have.”
Comment by Bij Lobith komt de Rijn Ons Land — October 28, 2009 @ 2:54 am