President Obama - Inaugural Address

I pray that God gives him lots and lots of wisdom, that Obama remembers ALL Americans, and that he follows the Constitution.

it;s interesting stuff Sam. At last we have someone in the White House who understands climate change, not just someone in the California Governor's mansion, being stymied by the Bush EPA every time he tries to do something useful.
bY the way I am referring to Schwarzenegger there.

Sam ~ I thought of you as OBAMA was giving his speech and saying the words you have highlighted above. Thank you for bringing this into Artistic Therapy . . . This is NOW FEATURED.

This is also FEATURED in Artistic Minds® . . . The dusting has begun Sam, and the rebuilding is IN PROGRESS!

Thank you very much for sharing this with us.

Thanks for sharing this part of history

Thanks all for commenting!

Sam,

I too, saw the speech and was impressed with its force and direction. Restore science to its rightful place is way overdue. He did not minimize the problems and challenges ahead!

Thanks for commenting, James. I hope the speech will both unite and inspire us all.
Cheers! Sam Carana

When President Obama spoke the words "...we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off..." the memories of my childhood flooded my heart and spilled from my eyes. My Mother must have said those words to me and my siblings a million times during her lifetime. She was so right. This simple phrase of encouragement lifted up my family whether we got a bad grade in school, had an argument with a classmate, or endured a North Dakota winter when Dad was out of work. It's amazing what we were able to accomplish.

Our new president has told us ~ in no muddled terms ~ that WE are the PEOPLE who can and must make the changes that are needed as well as those of desire.

Let's get started.

Thanks for sharing, Aunt Boni, I'm sure you're not alone, now is the time to get started.
Cheers! Sam Carana

i may not have voted for him, but i was impressed with him yesterday. reguardless of who i voted for, he is now our president, and i will continue to pray for him every day.

This was an amazing speech! I am still in awe!

By speaking of "restoring" science and "once again" being the beacon of hope to the world, he acknowledged in front of the BUsh administration and the whole world that for 8 years science has NOT been in the forefront and that we have NOT been the leaders we should have been. That desperately needed saying.

In no uncertain terms he said we would use all the tools available, ideologies be damned, to move us forward.

My favorite line was the goal of not having a bigger government or a smaller government but a government that works for all of the people.

I couldn't agree more about most everthing he said including his energy policy. I guess that is why I voted for him.

Sam,

I heard little beyond platitudes, the same mess each president utters on this day. I want to see something beyond the normal politics and so far his plans reveal nothing that will do so.

Government creating x million jobs by spending taxpayer dollars? When the money runs out, what happens to the jobs? The history of government job creation is extremely poor how will he do different?

I am curious just how many green jobs there are in solar manufacturing and wind generation now? At best a few 10s of thousands maybe? How can we get to Obama's projected numbers from there in a few years?

Afghanistan will be a harder fight in so many ways than Iraq. Logistically and tactically to name two but few of his supporters have a problem with that. He is making the same calls that Bush made but somehow its different because they are his words? His calls for help from our "friends" has already been shot down, is this his first failure or just a blip to be ignored? We are pretty much on our own except for those already there. Even some that are there are next to worthless because of their ROE (the Germans for ex.)

Charles,

You heard what you were wanting to hear. There was nothing the man could have said which would have pleased you, was there? Except perhaps, "I'm doing away with all welfare, social security, Medicare, medicade, and putting every cent of that into tax breaks for the wealthy and the military!" If so, dream on.

Actually, I know you as a very reasonable person and wonder just what you might have been expecting. He promised little and outlined problems galore which pretty much calls it like it is. McCain would have had approximately the same speech, I would think.

Obama has a difficult road to travel. He's inherited a lot of problems. However, I think he will travel the road well and do a great job as President. We have needed a change for a LONG time, and I (personally) am glad it is here.

Thanx for the links!

Just remember that IF he fails .....we ALL fail.
Reason enough to move past the tired old ways and ACT like we have some skin in the game because we DO! Wouldn't it be nice if we could put a law into effect that states ......before complaining about what the Government has NOT done,we MUST state VERY clearly something that we personally HAVE done!

Charles: "Government creating x million jobs by spending taxpayer dollars? When the money runs out, what happens to the jobs? The history of government job creation is extremely poor how will he do different?"

Historically, the public sector has acted much more responsibly regarding debt than the private sector. When the money runs out, private companies go broke, as you can see all around you. Have a look at the image below, courtesy of John Kemp.



It's Bush who has wasted taxpayer dollars by the trillions, e.g. by making people buy the very gas guzzlers that have brought the US car manufacturers to the brink of bankruptcy, while enriching foreign oil companies and increasing national debt. To protect oil supply from the Middle East, Bush invaded Iraq, which only further increased national debt. To cover up the extent of these failures, Bush financed an ethanol scheme that did little more than enrich some farmers, while creating havoc and misery elsewhere. Also, Bush sought to cover the extent of the national debt by relaxing financial controls, in an effort to stimulate economic growth and collect more taxes. All these policies have not only failed spectacularly, they've left a huge financial debt and have come at huge environmental cost.

The Obama promise is to change all this and there are few who disagree. Nobody is suggesting that Obama spend money like Bush did, or like a drunken sailor, the contrary. A more responsible policy will implement feebates, which can be self-funding and budget neutral, without feeding unnecessary bureaucracy and while optimizing consumer choice and while letting market mechanisms sort out what works best. Feebates are most effective in achieving the Obama promise to harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.

Wow, Sam, this comment you just made is the best summation of the transition I've seen yet. Ironically, I received a message from Gather with links to discussions about Obama's speech and while there were some nice posts, nothing in it did go to the essence of the difference between Bush and Obama as well as you just did. There are many who have pictured the regime of the Bush family as fascist and while it's not in my character to call anyone names, I was tempted to after reading articles like this one in the Guardian about How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power.

To those who feel bad about Obama's election, let me say this. Do notice how Obama is stretching out his hand to unite the people and to make a joint effort to remake the economy. Don't act like a spoiler or cry baby, but let's work together to work ourselves out of the mess the Bush family got us in. Stop eulogizing Bush for what is so obviously wrong!

Thanks Sam, if I wouldn't have been on your friends list, I would have missed this excellent article. J.G.

Thanks, John. Yes, I too use the Gather settings to get notifications when friends post articles and comments. It's one of the features I like about Gather. Cheers! Sam Carana

I think that he did a great job on his speech. Thanks for sharing.

Sam,

I agree, great response and great information!

Thanks James, let's keep following how Obama seeks to implements his vision. Cheers! Sam Carana

Hi Sam, your most important 2008 campaign issues seemed to be the American economy and war in Iraq. It looks like your candidate won.

Thanks Renee, I am delighted that Obama has won. The Obama administration should now get started with changing things by implementing feebates to help the environment, which will help the economy as well, by creating numerous clean and green jobs and investment opportunities.

You're welcome ~ Keep us posted Sam!

HUGS ~
Rene