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Inauguration Day


mtvesuvius

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I feel sorry for Obama - there is no way he can match the hype and expectations. He is, after all, a politician.

Obama gave a powerful speech, but did you notice the absence of applause? Yes though, all politicians can try, but they will never live up to their promises. (See David Letterman on Bush's failed promises)

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I think the speech was powerful and articulate, with a great deal of substance. Obama reached out for every peace loving individual in the world.

 

Congratulations to America on having a president who rates to be great, not only inside the American borders, but also globally.

 

Roland

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I feel sorry for Obama - there is no way he can match the hype and expectations. He is, after all, a politician.

He'll be fine. He's replacing an extremely unpopular president; he'll get the credit for almost everything that goes right, and Bush will get the blame for almost everything that goes wrong.

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I think the speech was powerful and articulate, with a great deal of substance. Obama reached out for every peace loving individual in the world.

 

Congratulations to America on having a president who rates to be great, not only inside the American borders, but also globally.

 

Roland

He also didn't make any promises, except of the "We're going to have hard times. And we're going to face them, and succeed" variety (whatever that means).

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I think the speech was powerful and articulate, with a great deal of substance. Obama reached out for every peace loving individual in the world.

 

Congratulations to America on having a president who rates to be great, not only inside the American borders, but also globally.

 

Roland

I too thought the speech was just right, both in eloquence and substance. We face huge tasks, but we need to work together with the rest of the world to accomplish them.

 

It's a wonderful new day!

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I think the speech was powerful and articulate, with a great deal of substance. Obama reached out for every peace loving individual in the world.

 

Congratulations to America on having a president who rates to be great, not only inside the American borders, but also globally.

 

Roland

Thank you so much.

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It was a great and powerful speech. The rest of the world is not used to receiving such inspiring messages from the US. Obama commands respect and there is a ray of hope for a better world despite the tremendous challenges ahead.

 

Sireen

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I'm sorry, but no matter what Obama said, he is going to be fine.

 

Obama is equivalent to the backup goalie in hockey who gets put into the game after the first goalie stinks it up.

 

Everyone is always cheering for him since he can't do any worse than the goalie who was just in the game.

 

I'm sure he will do a fine job, but an inaugural speech is hardly meaningful.

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It was a great and powerful speech. The rest of the world is not used to receiving such inspiring messages from the US. Obama commands respect and there is a ray of hope for a better world despite the tremendous challenges ahead.

 

Sireen

...and this is exactly what the US needs now to rebuild the world''s confidence in us, and our worldwide image. I know many people who have travelled in Europe with backpacks and suitcases with a Canadian flag, or some other flag, this is sad, but the world views us as idiots.

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First response: Whoopee!

 

I thought the speech was very very good. One message that particularly struck me was from his reference to, I guess, the Letters to the Corinthians: When I was a child.... Some call for responsibility from all is very welcome.

 

Newscasters kept speaking of the expectations we all have of President Obama. . I prefer to say hope. I have no idea if he can deliver. I hope so.

 

My best wishes to George and Laura Bush in retirement.

 

Watching and hearing Aretha Franklin was very moving. I swear I first heard her voice some fifty years ago, although the Wik gives her birth date as 1942. A feeling of continuity there.

 

The piece played just before the swearing in was great.

 

Good luck to us all.

 

Added: It was fun seeing people walking on the frozen surface of the reflecting pool. I have skated on that pool. I'm not sure if it was legal but no one stopped me. It's been a while since we have had the weather for it. Maybe I'll take the grandkids

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... but the world views us as idiots.

This is, generally speaking, not true. The world has learned and will still learn a lot from USA, but the biggest mistake the Americans have made is that too many have failed to realise that they can also learn a lot from the world.

 

I appreciate that this can be difficult to get used to when you are so much bigger than the rest of us. A change of mentality is what's called for in this context, but it is not an impossible task.

 

Roland

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Everyone is always cheering for him since he can't do any worse than the goalie who was just in the game.

I seem to recall that there was a goalie pulled a few weeks ago. His replacement did even worse and the starting goalie was sent back in. Maybe I imagined it, though.

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I've never felt the recent presidents of USA (from 80s till now) lived up to the premise of their office. Nobody inspired the respect that one has for a decent human being till Obama. The inspiration factor was missing.

 

There's a lot to do apart from just proclaiming ideals, but...inspiration is powerful, and a rare quality among these politicians. Maybe that's what the presidency is all about, and what had been lacking before.

 

<3 Obama

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Incredible ceremony - something like this would be unthinkable here... But maybe we'll see something similar at the coronation of the Dutch crown prince? Or in England?

 

Anyway, more like a king than like a president, if you ask me ;)

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There's a lot to do apart from just proclaiming ideals, but...inspiration is powerful, and a rare quality among these politicians. Maybe that's what the presidency is all about, and what had been lacking before.

 

<3 Obama

I hope it's about a lot more than that, and I hope we'll get a lot more than that.

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I've never felt the recent presidents of USA (from 80s till now) lived up to the premise of their office. Nobody inspired the respect that one has for a decent human being till Obama. The inspiration factor was missing.

 

There's a lot to do apart from just proclaiming ideals, but...inspiration is powerful, and a rare quality among these politicians. Maybe that's what the presidency is all about, and what had been lacking before.

 

<3 Obama

JFK was the last president that was inspirational like this... (From what I have heard...) However I agree that most campaign promises are usually forgotten, I have high hopes that this will not happen here. Congrats to Obama on a great start though...

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The world has learned and will still learn a lot from USA, but the biggest mistake the Americans have made is that too many have failed to realise that they can also learn a lot from the world.

I certainly hope and expect that we've taken a big step toward rectifying that mistake.

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I am not sure that the US has yet to appreciate the role of fulcrum that it plays in the leveraging of the world...

 

Not only do we look to it for leadership, we hold it in esteem for its ideals and admonish it for its shortcomings, much more than any other country. It is really an entity rather than an identity as its melting pot past freed it of encumbrances shared by older and more consanguine countries.

 

As they mold their heritage, they are conferring on us the benefits and the detriments. Obama is a pretty smart guy...but will that be enough to overcome the inertia of incompetence instilled by the imperialists?

 

(alliterative edit...lol)

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Incredible ceremony - something like this would be unthinkable here... But maybe we'll see something similar at the coronation of the Dutch crown prince? Or in England?

 

Anyway, more like a king than like a president, if you ask me :)

There was some of that, true, but then in most countries a king does not have four previous kings in attendance to wish him well.

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