Behold

When Elizabeth Alexander was reading her poem....

"Take out your pencils and begin."

I don't know why it got to me, but it did.

Just beautiful.  Thanks again, Al!

MSNBC is reporting that Ted Kennedy was just taken out of the luncheon on a stretcher--please send good thoughts to the Lion of the Senate.

that poster is wonderful, AL.

I'm in the moment and it still hasn't hit.

Throughout this campaign..I was so happy I found you, Al. You helped a great dea. More than you'll ever know.

Just had to share this Nina Simone song.  It's been running through my head all day.  Not sure I did the tech right, but....

file:///Users/lisamischke/Desktop/02%20Feeling%20Good.mp3

I too, Al, was struck by the mention of non believers in the Inaugural Address--I think we're one of the last minorities to be recognized in this country! I hope this truly will be an administration with respect for all!

my impressions, I just wanted to set them down:

I thought the speech was excellent. SOLID. Strong. Honest. Inclusive. Wide-reaching. Inspiring. Sincere. Thoughtful. Relevant. Clear.

I've already heard some whining: "No soaring rhetoric!"  "I've seen it all!" "He never smiled!" Blah Blah.

Once again- -lord help us!-- I found myself agreeing the most with Pat Buchannan, who himself was quite moved and impressed.

I see you don't have many comments, Al. I'm thinking most are in the same place I'm in-- smashed up against the couch, just trying to take it all in, screw any hope of coherence.

Thank you for being with us on this ride.

Donna Brazile just reported that Ted Kennedy wants to get back to the Senate tomorrow - so he can vote to confirm Hillary Clinton! (Let's hope he does).

Screw the media fools, the speech WAS somber and good on Obama for delivering it. Here's my brief take:

http://tomwatson.typepad.com/tom_watson/2009/01/the-long-rugged-path.html

Dad has returned to restore order and clean up the mess left by the immature children who have been running wild.  The adults are finally back in charge, and responsibility is the new watchword.

Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at UT Austin.  I don't believe Al knows him but but they have many common ideologies.

http://www.counterpunch.org/jensen01202009.html

Renee

Al, on that last note - sounds like the DC police and planning/security authorities did a fairly lousy job today. Thousands with tickets were turned away, given no assistance etc. Heard interview with a woman who traveled from OH with her whole family, had worked for Obama for 18 months, had a ticket, got on line at 5 am - and was turned away. Many more stories like that starting to come out, and those people deserved better. This wasn't a spontaneous demonstration, after all!

Watching the Neighboorhood Ball, Denzel just introduced the President and his First Lady and...gawd they look young!  I don't think I can imagine ever seeing again a President or politician, period, so well loved as I have seen today.

Generational change indeed...who could pull off a first dance, a la Beyonce, like this other than this gorgeous couple? No one else.

A DKos diary has front pages up. Global home run.

Amidst all the strife this world faces, it's been so very nice to have a weekend of such unified joy, reflection and celebration.  It seems we might finally have a Captain at the helm again.  To Al and Fieldhands, it's been a thrilling journey with you all.  Here's to a hopeful future.

Barack Hussein Obama and not as Barack H Obama, as that silly announcer was saying. May be a small point, but it is significant.

amk

I told my introductory statistics students today that this subject was so important that our new President mentioned it in his inaugural address this morning:

"These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but not no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land--a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights." 

About this time last year I found the Field. What a treasure! Thanks Al and Field Hands. We still have lots of work to do, though.

It was such a remarkable speech for the world.  Here are some highlights for me.

I was able to watch it at work with a large group of co-workers. This bit got a big laugh - “As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” – because the CNN camera cut at that precise moment to a close up of G.W. Bush.

I loved President Obama’s reframing ending our involvement in Iraq & Afghanistan. “We'll begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard- earned peace in Afghanistan.” It becomes more difficult to label "leaving Iraq to its people” as “cutting and running”. It also ends the tiresome language of “victory”, "defeat", “security” and “war”.

“To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” I think this is a clear signal to the Muslim world and to neocons, warmongers and their pundits that inflammatory language like “Islamofascism”, “Islamists” and “Clash of Civilization” is no longer valid.

Thanks from a full heart -- on behalf of all of us -- to Al Giordano, who has epitomized the sense of calm focus on what can be done by all of us, organized, working together, which President Obama has summoned from us.  There was a spirit of revival in the air today in Washington, the revival of an old, calmer, happier, far more inclusive love of country than we've been sold in recent years, and it comes down not so much from our new president, as it comes up from all of us, refracted through him and shining out to the world.  You can see and hear it in this special song by Marvin Gaye:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/20/81241/5426/92/686401

And even earlier, in this eerily predictive song by Woody Guthrie, ''She Came Along to Me":

http://www.rhapsody.com/billy-bragg/she-came-along-to-me

Whoever is close to us, whoever "came along" with us today to see or listen to this extraordinary new president, are part of why we're willing to be summoned. This is not only work we have to do together, it's love for who we are together.  It's coming back...

After the festivities this afternoon, I chose to watch a recording of CNN's election night coverage, and President Obama's victory speech.  The analysts back then mentioned that Obama on November 4th sounded more like an inaugural speech, noting that it didn't have his 'typical' soaring rhetoric, it was much more directed toward the upcoming job of governance.

In that light, I think I'll suggest that in and amongst renewal of America's promise.. today's inauguation address sounded a little like a State of the Union, where the President laid out some broad ideas he wants to work on in the early days of his administration - no time to fool around.

Politically speaking - the new stimulus plan is already accomplished, but for negotiating the details.  Foreign policy, torture/Guantanemo and Homeland Security are more Executive branch decisions.  Energy policy does not figure to be such an extraordinary partisan battle after gas prices went nuts this past summer.  It's awful hard for politicians to be against school reform.

The two big Congressional battle royales I see coming are healthcare, and card check.

"We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth.  Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began.  Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year.  Our capacity remains undiminished.  But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

Am I the only who hears that as: 'I'll pay for my healthcare proposals with Social Security reform'?

I watched the inauguration speech live and I liked it a lot. Afterwards during the parade the punditry needed obviously to be talking continously and so one could watch the meme 'not soaring but somber' procreating, while it was endlessly repeated and modified. I thought the speech made many important points, most of which would not have been made in any Bush speech. 'Non believers' accepted on equal footing in an Inaugural speech. That must be a historical first. There was also something about 'we will restore Science to its rightful place' which was extremely gratifying to hear.

"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." 

That quote made every minute and every dollar worth it.

Obama continues to keep the faith with the vision of America he has reflected at us since his announcement speech.  I feel like I'm home again.

@ Scott

Am I the only who hears that as: 'I'll pay for my healthcare proposals with Social Security reform'?

I think his consistent message has been that health care reform is a major problem for getting a handle on all of our economic problems.  As I understand it, Medicare is the big problem in Social Security reform.  I don't think he's anywhere near considering Bush's privatizing Social Security, which I have long thought was the Republicans original plan for a stealth bail out of Wall Street's Ponzi scheme.  It wasn't supposed to have all crashed wide in the open last September/October.

The best part of yesterday:  the day that millions of folks that have built t his nation, always treated as second class, or less-than--well, their collective pride and purpose of being came in first.  Especially compelling were the older folks, who simply never imagined that this would  happen on thier watch, in thier life times.

I am sad that Obama's grandmother couldn't see this day--but she died knowing that Obama was going to win.

That Senator Kennedey llived to see this day is simply awesome.

The ship of state is difficult to direct toward a more propitious, more just course, but it can and will be done if the people stand up for what is right and engage making their/our lives better.

We cannot surrender to abject cynicism and passive consumerist apathy.

Head lifted high, walking toward that horizon of a better day and a more wise way of being.  All hands on deck, full speed ahead.

(Sasha and Malia are simply points of light--and they remind us that we have a grave duty to really make the world more sustainable and safe.  There is much 'healing' to be done--and if we don't engage our actions with every fiber of our being, we let the kids down.   We have to be better than that--our only hope is that we can live up to the challenge.)

I took the day off to soak in every last bit.  It was a great day.  I am so happy that we can finally begin the hard work of rebuilding this great nation.   I really feel like we are one people. e pluribus unum

Actually, I was going more for the idea of raising retirement ages and means-testing SS benefits rather than tossing all that Federal money in another Madoff-style pyramid scheme..

I think that's the "act like grownups and stop putting off tough decisions" part - it's not like too many people are saying that SS as-is will remain healthy indefinitely, right?  I suggest it more because it sounds like a trade-off Obama could make to run up a 70-vote-plus Senate majority to pass a major healthcare bill.

Like it or don't like it, passing legislation with big, bi-partisan majorities is what the President said he wants to do, and lots of people are getting surprised by assuming that Obama says things he doesn't mean.  My experience has been if he says it - he means it.