The oath has been administered, and Barack Obama is now the President of the United States of America.
Click to enlarge. (via)
Remember that frequent commenter Renato is at the inauguration, and hopefully will have some pictures up to go along with his tweets.
Also, I note the DOW is down 140 . I suppose it is not too soon to begin impeachment proceedings.
*** Update ***
New website for the White House, complete with… a blog. Hopefully their blogger shows up for work in pajamas. Suck on that, MSM elitists.
Also, I am not sure how many of you saw it on your feeds, but on CNN there was a brief shot of Joe Biden taking pictures on a digital camera, then turning around and handing the camera to the giggling Obama kids. Probably my favorite part of the show.
Cain
The bush administration is OVER! Congratulations, President Obama!
cain
Comrade Dread
I’ll say it.
The Obama administration has failed to turn around our economy. It’s the latest in a string of failures by the embattled President and opens the door for big Republican gains in the 2010 election.
Now give me my Wall St. Journal column, Bitches!
Mwangangi
Awesome title.
Blue Neponset
What a great day! We get a patch for WOW and a new President.
demkat620
Should we call him Leroy Jenkins now?
Comrade Darkness
Yeah, yeah, things are going to get worse before they get better. Now, into the uplifting, if we remember what it’s all about, we will get through this too. Sing it, sister.
DougJ
So much promise. It’s sad that he’s already pissed so much of it away with his involvement in Blagogate and his selection of Rick Warren to give the invocation.
Vincent
Congratulations President Obama! My law school has set up a screen so that everyone can watch the inauguration if they want. I like how Obama was so excited that he stumbled over the oath. Maybe not very presidential but it was funny and made him seem very human. Michelle’s amused expression was just great.
Justin
"We will restore science to its rightful place"
Awesome. Suck on it Dubya.
Comrade Darkness
@Vincent,
astounding, a president impatient to get to work, rather than counting the minutes until he can vacation.
Chris Johnson
That is funny. "Ding!" congrats!
MikeJ
"Ready to lead once more"
"Once more" was a direct slap in the face to Bush. Yeah!!!!!!!
John Cole
Wow. A shout out to non-believers. Is that a first?
Louise
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." YES.
Love the close-up on GWB as he says that. You’re DONE, Shrub. GO AWAY.
He’s kicking some ass and after that one nod at Bush, he’s systematically rejecting every one of his policies. Oh yeah.
bootlegger
@John Cole: He’s done it before, but past presidents? Not so much.
Laura W
@Vincent:
Truly. I was watching her too. No startle, no grimace…just (what I imagined to be) supportive amusement and deep affection.
CarolinCA
"So much promise. It’s sad that he’s already pissed so much of it away with his involvement in Blagogate and his selection of Rick Warren to give the invocation."
lol. Some of you just can’t wait to shift into drama-queen, ‘oh, what a shame that he’s such a failure’ mode. He’s not even done with his inaugural speech. Really, I’m more than a little disgusted by the comment, but I knew I’d start seeing these almost immediately.
Warren makes me sick. But there’s work to be done for our future that I intend to be part of, and I trust Obama even if I don’t always agree with him.
The drama queens will always be out here in the blogosphere, though. Have fun wringing your hands.
Zzyzx
@John Cole: I don’t know, but man is he hitting every note I’d love to hear. I bet Andrew Sullivan’s head exploded during the rule of law segment.
Krista
I missed that bit…what did he say?
amorphous
@John Cole: SOMEONE CALL THE REDSTATE STRIKEFORCE. WHERE ARE YOU DOUGJ? Oh, there you are.
TheFountainHead
God I wish I weren’t at work today. I’m going to have to rewatch this whole thing again today.
bootlegger
@Krista: That we’re a nation of (insert religions here) AND "non-believers". He’s tacked that on the end of the list like this in his speeches before.
Justin
I feel like he just hoped all over me.
KRK
I’m quite amused by how often Obama’s speech includes phrasing that implies the immediate past was not in keeping with the American ideals and history he’s talking about. Heh.
Mike P
Barack is doing the damn thing. He’s hitting the big notes with intelligence, grace and authority.
bootlegger
@Justin: Do you need a tissue or will you save it as a souvenir? I’m keeping mine in a jar.
Notorious P.A.T.
Dork. I love it )
Comrade Darkness
In a nicely roundabout way too. I bet Bush is missing 80% of it.
flywheel
The Change begins with such auspicious flavor.
Shinobi
Wow, Bush’s face during the applause… just wow.
dan robinson
"Carried forward to future generations that great gift of freedom"
Amen.
TheHatOnMyCat
Okay, new and improved America, off to a good start.
bootlegger
Parsimonious, biting, a call to service and responsibility, and a reminder that America has overcome hard times before.
Loved it!
Xanthippas
Wow…that was a great speech. One of his better ones.
ramster
In addition to a shout-out to non-believers, he also mentioned Hindus…it’s not often that pagans and heathens get acknowledged.
Notorious P.A.T.
ROFL he’s got Biden in his group. And his rage bar is full.
John S.
Shorter Obama:
Fuck you, George Bush. I will spend my entire term of office undoing all the damage you did.
Paul L.
Remember that Gasoline today is $1.85 a Gallon.
Any increase in price Mr. Obama’s fault.
Afterall the Democrats blamed G. W, Bush for $4 a Gallon gas.
robertdsc
Clutch beyond words. Strength without measure. Yes, he did.
srv
Former President George Bush.
I love the sound of that.
dan robinson
Can I have some Rhythm and Rhyme with this please? Poetry with the two Rs is pretty damned bad.
DougJ
Not this Democrat. Presidents don’t have that much control over that.
SGEW
USA! USA! USA!
dr. bloor
Damn, I need a cigarette.
dan robinson
Now that is a preacher.
bootlegger
Not a big poetry fan, but that was kind of cool. Now more godsmack.
Krista
Love that photo.
A great speech. Truly great.
I’m so happy for you guys, and for him, and for his family, and for the world. I shudder to think what our future would have been with McCain/Palin.
Poor Barry’s got one hell of a mess to clean up – I wish him every bit of luck in this very difficult journey.
Shinobi
I’m actually enjoying this prayer.
Notorious P.A.T.
Call me a tinfoil hat-wearer, but I suspect that invading a Middle East country for no good reason is a decent way to spike the price of oil.
The Moar You Know
GODDAMN THAT IS WHAT A PRESIDENT IS SUPPOSED TO SOUND LIKE.
Napoleon
In case you really wonder if he is really President
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
Robin G.
That was a fantastic speech. It’s such a weird feeling to be looking forward to hearing the voice of the President.
Also, Best. Graphic. Ever.
Conservatively Liberal
We now have a President who can speak in full sentences and actually say something that people can comprehend! Our son and I watched history being made, and we both enjoyed his first speech as President.
Congratulations President Barack Hussein Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama!
Good riddance Chimpy and Satan. Our long national (and international) nightmare is over. It is truly the end of an error.
South of I-10
That was amazing. I really did not expect to get as emotional as I did. I was stuck watching it with my two very republican bosses and even they were impressed by the speech.
dan robinson
Thou almost persuadest me to become a Christian.
bootlegger
@Paul L.: I blamed the speculators, turns out I was right. The lack of regulation, now that I blame on George II.
And gas dropped when it became obvious Obama was going to win the election.
Reverend Dennis
Obama’s speech was a great way to hasten Bush on to his well-earned place in the dustbin of history.
KRK
I’m glad that Rev. Lowery read some of the lyrics of "Lift Up Your Voice and Sing." I do wish it had been sung at some point. It’s such a beautiful, and appropriately patriotic, song.
Punchy
It’s clear that the nation rejects this failure of a President. Wall Street is down triple digits, and by anyone’s measure, that’s a sure sign that 99.3% of Americans are disgusted by his failure to lead.
bootlegger
AMEN!
Conservatively Liberal
Hell yeah! Damn that web site looks mighty fine now.
Louise
Preach it, srv. Former President Bush. We should be ashamed he even has that title.
But it’s OVER. It’s OVER!!!!! The adults of the reality-based community are in charge.
I am LOVING this benediction ending. BEST EVER!!!!!! "When the brown can stick around." LOVE it.
AMEN!
South of I-10
@Napoleon: Wow, that really makes it real. Hurray!
MikeJ
In the benediction Sasha and Malia were refered to as "angelic". All I could think was that he had never had to tell them it was bedtime.
John Cole
Did you all catch Biden taking pictures on a digital camera for Obama’s kids? Love it.
DougJ
That didn’t help. But I doubt it was entirely because of that.
Notorious P.A.T.
@MikeJ:
Hehe )
dan robinson
@65
Then he said "Pull my finger."
JL
@Napoleon: That is so cool. Thanks! It Happened!!!!!
The Moar You Know
Rick Warren did a good job, I thought. And then Obama gave the shout-out to non believers – I’m still a little shook up about that. Maybe one day my lack of faith will be held as equal to any other faith! I can hope, anyway. What a day.
Conservatively Liberal
The oil companies and speculators knew Bush wouldn’t do a damn thing while they were ripping us off.
Bush didn’t have to do anything. That was the point. The buck stops at the top.
Reverend Dennis
@Punchy:
And if Wall Street was up by triple digits it would be because "it’s a lagging indicator."
Notorious P.A.T.
Woulda also been nice if our official national energy policy over the past 8 years were greater efficiency or alternate sources, rather than "them brown peoples gots oil! let’s git it!"
Rob in Denver
@John Cole: Not to put too fine a point on things, but he was president at noon. The Constitution waits for neither man nor ceremony.
Xecky Gilchrist
@ramster: In addition to a shout-out to non-believers, he also mentioned Hindus…it’s not often that pagans and heathens get acknowledged.
None to Buddhists, though, which is a slap in the face.
Seriously, though, to mention that atheists exist at all – which is what I assume he meant by "non-believers" – is astonishing for a U.S. president.
Michael D.
Even the White House web site is completely switched over.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
Notorious P.A.T.
It is in the rest of the modern world. Now we just have to catch America up.
Krista
Really? Oh, that IS cute.
TheHatOnMyCat
PaulL, you are so 43.
Conservatively Liberal
That’s right! We have eight years of dust to knock off of that document, then we can put it back to work.
It’s about time.
Martin
No, this all goes back to Phil Gramm’s Commodity Futures Modernization Act. It was the 2nd act of the Enron play.
Not Bush’s fault, other than the SEC and other agencies should have seen what was going on – but then Congress is equally at fault for failing oversight.
Notorious P.A.T.
Okay Barack. You started you national political career with a big speech in New England, you made a "team of rivals", you took a train from Illinois to your inauguration, you referred to Lincoln in your address. Can we cool it with the Lincoln-imitation, please? Because things didn’t end so well for him.
No shows at Ford’s Theatre, please.
Punchy
I can’t wait to drop by DKos and see all the whiny-ass diaries by peeps crying "But he didn’t mention…(insert stupid pet project/topic)! Wha! Wha!! Obama’s a closet Republican! Wha!"
Tattoosydney
May I offer my sincere congratulations to all Americans…
Woo, fucking, hoo!!
Comrade Darkness
@John Cole, what was going on at the time, do you remember? Poem or the blessing?
Comrade Darkness
@John Cole, what was going on at the time, do you remember? Poem or the blessing?
gopher2b
They should make Bush fly home on a commercial jet. Maybe going through security, waiting in line after line, paying an extra $10 per bag and $100 for Barney, getting padded down, having his liquids taken from him, etc would give him a ever so small snippet of what he has done to this country in the last eight years.
Laura W
@Tattoosydney: Are you the first representative of your neighborhood to arrive?
Now the party can start.
Mwangangi
"former President George W. Bush" the latest most beautiful phrase in the English language…
AkaDad
Yes we did! I have goosebumps. And starbursts.
John Cole
@Comrade Darkness: Not sure. I think it was after Lowery.
South of I-10
@Laura W: So will you be having some elitist wine this evening?
TheHatOnMyCat
Is that Dick Cheney, or Mister Potter?
bootlegger
Michelle is taller than W.
Conservatively Liberal
I went to check out RedNeckState and they are running as slow as runny dog crap in the dead of winter. Their page took forever to load and it is broken (yet again). I did see that they are decrying the death of the free market now that Obama is in charge. Of course, he is the one who killed it.
The rich brats who took the economy for a joy ride are whining now that the adults are threatening to take the keys away. Isn’t that just tooooooo bad.
Ninerdave
Well that explains a few things I suppose.
SGEW
"Former President George W. Bush"
"President Barack Hussein Obama"
A shout out to non-believers and Hindus (btw: Buddhists can be included in "non-believers" – th’ Buddha didn’t preach ’bout no deity, yo).
No sweeping pardons for the Bush criminals (Marty Lederman is COMING FOR YOU ADDINGTON!)
Malia and Sasha taking pictures of their dad . . . who happens to be the POTUS . . . on his big day.
. . .
I can’t stand it. This is all too good. Too fucking good.
ramster
Buddhists: for chrissake, there are a few hundred million of us, that’s solidly A-list, where’s our shout-out? We thought Richard Gere had some pull…why else did we put up with that asshole.
Sikhs: ok, we’re only a few hundred years old and the crackers keep confusin us with OBL but there are still twice as many of us as jews. What to we have to do to get noticed? drive a freaking plane into a freaking building?
wilfred
His direct address to "the Muslim world" was startling – somebody at Foggy Bottom must have actually read a few things the past 2 years.
Interesting.
Rick Taylor
Fred Barnes writes an article on Bush’s ten greatest achievements. First among them is he halted progress towards taking action against global warming, which is a good thing since global warming has now been discredited, now that skeptics are pointing to global cooling. Second, he authorized ‘enhanced interrogations’, proven to be incredibly successful because we don’t know how many thousands of American lives it saved. Third, he built up Presidential authority (who knew that was a conservative value) badly degraded by Watergate, Vietnam, and Clinton. Support for Israel is number four (just look how swimmingly things are going now). Fifth is no-child-left-behind. Of course teachers almost universally despise it, but what the hell do teachers know about teaching? Sixth, a new policy of democracy promotion that allowed him to "zing" dictators and kleptocrats. Obama would be wise to take advantage of that! Seventh, the medicare prescription bill which is wildly popular! Good thing he did it, because if he hadn’t Democrats would have passed something much worse.
It goes on. I wish I was parodying, but I’m pretty much transcribing.
bootlegger
@South of I-10: I’ve got some elitist champagne for a little celebration with my family this evening, sparkling juice for the boys; and if I weren’t snowed in I would’ve gotten some bourbon for the day.
John S.
Being part of the elite means never having to say your sorry OR dealing with the consequences of your actions.
JL
This is the part of the speech where Obama spoke about non believers.
BethanyAnne
"Unelectable", bitches
rawr!
greynoldsct00
ah, what we’ve been waiting for, Bushie is taking off
bootlegger
@Conservatively Liberal: Win.
I did like Obama’s reference to the market in his speech, we’ve worshipped it like a god for far too long.
South of I-10
@bootlegger: I am definitely going to have to pick up some wine on my way home! I am celebrating.
Shawn in ShowMe
Michelle is 5’11. 6’3 in heels.
Tattoosydney
@Laura W:
I was watching on TV because none of the internet feeds were working. It’s 5am, and I’m very happy!
That was a very good speech.
SGEW
How do you think Barack feels?
Rick Taylor
@Conservatively Liberal:
No, that was the government forcing helpless innocent bankers to make loans to black people for housing they couldn’t afford.
Notorious P.A.T.
And there goes Bush, flying out of DC with his tail between his legs, bearing the lowest approval ratings of any president in history and the likelihood of future generations dubbing him the worst ever.
MikeJ
Noonan now on MSNBC. I’d like to recount what she wrote after the 2004 election: "I do not know what the Democratic Party spent, in toto, on the 2004 election, but what they seem to have gotten for it is Barack Obama."
John Cole
Christ our media is dumb. Obama does things for a reason. He is escorting them out because it is a signal of grace and a sign that it is time to move on. For as long as I can remember, Obama has stated that we can agree to disagree, and not make things personal.
Hating on George Bush isn’t going to fix anything. We need to remember that.
Laura W
@South of I-10: Why yes, thanks for asking!
I am popping the cork on my 2001 Mumm Napa Grande Annee (winewoot.com 6-pack a couple months ago. Already sucked up the fab Brut Rose on NY’s and maybe Xmas? Probably in the archives here.) 60% Pinot, 40% Chard.
If for some reason that doesn’t appeal, I also have a bottle of the 2008 Yellow Tail Shiraz on hand, and of course, a freezer full of Ketel One Citroen. I also have 2oz of Tito’s vodka, but despite the strong advocacy efforts waged here to convert me to Tito’s, it just ain’t the same as KOC in my mouth/body.
Buh Bye Bush!
Geez. Noonan moved from NBC to MSNBC. Back to CNN I go.
What will you be quaffing?
bootlegger
hey-hey-hey goodbye. Awesome!
Objective Scrutator
I’ll give them one thing: Democratic Underground is worse. All I see when I *occasionally* go there is whiny, angry Democrats that have no concept of political capital, or somehow think that everything is Bush’s fault.
Yeah, Rick Warren’s speech sure was divisive. It was so divisive that all the homosexuals in the office immediately started murmuring amongst one another that they felt as though they had been hit in the stomach by a cannonball, which subsequently destroyed their orgasms for the rest of the inauguration.
Notorious P.A.T.
@Rick Taylor:
Fred Barnes should be institutionalized for his own safety.
Xecky Gilchrist
@Notorious P.A.T.: And there goes Bush, flying out of DC with his tail between his legs…
Where’s he headed? Paraguay, or will he have to hijack the plane to get to Paraguay?
Notorious P.A.T.
Just saw someone waving a Terrible Towel.
South of I-10
@Laura W: I am so celebrating tonight. I really don’t know why I am at the office, I have achieved very little. I am not sure what I am going to get for tonight, but since I am still on my Pinot Noir kick, probably that. Although champagne would be good. . .
The Other Steve
Full Transcript
Awesome
bootlegger
@Objective Scrutator: No sir, they are all checking out your man-package right now. My red rocket is zooming just thinking about ya.
Notorious P.A.T.
@Xecky Gilchrist:
If he’s smart he’ll go to Saudi Arabia, or maybe Halliburton’s headquarters in Bahrain.
Oh, that was a Monk reference. "Paraguay is the convict promised land–no extradition treaty". Hehe
Xecky Gilchrist
@Objective Scrutator: I’ll give them one thing: Democratic Underground is worse…
Woe. I gave up on that site in about 2003. That crowd strikes me as the Democratic equivalent of the most benighted tribalists on the Redoublechins’ side.
I call them, and the site itself, "bluenecks".
John PM
My observations:
I think Roberts fucked with the oath on purpose. If I remember correctly Rehnquist gave the oath to W one word at a time.
Since Obama did not recite the oath cleanly – HE IS NOT REALLY HE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Palin is setting up the real government in Alaska.
Speech was great – almost musical.
Mention of non-believers in the speech was great. Cancels out the use of the phrase "so help me God" in the oath, which is actually not part of he oath as written in the Constitution itself. What a bunch of godless communists our Founding Fathers were.
Dick Cheney in a wheelchair looks a lot like Mr. Potter from "It’s a Wonderful Life." This, of course, makes W the guy who pushed Mr. Potter’s wheelchair.
The only thing that could have made the speech better would have been if Obama had concluded by placing W and Cheney under arrest.
Overall, very excited and happy.
Conservatively Liberal
You suck on your swill, I got a couple of good oz’ ers being dropped off later today. Mmmmmm skunky! ;)
I thought it interesting that beyond no terrorist strikes on our country, front page whiner Leon Wolf at RedNeckState hopes that Obama is a failure. Now I wasn’t happy that Bush stole the election in 2000, nor that he somehow got it again in 2004, but I never hoped that he would be a failure. If anything, I hoped that he wouldn’t be a total failure. Odd that someone would want their leader to fail.
Maybe the difference is that I knew that Bush was a failure and Wolf knows that Obama is not. Ya think? ;)
Mwangangi
@South of I-10: Yep still drinking mimosas…
bootlegger
@The Other Steve:
Best line in the speech IMO. Bush looked like someone had just stuffed an unlubed dildo in through the out door.
John PM
@TheHatOnMyCat: #93
Damn! You beat me to it!
Laura W
@South of I-10: I recorded the first 90 min of the whole thing so that later when I get all squishy and stoopid, I can weep myself sick. I don’t feel as if I met my MDR on the tears today. I’ve let myself down a bit.
gbear
I just watched the ceremony on the other side of the capitol building where Obama sees Bush off via helecopter. C-SPAN showed this without a word being spoken and kept a camera on the helecopter until it was just a pixel on the screen. That was one of the most rewarding part of the coverage for me. The fucker is finally gone.
bootlegger
@Conservatively Liberal: I read about half that screed and he says that "he knows" Obama is a dirty so it would be a taint on the presidency for him to succeed. Still looking at that birth certificate I guess.
Notorious P.A.T.
Me neither. Jesus, I hated Bush from the first moment I heard him smirk his way through an interview but I never wanted him to fail as president.
On the other hand, hoping a president fails is pointless anyway, as we’ve learned the past 8 years. Bush failed hard his first term but still was awarded a second.
JL
I just received a text from my son who is in Switzerland. The mood at the hotel was quite festive.
The Moar You Know
@John Cole: Damn right. You can bitch all you want about the drunk slobs that threw up all over your floor at your party, but all the bitching in the world isn’t going to get the puke cleaned up.
Time to put on the apron and gloves, America. We got cleanup in every aisle of the goddamn store.
Church Lady
I watched on MSNBC. As happy as I am to see the end of the Bush years, I was disappointed in the crowd that was around MSNBC’s post, as picked up by the audio. The crowd singing "na na na na, hey, hey, goodbye" as Bush’s helicopter departed was tacky. It would be nice if all of us, as President Obama’s supporters, were able to exhibit the class that he and Michelle do.
DaveB
Has anyone listened to Rush Limbaugh since the Oath of Office was administered. I wanted to know if he choked on his own vomit the first time that he said "President Obama".
Xecky Gilchrist
Oh yes – I’ve been meaning to type this:
MUP FTW
Punchy
Ok, I’ll bite. Why did he fail to pardon everyone and his mother? There was no downside to doing this, so why? Not even Stevens? I’m actually stunned at Bush’s relative responsibility with respect to blanket pardons.
Jennifer
Shorter (and less subtle) Obama speech:
bootlegger
@The Moar You Know: Word. Ironic that a dark-skinned man has to clean it up.
Fulcanelli
Tremendous inaugural speech, awesome bendiction and an impressive White House web site overhaul.
Welcome to America 2.0. Congrats our new POTUS and all of us who helped make it happen. At last! No Bushes or Clintons in the White House and a technology savvy President with a genuine sense of humor! Time for a drink to celebrate… Thanks for the forum, Mr. Cole. Give him a little time, I believe he’ll show us all how it’s done.
Dracula
This Obama inauguration is excellent news for McCain.
SGEW
This is change I can believe in.
Notorious P.A.T.
@Punchy:
I’ve heard people say that if Bush pardons someone they won’t have to take the fifth if called to testify, so he is sacrificing others to protect his own sorry ass.
harlana pepper
Btw, I think Teddy is doing really well, all things considered. He certainly has his wits about him.
Media Browski
@Church Lady: in ’91 I was a part of a crowd that gathererd outside the White House to sing "na na na" to Bush I when Clinton was elected. Today I was darn proud to see the tradition hasn’t died.
SGEW
Hubris. He doesn’t think they did anything wrong.
gopher2b
@Punchy:
I wonder if its possible to issue Top Secret pardons. If any group of people would try it; its these people.
gwangung
@bootlegger: Yeah, well that’s Republicans all over…
The Moar You Know
@wilfred: Yes. And Obama asked the right questions, it seems. Maybe he’s been reading Pat Lang.
I hope a lot of the citizens of those states got to hear what he had to say about their leaders.
Jennifer
Because there is a downside.
Anyone immunized from prosecution no longer has a 5th amendment right to refuse to testify.
Bush would never do anything that would make it easier for anyone to testify against him. If that means all the baby rats end up in the clink, so be it – something you can be sure does not trouble him.
gnomedad
Roberts flubs a historic line, and after 40 years Neil Armstrong lets out a sigh of relief.
Tony J
Bit of a change to that dank and gloomy November day in 2000 when El Residente scuttled through crowds of baying protestors to finalise his coup, isn’t it?
To paraphrase another fat English guy, the lights are finally coming back on across America.
Napoleon
I wonder when the "whitey tape" will surface?
The Moar You Know
@Punchy: If it holds up – and that’s a big if – that he did not issue a bunch of blanket pardons, it can only be for one reason. Somewhere in the last year, he finally figured out that he got played like a fiddle and that those who were supposed to be looking out for his legacy sold his ass out.
Laura W
Wolf just said: "The President is about to enter…" and I visualized Bush! That was the first time I’ve heard Obama referred to in that way, I suppose. What a startle. Must look into ECT to unhook Bush’s face from "The President".
Tattoosydney
@Church Lady:
Just because Obama is more classy, doesn’t mean he wasn’t singing "na na na na, hey, hey, goodbye" on the inside.
His speech (wonderful though it was) could not help but contain a whole lot of "Bye, George! Don’t let the helicopter door hit you in the head on your to Panama."
As I watched Bush disappear, I let him go. No more bitching about Bush, except to say, good riddance.
bootlegger
@Napoleon: its in a vault with his fake birth certificate, his BFF birthday card from Ayers and his membership card in the Communist Party.
Sebastien
That’s one of these few moments where I hate my job for making me miss this. Our elections and the following investitures have the excitement and decorum of burials.
Let’s just hope our Shorter Napoleon makes quick amend for his photo op with Bush (fun fact: the photo was framed to make him appear nearly as tall as Bush.)
OT and awfully late, but what do you expect from a French ?
For reasons I can’t fathom (and I don’t exactly care, I just applaud), one of our channels programmed yesterday’s playoffs, though at such an ungodly hour I had to tape them. And yesterday I just couldn’t get to sleep soon enough to compensate for a sorry day at the office.
So tonight, I’m going to watch my first American Football match. Wish me luck, for between a starting fever and my abysmal lack of understanding of the game, my brain is going to suffer.
Go
Marseille(whoops, wrong football) Steelers ! (yes, I admit it’s pretty easy to choose now.)Geese, was there a polar aurora above Pittsburgh ? The sound is choppy as hell !
4tehlulz
>>We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers.
The Rapture Ready Index is now OVER 9000!!!!
Laura W
@4tehlulz: Bravo!
Montysano
Rev. Lowery brought his best game, polished old pro that he is. He towers over Rick Warren.
Incertus
@The Moar You Know: Or it has something to do with the fact that if they’re pardoned, they can be compelled to testify in future cases. There’s no self-incrimination issue then.
How long before someone files suit saying the slightly flubbed oath means Obama’s not actually president?
South of I-10
@Laura W: I’m laughing at my Facebook page. It lit up at 12:06 with various messages of a positive theme – really fun to read.
Bob In Pacifica
Feinstein’s getting a lot of face time today. Hope that gets her the governorship… and out of the Senate.
Comrade Darkness
@Tattoosydney, Bushie Boy deserves no respect. He gave none to the office.
Notorious P.A.T.
They’re saying another prayer for Obama. Funny, we say tons of prayers for every president and our country, yet bad stuff keeps happening to us. Hmmm, wonder why that is.
demimondian
@Notorious P.A.T.: Because bad people like you pray for our destruction every day, of course.
Dracula
It’s a good thing Roberts isn’t employeed in a field that demands strong reading comprehension, oratory skills, and close parsing of words and meaning.
Tattoosydney
I will be referring anyone who bitches about Warren and Robinson to this page (highlighted by Sullivan) on the new White House website…
The man obviously hates all gay and lesbian people with a passion to have put this up so late in his term. Under the bus, bitches!
demimondian
@4tehlulz: Sadly, he didn’t say that — or at least, his prepared text didn’t say that. Too bad, too.
Update: Oops. Misread it. (No, seriously, I did.) W00t! Awesome!
Bout fscking time.
Tattoosydney
@Comrade Darkness:
I couldn’t agree more. My ultimate insult to him will be to ignore him for the rest of time (save a few well placed insults if ever he dares to sully my television or computer screen again).
Bye, Chimpy.
R-Jud
@Shawn in ShowMe:
Me too, and I am hoping that her newfound prominence will get us tall girls some more options vis-a-vis heels. Do you know how hard it can be to find cute shoes in a size 11?
Know hope.
dr. bloor
@TheHatOnMyCat:
My first thought as well. I was hoping for an ending akin to the SNL spoof on "It’s a Wonderful Life," but alas, I guess the day can’t be too perfect.
Notorious P.A.T.
Yes he can, yes he did.
The Moar You Know
RedState seems to have crashed. Looks like the Strike Force needs a little fine-tuning.
Ash Can
Good Morning, everyone. Regardless of what time it is where you live.
GOOD MORNING. :D
Reverend Dennis
They could only sing because the Park Service had removed all of the lamp posts and the security people had confiscated all of the rope.
Notorious P.A.T.
@demimondian:
Damn! How’d you know?
Incertus
@Notorious P.A.T.: I’m starting to think that Obama knew Lowery would make Warren look small by comparison, and that’s why he invited the two of them. Or maybe that’s just me looking for the Jedi mind trick in every situation.
Ninerdave
Ok, I have a problem with the new whitehouse.gov site.
When you use the Contact form to send Obama a message, the return key is mapped to send the message, not create a new paragraph. So my first email to President Obama said:
Dear President Obama,
End of message.
Lame!!! Start the impeachment now!
Objective Scrutator
@ 125: Oddly enough, it was DU’s "Top 10 Conservative Idiots" that got me into politics. I stayed away from the forums, as it seemed like an echo chorus, but I thought that the Top 10 was kind of funny. However, I eventually quit reading it after I started to get tired with the superficiality of the ‘explainations’. Republicans having screwed-up personal lives is sometimes appalling and can sometimes be hypocritical, but spending time looking in to their personal lives not only helps to reduce your critical thinking skills, but also just so happens to be a fucking waste of time.
crack
Watch this space:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/executive_orders/
Ecks
And gas dropped when it became obvious Obama was going to win the election.
Well, that and the world’s economy blew up, tanking demand. Funny how that works.
Anyway, as a furrner living amonst all y’all I appreciated the shout outs to the rest of the world as much as to the non-believers.
Welcome America, it’s so good to have you back!
SGEW
Just added a new folder to my bookmarks bar:
"Obama Administration"
The Executive Office has a friggin’ blog now! w00t!
SGEW
It’s good to be back!
Xecky Gilchrist
@Objective Scrutator: Oddly enough, it was DU’s "Top 10 Conservative Idiots" that got me into politics.
Weird – same here. That would have been very early on in the feature’s lifetime, too.
I do feel gratitude for DU and the other lefty sites and blogs that were around in those days, like Bartcop and MWO, but my tastes have changed quite a bit since then.
Rick Taylor
@John Cole:
I agree with that to a point. But at the same time, we also need to keep it in everyone’s conscience what a mess Bush made and what the new administration has to deal with. Obama could be perfection incarnate and the next few years will still probably be rough going, and the Republicans will attempt to blame him for everything bad that happens, and be shouting we need to get Republican control of congress because the Democrats have screwed things up so badly (and you already noted the village has as much as decided everything is Obama’s fault starting now). So there is a reason, beyond blind Bush hatred, for regularly reminding everyone how we got where we are.
Tom
What would that game look like…?
>Draw sword from podium
"I’m sorry, I don’t find a SWORD there"
>Look left
"You read your speech from the teleprompter screen"
>Look right
"You read your speech from the teleprompter screen"
>_
Ash Can
OK, just clicked on whitehouse.gov and finally and completely lost it. Granted, I’ve been drinking Schramsburg since 10 AM CST, but still…wow. What a day.
bootlegger
@Ecks: My tongue was firmly planted in cheek to remind our Troll that correlation does not equal causation.
But yes, it will be nice to travel abroad and not have to apologize for my president.
binzinerator
@Comrade Darkness:
A man who is as quick with towel-snap insults as Bush is will no doubt be quick to see any slam, obvious or subtle, coming from others.
I have no doubt Bush understood it, 100%. He couldn’t miss it. He was pwned.
Speaking of pwnage, I thought it was pretty slick and subtle and classy how Obama as the new POTUS bitch-slapped Bush: By thanking the man for his service he made Bush take ownership of his 8 years, and then, by telling the world of all the crises this nation must now responsibly face, he set it up so people couldn’t fail to reflect on just how badly the C+ Augustus fucked it all up.
terry chay
Enjoy the outrage!
http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2009/01/20/obama-inauguration-sets-record-for-private-jets/
cosanostradamus
.
YOUTUBE:
Raw Video: Bush Leaves for Texas
.
Ecks
@bootlegger: Sorry, slow on the uptake. Keep up the quality troll baiting :)
former capitalist
We can only hope that the next time Bush visits washington, it will be to testify.
SGEW
I bring the following to your attention:
The final Get Your War On comic strip
It’s over. It’s actually over.
Laura W
@Ash Can: Schramsburg! I covet your Schramsburg! Was hands-down my favorite sparkler when I lived and worked in Napa, 1990ish.
I shall just have to slum with my Mumm.
ETA: THEY ARE ONE GOD DAMN GOOD LOOKING COUPLE!
Batocchio
That’s all kinds of awesome.
harlana pepper
SGEW, say it ain’t so. p00t
kommrade reproductive vigor
It was a great speech, a great day.
And when Marine 1 flew over everyone started shouting Get Out!
Heh, Muthafucka. Heh!
Quaker in a Basement
In the words of Roger Daltrey: "Let’s forget him, better still."
TenguPhule
Celebrate today.
Arrest Bush tomorrow.
TheAssInTheHatOnMyCat(Formerly Comrade Tax Analyst)
Well, looks like I’m late to the party again. Can’t help it, nose to the grindstone with the tax season. But being on the "Late Shift" here has it’s advantages sometimes…I was still home this morning so I could watch Obama’s wonderful speech. It just felt so good and right. The whole thing…starting with just what a pleasure it is to see a truly wonderful family striding onto center stage and pulling us in with their love, charm and grace….and then "The Speech"…fantastic – and the crowd! Oh, my…I’ve never seen such a crowd…the vibe was so positive…the warmth of a million+ hearts mingling and communing – sharing and wanting to be apart of a rebirth that promises to deliver a better version of our nation if only we will commit ourselves to believing it possible and working to make it so.
Yeah, there’s a whole of cleaning up to do, and it sure won’t be easy. There will be some rough patches along the way…we’ve got a whole bushel of them staring us in the face before we even start. Hey, do you dig that? I’m saying "WE", and isn’t that President Obama’s point?
And hey, what about VP Joe Biden? The thing with the camera and Obama’s girls was just so cool. Maybe one of the reasons Obama picked Biden for VP was just how real and genuine Biden really is as a family person. Of all the possible candidates for VP he’s absolutely the one I would most want around my kids as a positive example. That’s not so easy to find in the political arena these days. Biden’s politics were and are close enough, so there was no problem or issue there. So why not a guy that can connect with your kids with such natural ease and comfort? I could see them thinking of him as "Uncle Joe"…hard to imagine that with Edwards…or, ahem…"Aunt Hillary"…
Anyway, it was great to see it come down and it put me in a very good place to deal with a very trying day. Although I’m quite tired now, I’m still feeling very, very good about the leadership we’ve been fortunate enough select. People often complain about having to choose "the least worst" or some other such disdainful or dourly pessimistic description, but I really feel that this time we’ve somehow managed to find ourselves someone with the heart, mind, courage and understanding to show us what it’s like to have type of leadership the Founding Father’s wanted us to have.
OK, I guess I’m just about out of "gush", so I’ll I think I’ll just take my happy old ass home and see about getting some sleep so I can deal with tomorrow.
slightly_peeved
Fixed. He gets respect as he gave it.
Congratulations and thanks from another foreigner.
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMIX
I’m surprised Bush didn’t call in sick and just head to the airport, actually.
Noonan should go into the clairvoyance industry, she’d be good. I can savor that.
That’s a WIN!
Of the Seven Stages of Grief (loss of our country over the last eight years, not the loss of GWB), I am only at stage 6 right now, which is Depression (which comes right after Anger) and I’m not quite at the point of Acceptance – I’ll need at least a short while to really believe Bush is gone. I’ll get to acceptance soon, I promise (unless the economy completely tanks and we’re stuck in a REAL depression, I suppose, upon which event I will move backwards into Anger again).
Think of it this way, we’re not hating on Bush so much as loving on our country and are angry and depressed that someone (GWB) took it down the toilet. Does that make it a little more understandable?
CIRCVS MAXIMVS MMIX
I LOVE the new Pepsi "Yes We Can" commercial (and I don’t even drink Pepsi, hmmmm!)