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What did you think of the inagural address?

What did you think of Obama's speech?

  • Thumbs up

    Votes: 21 58.3%

  • In the middle

    Votes: 12 33.3%

  • thumbs down

    Votes: 3 8.3%
  • Total voters
    36
I thought it was an eloquent speech, President Obama is a good orator. It was fitting of the day and event.
That being said, it had bit too much "Don't worry world I am here and going to save you" tone for me to really like it.

and the words "Common Good" used by any politician are like a knife to me.
 
He actually acknowledged atheists :shock:

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers.
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Most of it was fluff, as expected, but there were some good bits. I found the parts where he discussed diplomacy, commitment to science, and Constitutional rights encouraging, but there was nothing we didn't hear on the campaign trail.
 
It was good, I liked it. Beautifully delivered, but that's a given. Much has been made about his uh-ing and er-ing during non-scripted conversation, and it's been said that his only oratory skills exist in front of a script. Perhaps there is some truth to that, but man can the guy deliver a speech.

Highlights for me:

Barack said:
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth.
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I think that's up for debate, Mr. Obama. Maybe.

We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
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I knew he was going to touch on these, but it's good to hear him say it again. It wasn't that long ago that America was at the constant forefront of scientific endeavor, both the research and development of the entrepreneurial world and the profound epiphanies of the hard and theoretical sciences. We can be there again, but we have to have an administration that understands its endless imperative. We can be the ones exporting alternative energy fueled vehicles to Japan(and everywhere else) one day, but it's just as likely for us to be left behind on that road.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.
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Yeah I'm all down with the whole New Optimism thing, but that's going a little too far guy.

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works
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Thank you.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control -- and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
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This passage really struck me and is evidence of the subtle consideration of economics - and how different factions view economics - that was part of what first attracted me to him so long ago. The word choice here is very, very careful. I imagine he spent a lot of time on this paragraph.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers
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Goosebumps.

Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.
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Good line. He challenges the dictators of the world with the threat of their own people. Specifically, of course, he is talking to Ahmadinejad, whose people mostly despise him. Inseminating the womb of dissent in a presidential inauguration...not bad.


Yeah, it was good I thought. wooo barack yeah wooooo alright
 
First time i ever wanted a inagural address, i loved it. There were parts of it where it seemed kinda slow but i liked the music before and after the oaths.
His speech in particular was very heartening, especially the hand of welcome to the Muslim world [and we'd better accept it -.-']

I had one eye on Bush tho, i was hoping he'd do something. But no, he was perfect. Good on him.
 
It was OK, not bad and not great either. The poem, though performed in a tough spot after the inauguration, was terrible IMO. Boom boxes?:doh
 
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1069 said:
Bwahaha! Either my dad was correct, or else the media is similarly deluded:



"He [Obama] recovered quickly from a brief flub, caused by Chief Justice John Roberts mixing up the wording of the presidential oath of office he was having Obama recite. The word "faithfully" wound up in the wrong spot, but Obama got through it, thanking Roberts and then kissing Michelle."

link

Ha. This is kind of funny.
My guess is that if Obama hauled off and stabbed somebody in the eye with an hors d'oeuvre pick during the inaugural banquet, the media would report that the person fell into it on purpose, but that Obama was able to remain calm and protect bystanders from injury.
:lol:
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Roberts blew it. Obama tried to save it. Mercifully, the networks have not dwelled on it too much, from what I've seen.
 
WI Crippler said:
What did you think of Obama's address speech?

Me personally, there were some parts where I was like "**** yeah", and other parts where I was like "good luck with that".

Overall it was a speech designed to unite. He kind of gave everybody a little bit of what they wanted to hear. It was well delivered, but I think it remains to be seen just how much of what he talks about can be accomplished, if at all.
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I think it proves that Obama is a progressive type of American, yet on the other hand it proves that even the progressive Americans are very conservative. I am highly disappointed with his indoctrinated view on some issues, and the almost sad nationalism that he is uttering in his hopes for America and looking away from realism.

I was more optimistic about Obama 10 months ago then I am now. He has changed a lot to become very nationalistic and focused more on terrorism, and mentioning this all the time and the traditional stands of the republicans which have been forced on everyone the last 10 years.. I am rather pessimistic about the human future if Obama is the greatest a (former)great nation such as the US can come up with.
 
Sir Loin said:
It was OK, not bad and not great either. The poem, though performed in a tough spot after the inauguration, was terrible IMO. Boom boxes?:doh
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At first I thought the same thing about the poetry. But I've listened to it several times (along with the Inaugural address) and have come to appreciate it. In few words she created images that exemplified life in America, and the American experience of the broad population, and they were real, even the "boom box" line.

It's a 'modern' poem and has a need to describe things we all experience to evoke those memories. I'm not saying it's the best possible rendition of the 'American experience' but it probably reached the imagination of the broadest possible number of citizens. In that it probably did succeed.
 
Originally Posted by azura28
I wonder what he considers childish things.
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bhkad said:
IMHO I'd say it was things like partisanship or things like Harry Reid trying to deny Roland Burris his Senate seat.
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Partisanship, certainly. I also have a feeling he meant "childish" equals "selfish", since infants and very small childre are mostly motivated by selfishness. This does not take into account the 'virtue of enlightened self interest' as a motivating factor, for which another word is "incentives"
 
Aretha Franklin sucked ass. Could that have been worse?
 
Re: What did you think of the inaugural address?

earthworm said:
Why are people so damn hard-hearted ?
The wife watches the Drudge Report; they imply that Obama was at fault...:spin:
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Body language tells me Obama knew the speach cold and Roberts was intent on changeing the tempo,(of the speach)...,"crash the party right away". Obama just gave a very quick look of ,"Hey...thats not how it goes". My guess is our BIG question will be answered at some point... soon.
 
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WI Crippler said:
What did you think of Obama's address speech?
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I didn't watch it, I find things like boring. If you pay attentions to politics you pretty much know what his views are,what he might try to do and whether or not he is making hollow promises. After all most of the time it is not what they say that is important, it is what they did or tried to do that is important.
 
Re: What did you think of the inaugural address?

Rodney said:
Body language tells me Obama knew the speach cold and Roberts was intent on changeing the tempo,(of the speach)...,"crash the party right away". Obama just gave a very quick look of ,"Hey...thats not how it goes". My guess is our BIG question will be answered at some point... soon.
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If the BIG question is whether or not the first oath taken was valid, that has been nullified by a quiet re-do in the oval office. A second question, not so big, would be Are presidential orders inacted in the first day before the 're-do' valid? That question too might soon be resolved by a re-do.

A close review of the tape of the oath as it was first administered shows that both Obama and Roberts contributed to the error, reacting off each other; indeed, a matter of verbal tempo.

The network TV airings of the first version of the oath have been edited, skipping from the first line to the last and omitting the chaotic second line. If watched over time we will most likely see versions without the stigmatta of the original error. I say that because it has clearly already been patched over for the viewing public. This is a bad omen for the future and media coverage of president Obama.

...
 
I thought his inauguration speech was pretty good.
 
just having some fun :lol:
 
megaprogman said:
I thought his inauguration speech was pretty good.
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Thanks...

Great and timely bump of the thread.

The whole inauguration and campaign sure rings hollow looking at it today.

Evidenced by the recent repudiation of "The One we've been waiting for's"... Hope, Change and Unity.

Yes we can?

Yes... we just did in MA.

.
 
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