A Historic Moment
Today is a huge day in American history, today our beloved country does something it has never done before, we inaugurate a man of African-American descent as President of the United States. The previous 42 office holders have all had several characteristics in common: most importantly, they've all been white men. Sure, many of them have also been freemasons and more than a few have ties to Harvard or Yale. These trivial tidbits are extremely minor in comparison to the race issue. Today an entire segment of our population finally feels validate (those are words just spoken by the African-American commentator on MSNBC), and well WE all should feel validated, because we have finally entered the 21st Century.
In a country founded on freedom we have had a surprisingly restrictive community. As a people, we have allowed our personal biases and prejudices to enslave other human beings, we have created a "classless" society that is becoming increasingly more stratified, and our constitutional freedoms have never been more curtailed than they are right now.
Yet there has been a promise of better times on the horizon. The two months and sixteen days between the election and today have been an exciting time, watching the President-elect basically take charge as Mr. Bush faded into the background. Bush was the least of the Lame Duck Presidents, choosing to to cede his political power early to the President-elect. He barely issued any pardons either, at least nothing as controversial as those issued by President Clinton in his waning days, which either proves Bush is incredibly smart or incredibly arrogant. Smart because he realizes that any moved made at this late date would be scrutinized incessantly by an increasingly hostile congress. Arrogant because his Presidency, more so than Nixon's, has been nothing but an imperialistic exercise in power-mongering. His own Vice-President tried to make his office a separate part of government for crying out loud.
March of the Presidents
One of the cool things about the inauguration is that it's one of the few times that all of the living ex-Presidents and ex-VPs get together in the same place. These were the most important men in the world during their Presidency, and upon entering the scene they appeared to be very subdued. As if they know that this isn't their moment to shine, but that they have an important legacy to share.
As President H.W. Bush entered with Barbara, one of the pundits on MSNBC commented that this is the first time he's ever seen Bush 41 look old. That is more than a bit of truth. Bush 41, walking with a cane, did look old. Of course they also just mentioned that he'd be getting to work on Jeb Bush's Presidential campaign coming soon. Doubtful.
President Carter looked as good as usual, and yes, he's the BEST of our Ex-Presidents. Say what you want about his actual Presidency, but any man who wins a Nobel Peace Prize AFTER being President is OK in my book.
President Clinton appeared to be as teflon as usual. I know that there is still a great divide on Clinton's Presidency, but I still maintain that for most of his eight years in office were the best eight years of my life. The economy was strong, jobs were abundant, the promise of new technologies energized futurists, and things just generally seemed better in the country. For me it all fell apart November 7, 2000 when Bush stole the election along with a complicit Supreme Court.
Bullet Points:
In a country founded on freedom we have had a surprisingly restrictive community. As a people, we have allowed our personal biases and prejudices to enslave other human beings, we have created a "classless" society that is becoming increasingly more stratified, and our constitutional freedoms have never been more curtailed than they are right now.
Yet there has been a promise of better times on the horizon. The two months and sixteen days between the election and today have been an exciting time, watching the President-elect basically take charge as Mr. Bush faded into the background. Bush was the least of the Lame Duck Presidents, choosing to to cede his political power early to the President-elect. He barely issued any pardons either, at least nothing as controversial as those issued by President Clinton in his waning days, which either proves Bush is incredibly smart or incredibly arrogant. Smart because he realizes that any moved made at this late date would be scrutinized incessantly by an increasingly hostile congress. Arrogant because his Presidency, more so than Nixon's, has been nothing but an imperialistic exercise in power-mongering. His own Vice-President tried to make his office a separate part of government for crying out loud.
March of the Presidents
One of the cool things about the inauguration is that it's one of the few times that all of the living ex-Presidents and ex-VPs get together in the same place. These were the most important men in the world during their Presidency, and upon entering the scene they appeared to be very subdued. As if they know that this isn't their moment to shine, but that they have an important legacy to share.
As President H.W. Bush entered with Barbara, one of the pundits on MSNBC commented that this is the first time he's ever seen Bush 41 look old. That is more than a bit of truth. Bush 41, walking with a cane, did look old. Of course they also just mentioned that he'd be getting to work on Jeb Bush's Presidential campaign coming soon. Doubtful.
President Carter looked as good as usual, and yes, he's the BEST of our Ex-Presidents. Say what you want about his actual Presidency, but any man who wins a Nobel Peace Prize AFTER being President is OK in my book.
President Clinton appeared to be as teflon as usual. I know that there is still a great divide on Clinton's Presidency, but I still maintain that for most of his eight years in office were the best eight years of my life. The economy was strong, jobs were abundant, the promise of new technologies energized futurists, and things just generally seemed better in the country. For me it all fell apart November 7, 2000 when Bush stole the election along with a complicit Supreme Court.
Bullet Points:
- The Hon. Sen. Edward Kennedy from Massachusetts made his appearance at about 10:42 EST, walking with a cane, but looking extremely happy. Honestly I didn't expect Teddy to make it to the inaugration, and am happy that he's still with us, and wonder for how much longer he'll be around.
- Is this actually the last hurrah for the Bush Family? Does Jeb Bush have any national political future, or are his future movements tied to the legacy of the last eight years of incompetence and criminal behavior?
- WAY back in September, during the Presidential campaign, then candidate Joe BIden said that might pursue criminal charges against the Bush Regime. In recent days the President-Elect seems to have backed off of that statement, preferring to move forward focusing on fixing the economy and finding jobs for those of us caught up in record unemployment. That is all well and good to be honest, I want my President focused on the current job at hand, rather than looking backwards at the mistakes of his predeceessor. That said, the American People want to have their say, and I have a feeling that in a couple months both Misters Bush and Misters Cheney may well be called on the carpet for their illegal activity. If not by congress, then by the rest of the world. There has to be some culpability, and some responsibility taken for the illegal actions undertaken by the Bush Regime. Whether it's our own Congress, or other countries charging him with War Crimes, we cannot simply let Bush fade into the background without any action taken, or investigations into the clearly illegal torture allowed by the last President.
There are over a million people on the Mall in DC to witness this occasion. The Clinton Inauguration was cause for celebration back in 1992, somehow I thin this inauguration will easily surpass that spectacle. As well it should.