Tagged with " Inauguration"
Jan 21, 2009 - Politics    4 Comments

Inauguration Thoughts

I debated whether or not to write about this since I normally don’t blog in-depth about political topics.

Originally, I wasn’t going to watch the inauguration. I had never watched one before; why would I start now? However, something in me said it was an inauguration I needed to watch. It was going to be such a historical event in our nation’s history.

My thoughts:

The chanters in the crowd singing “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” as President Bush was introduced are classless assholes. Whether or not you agree with the man’s politics, as President of the United States, he deserves everyone’s respect.

There’s been a lot of coverage regarding the actual oath. Yes, the Chief Justice botched “to” instead of “of” and on repeating put “faithfully” in the wrong place. But I hate to break it to the people complaining that the phrases were too long (which I do agree with).. it’s been like that (with a couple variations) for quite a while:

Hell, listen to Franklin D. Roosevelt take oath!

Regarding President Obama’s speech.. I honestly don’t know what to make of it. It definitely felt like he was speaking from his heart; that’s obviously a good thing. On the flipside, it also seemed like a campaign speech and that he was still trying to win votes. Overall, it was a pretty good speech.

The benediction is where I get very upset. Seriously? “when black will not be asked to get in back”? ”when white will embrace what’s right”? This is 2009, not the 1950s. The white supremacists that exist today aren’t going to magically change their beliefs all of a sudden. Nor will the black supremacists. People have inherent prejudices that are extremely difficult to change. The majority of citizens of this great country could care less about skin color. Yes, I truly believe that. Such a bad way to end an otherwise great inaugural ceremony.

As for me..

Did I vote for President Obama? No. My opinions on too many issues differed from his.

Will I support President Obama? Absolutely. The electoral college and a majority of Americans voted him into the office of President. And with that, President Obama has earned and deserves my respect. I am sure I won’t agree with everything he does while in office. I didn’t agree with everything President Bush did while in office; I didn’t agree with everything President Clinton did. But the job of President is by far the toughest job imaginable, and I believe each President acts in accordance with that they truly believe is the right course of action.

Congratulations, President Obama. Serve this country well and in its best interest. You have my support as the President.