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Barack Obama Sworn In As 44th President of the US
Just before noon today, Eastern time, Barack Obama was sworn in before the US Capitol building as the 44th President of the United States (Whitehouse.gov has already been updated to reflect the new President), and offered an inaugural address which outlined some of the challenges that the country currently faces, both within the country's borders and abroad. Obama's election has been called "a civil rights triumph," and his candidacy has inspired perhaps the most visible political involvement of young voters of any candidate since John Kennedy. Here's your chance to discuss the newest occupant of the White House and what you'd like to see happen over the course of his presidency.
... Since everyone is treating the new president as the a new King.
He was fully capable of embarrassing us without saying anything at all.
and I thought on Slashdot we were smart enough that speeches were nothing more than that. Promises of politicians are nothing, it is what goes on behind the scenes that matters. Until they I am not going to be one declaring he walked on water or cured me.
As for the separation of church and state being reaffirmed? Really? So that is written in the Constitution or Declaration of Independence? Do someone you just wallow so much in ignorance you don't read between the lines and only see flowers and unicorns now?
Mod me to hell, but the type of tripe being passed for insightful here is downright insulting.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
The man with the most liberal voting record in the Senate since taking his seat has convinced America to listen to his voice rather than watching his actions.
I hope Obama follows what he says rather than continuing his divisive stances. You don't have to look hard to find some simple research on his past votes.
His thoughts on personal responsibility as the solution to our economic troubles are very conservative, even Reaganesque. He then hints at socializing healthcare.
Living in Illinois I cannot trust any politician from this state, but I hope he proves me wrong.
Yes. And now:
Please, President Obama, on your first day:
o Order the heads of the military to immediately commence an orderly and rapid withdrawal of all troops and equipment from Iraq and Afghanistan.
o Issue a formal, succinct apology to the people of Iraq for all acts of violence and coercion under the aegis of George Bush and his cronies, and formally disavow those acts.
o Order the heads of military to plan orderly and rapid closure of all military bases outside the borders of the United States and its possessions, including the return of all troops, the return of all equipment that is practical, and to execute the immediate sale or destruction of all weapons and defense systems that cannot be transported within a 90-day period.
o Issue a blanket pardon for all non-violent drug offenders
o Issue an executive order invalidating any past, present or future law that infringes upon the personal liberty to choose to import, grow, manufacture, carry, sell or consume any consumable substance as a matter of informed choice. This would in no way shield drug users from consequences of actions taken while under the influence of drugs.
o Order the closure of Guantanamo Bay and all other similar facilities, and the transfer and release of all prisoners to their country of origin, or to asylum in the US if they prefer
o Issue at least one executive order to strike down one of the myriad unconstitutional laws violating the bill of rights
o Issue at least one executive order to strike down one of the myriad unconstitutional laws that does not pass muster under the enumerated congressional powers
o Issue at least one executive order to strike down one of the myriad unconstitutional laws that depends upon the topsy-turvy interpretation of the commerce clause
o Issue at least one executive order to have a supreme court judge arrested for violating the constitutional oath they swore as part of their office. Perhaps Scalia should go first, based on his treasonous and unconstitutional assertion in Heller that the government has the authority to tell citizens where they may carry arms.
o Issue at least one executive order to have a congressman arrested for violating the constitutional oath they swore as part of their office. For the first one of these, I'd probably choose the top sponsor of the bill that attempted to suspend habeas corpus, I think it was in the Military Commissions Act.
o Make a short fireside-style speech explaining the difference between coercive, arbitrarily exercised government power, and authorized use of power as delegated to the government by the constitution. Go on to say that you consider it your job to defend the country and its possessions at their borders from foreign military aggression; to undo as much harm as possible that has been caused by out of control, coercive, unauthorized exercise of federal and state government power; to restore the income, property and liberties taken from US citizens by previous state and federal government misdeeds; to restore *authorized* power to the states, while reminding them they are absolutely bound by the bill of rights and other constitutional direction specifically to them; and finally, speak to the citizens about personal liberty and personal responsibility, explaining the concept that their right to exert personal power ends where another person's body, property and family begin. State your intent to focus the government on the jobs of providing and maintaining transport and communications infrastructure, education, and healthcare in an environment where the greatest possible safety and security of the individual, property and family from aggression from any quarter was assured. Announce your intent to institute a program that assured any individual a safe bed, practical clothing, and (extremely) basic sustenance, should they fall through to the bottom of the country's economic system.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
The uncritical adoration of Obama reminds me of this from 1984: "But the face of Big Brother seemed to persist for several seconds on the screen, as though the impact that it had made on everyone's eyeballs was too vivid to wear off immediately. The little sandyhaired woman had flung herself forward over the back of the chair in front of her. With a tremulous murmur that sounded like 'My Saviour!' she extended her arms towards the screen. Then she buried her face in her hands. It was apparent that she was uttering a prayer. "At this moment the entire group of people broke into a deep, slow, rhythmical chant of 'B-B! ...B-B!' -- over and over again, very slowly, with a long pause between the first 'B' and the second-a heavy, murmurous sound, somehow curiously savage, in the background of which one seemed to hear the stamp of naked feet and the throbbing of tom-toms. For perhaps as much as thirty seconds they kept it up. It was a refrain that was often heard in moments of overwhelming emotion. Partly it was a sort of hymn to the wisdom and majesty of Big Brother, but still more it was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness by means of rhythmic noise. Winston's entrails seemed to grow cold. In the Two Minutes Hate he could not help sharing in the general delirium, but this sub-human chanting of 'B-B! ...B-B!' always filled him with horror. Of course he chanted with the rest: it was impossible to do otherwise. To dissemble your feelings, to control your face, to do what everyone else was doing, was an instinctive reaction. "
It was the Ws that the Clinton staffers took, since W is Bush's middle initial. H is Obama's middle initial, which is why the Hs and not the Os.
ubi dubium ibi libertas.
This changeover was done in a professional and intelligent manor with class. Unlike the last one when "Bubbas" boys acted childish.
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
Please, the GOP still goes after Bill Clinton like it will never go out of style. "Get stale" my ass.
It's true reports were exaggerated (for example Air Force One was not vandalized as some reporters claimed), but 17,000 dollars in 2009 currency is still a LOT of damage. Glue on computers? Profane language scrawled on walls? "W" ripped off keyboards???
There is simply no excuse for acting like a bunch of Vandals, and wasting the equivalent of 2 Walmart employees annual salary. It is FAR more than just "normal wear and tear" as the previous poster falsely claimed, and that's why Congress passed law that if such an event happens again, the office staff will be convicted. It's a waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult to the American People these staff are employed by.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
I am a foreigner in this country. Why exactly is there such an hype about Obama's swearing in?
hahahahahahahaha
funny!
right wing twaddle, everyone would be in a far worse position without fiscal stimulus, or did you like the collapse of lehman brothers? how about if it happened to your bank? do you realise how much the collapse of lehman brothers has cost america?
You quoted salon.com which is no better than quoting a propaganda piece.
*I* quoted the New York Times, which is also corroborated by the L.A. Times, Newsweek, and of course the U.S. Congress itself (the General Accounting Office).
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEFDE163CF931A25755C0A9649C8B63
http://articles.latimes.com/2002/jun/12/nation/na-clinton12
http://www.newsweek.com/id/167691
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
I guess ye rich folks have a different perspective.
If someone destroyed $14,000 worth of property, I'd have to declare bankruptcy. But I guess when you're the government, it's okay to destroy taxpayer dollars in wasteful bullshit. That's acceptable behavior when you're a rich politician.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
... thy name is hit whore.
"You're getting brutal, Sark. Brutal and needlessly sadistic."
"Thank you, Master Control"
-Sark and the MCP
Put up or shut up.
Post some cites of your dogmatic propaganda. Until then, I call bullshit.
Of course, if you weren't such a pussy and actually believed the garbage you've spewed, you wouldn't have posted as AC. I can regurgitate vomitous crap that talk radio has fed me as well.
"You're getting brutal, Sark. Brutal and needlessly sadistic."
"Thank you, Master Control"
-Sark and the MCP
No, there were also filing cabinets destroyed, desks damaged with glue.
Perhaps ye think this is acceptable to destroy $17000 worth of taxpayer currency (2009 dollars), but I do not. That represents the blood, sweat, and tears of workers dragging themselves out of bed and to a factory day-after-day-after-day. And for what? So the taxes they paid could be thrown-away on silly nonsense? Ridiculous.
But then this is the government we're talking about. Rs or Ds - doesn't matter. They love to waste.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
I am continually amazed at the staying power of right wing nutbar myths.
Right, and "Bush lied", rather than operated in good faith on bad intelligence, or Bush "stole the election" (even though not a single recount by the media has ever shown Gore, even with his cherry-picking of votes, would have been the winner), the latter being repeated by Bob Shrum two days ago. Or that firing US Attorneys is something that only Bush did and it is unprecedented.
Glad those left-wing myths have no staying power!
Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
Excuse me if I think for myself for a second, instead of relying on an article some random dude wrote. Every president in history stocks his adminstration full of his supporters and true believers, those who agree with his views. That's why we have elections, and they have consequesnces. Just like Clinton and every president before Bush did, Bush picked law enforcement guys who see eye-to-eye with the chief law enforcement officer in the country.
There is a reason US Attorneys are POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS rather than civil service jobs. The system is purposely set up for the president to appoint people who will execute the laws as he sees fit, since he (and the VP) is the one guy in the whole branch who is actually elected! But suddenly, for the first time in 200+ years, political appointments are not supposed to be political. I guess you would want a bunch of Bush appointees who disagree with Obama's vision of justice to not be fired? Should Obama also keep all of Bush's other appointees too? Maybe hire Karl Rove, lest he be considered "political?"
Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
Since when has the Media been "Liberal"? Cripes... it is a profit making machine run by huge horizontally invested corporations. If anything lends itself to conservative ideas, it is a media that doe snot want to spend money on actually finding out the facts, and focusing on what brings in the bucks rather than what is best for the public to know.
The way that Bush did it is unprecedented, because only certain Attorneys were fired. Clinton, for example, fired ALL 90-something of them.
You are joking, right? You are actually a Republican being sarcastic. You aren't seriously defending the practice of Clinton firing 90 of Bush 41's US Attorneys, and packing all 90 openings with lawyers who pass Clinton's litmus test - you know, the guy who fired the White House Travel Office and packed it with cronies from Arkansas? - and Criticizing Bush for firing 8 AND RETAINING 82 of Clinton's appointees. Bush is the bad guy. Amazing. Just another example of "the rules are different for Republicans."
These are POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS. They are MEANT TO BE POLITICAL. Elections have consequences, one of them being is that the person who wins the presidential election, to some degree, gets to define the executive in his image. In areas that are to be shielded from politics and patronage, (99.9 percent of government employees), they get civil service protections. US Attorneys do not have that protection for a reason - they serve at the pleasure of the president.
I love this "don't politicize" line. The US government is a political system, politics being the process by which policy is made - and implemented.
I can only hope the Democrats are dumb enough to burn political capital on investigating Bush for something he has the full right to do. Unfortunately, I believe Obama is way too smart for this, and will stop the likes Pelosi and Reid from such idiocy.
Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you