Obama II: What will the next four years hold?
The National Mall at sunrise, photo courtesy of blog poster Brosephus
Barack Obama was officially if informally sworn into office for the second time Sunday, but the formal, public ceremony is taking place today, on a bright, cold Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with Obama taking the oath on bibles owned by King and President Abraham Lincoln.
We’ll be live-blogging the rest of the ceremony ….
11:38 — A nicely done, dignified prayer by civil rights leader Myrlie-Evers Williams, a woman who has seen a lot.
11:41: With Sen. Schumer of New York as inaugural planner, it’s understandable that a Brooklyn choir is doing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” But really, a southern choir would have done it righteously.
11:47 Taking his oath, Biden’s just repeating what Sotomayor is saying. Didn’t he get in trouble for that once?
11:51: Obama takes oath, with one small stumble certain to cause comment among a few. The Capitol looks resplendent.
11:58: A call from Obama to the necessity of joint, unified action. “My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it if we seize it together.”
12:03 “Social Security, Medicare … do not make us a nation of takers”
12:04: A call to action on climate change. The first real news of the day, committing to a second-term goal.
12:08: A strong embrace of gay rights, equal respect, immigration reform … a broadening of the American family.
12:10: “We cannot mistake absolutism for principle.” I suspect that was directed to some Dems as well as Republicans.
12:12: A relatively brief address by the president, with talk of national unity and purpose interspersed with indirect if sharp reminders of issues that divide us.
12:20: A rather prosaic effort by poet Richard Blanco.
12:31: But a stirring version of the Star Spangled Banner by the lovely and talented Beyonce to close the ceremony.
– Jay Bookman
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937 comments Add your comment
Jm
January 21st, 2013
11:39 am
The next 4 years?
Stagnant middle class income, lots more debt, and more war.
Oh yes, and healthcare mayhem.
Same as the last 12. Should be entertaining if you like black comedy.
Jm
January 21st, 2013
11:42 am
Poor John Roberts
Obama is gonna make him do it twice
Obama may be convicted for torture later.
Jm
January 21st, 2013
11:47 am
Schumer’s voice sounds like screech owls
Jm
January 21st, 2013
11:48 am
Way to go Joe
No slip ups
Might be a first
Jm
January 21st, 2013
11:49 am
Not a James Taylor fan
Jm
January 21st, 2013
11:50 am
Oh let Jay Z do it
He’d have been better and is only a few rows back….
Corbin Sharpe. Baby Boomer...and Ban the Gun Thug!
January 21st, 2013
11:51 am
jm,
I don’t believe there has ever been a more gentle person than James Taylor. You really should listen to his music.
_
It’s Obama Time!
Corbin Sharpe. Baby Boomer...and Ban the Gun Thug!
January 21st, 2013
11:54 am
Something I haven’t done in a long time, but I just had to stand up and salute The President.
DannyX
January 21st, 2013
11:55 am
Any idea on when the unskewed inauguration will take place?
Class of '98
January 21st, 2013
11:56 am
What will it hold? I’m guessing a lot more hard-hitting interviews with “The View”, and Jay Leno regarding his ipod playlist and lots of golf. Lots and lots and lots of golf.
getalife
January 21st, 2013
11:56 am
Politics does not get any better than this.
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
11:58 am
collective action is needed
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
11:58 am
one people
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
11:59 am
together again
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:01 pm
gettin political now
Jm
January 21st, 2013
12:02 pm
Obama says we will not make choices about where to spend
We will spend on the old and young, but we will not cut
Figures
Obama, not a decider
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
January 21st, 2013
12:02 pm
JAY
I say the chinese are likely happier than and making more noise than any of us…their credit providers can budget a chunk of the 4 trillion more debt we will require….heck they may even get a better interest rate…
He, like Bush has as equal chance of a horrid second term to offset the “amazing” legacy you have already bestowed upon him…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 21st, 2013
12:02 pm
There’s going to be a lot of con whining about this speech.
Jm
January 21st, 2013
12:03 pm
Obama
Tax and spender extraordinaire
At least he knows what he believes
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 21st, 2013
12:03 pm
climate change! Hope that is a sign that Obama will act strongly on the issue.
bob
January 21st, 2013
12:03 pm
He will be whining about the rich not paying enough in taxes, and blaming them and Bush for health insurance premiums rising through the roof. He will never take the same stance on the debt ceiling as he took when he was a senator.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
January 21st, 2013
12:04 pm
Did he make any second term resolutions?
Jm
January 21st, 2013
12:04 pm
Keep
Climate change is DOA unless wrapped into tax reform
And Obama doesn’t do tax reform
He does tax complexity
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
January 21st, 2013
12:06 pm
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 21st, 2013
12:03 pm
Yeah I agree…the temperature here turned cold. He can fix that and continue to keep the oceans at an acceptable level…good call.
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:07 pm
all babies do not have the same chane of sucess, and are not create equal.
Jay
January 21st, 2013
12:08 pm
When did I suggest this “amazing legacy”, Stevie Ray?
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:08 pm
immigrants
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 21st, 2013
12:08 pm
Oh well, we see the climate change deniers and quitters remain negative.
getalife
January 21st, 2013
12:09 pm
A very political speech sounding MLK.
F. Sinkwich
January 21st, 2013
12:09 pm
Next four years? More of the same:
War on fossil fuels.
War on the productive and successful.
Demonization of the right.
Stifling regulations.
High unemployment.
Blaming Bush.
Uncontrolled government spending.
Fawning media.
Etc.
That was easy!
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:10 pm
stop name calling
Doggone/GA
January 21st, 2013
12:11 pm
“all babies do not have the same chane of sucess, and are not create equal”
“created equal” is not a physical statement…it is a political statement
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:11 pm
great speech
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:12 pm
dog – time to stop using it
Class of '98
January 21st, 2013
12:13 pm
Climate is always changing, you science-focused libs. Climate continually changed billions of years before homo sapiens arose.
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:13 pm
go kelly
Butch Cassidy (I)
January 21st, 2013
12:14 pm
Just stopped by to check on Kyles blog. He’s reviewing the speech in real time, but it’s only him, Bruno and Lil Barry Bailout OBAMAPHONE!! giving each other moral support for what I’m sure in their mind is the end of civilization as we know it.
Corbin Sharpe. Baby Boomer...and Ban the Gun Thug!
January 21st, 2013
12:15 pm
He says that the oath he and his cabinet (Congress)took was to God and Country and not party or faction…are you listening out there?
Butch Cassidy (I)
January 21st, 2013
12:16 pm
F. Sinkwich – “Next four years? More of the same:
War on fossil fuels.
War on the productive and successful.
Demonization of the right.
Stifling regulations.
High unemployment.
Blaming Bush.
Uncontrolled government spending.
Fawning media.
Etc.”
When does your flight leave?
LastAmericanInAmerica
January 21st, 2013
12:16 pm
Turn the TV off, ignore the destroyer morons in this deadbeat nation elected. Think I’ll head to KFC for some fried chicken.
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:16 pm
hard song to sing – good job
getalife
January 21st, 2013
12:17 pm
Chelsea Clinton’s first community organizing job went well.
RB from Gwinnett
January 21st, 2013
12:18 pm
Oscar, “one people”
Seriously???? You’re kidding yourself if you think the people you’re fleecing for your own benefit have any intention of becoming “one people” with you.
Beverly Fraud
January 21st, 2013
12:19 pm
In education, it will be a complete total unmitigated disaster, as RTTT makes snake oil salesmen look like Clark Howard in comparison.
Of course when you have an education secretary who supports the likes of Beverly Hall and Michelle Rhee, what do you expect?
Adam
January 21st, 2013
12:20 pm
I suspect that was directed to some Dems as well as Republicans.
Why you LIBRUL HACK, Jay!
Adam
January 21st, 2013
12:22 pm
Stevie Ray: From downstairs: Are you saying there is a solution to minority unemployment that the President has not considered or acted on that would bring it to the same level as white unemployment?
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:22 pm
good word imagery
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:23 pm
rb – weird, dude
F. Sinkwich
January 21st, 2013
12:24 pm
“When does your flight leave?”
Well, I don’t have any trips planned at this point.
But thanks for asking!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
January 21st, 2013
12:28 pm
Well, I watched the Kenyan Muslim Socialist getting installed during one of my breaks at Johnny’s bar, but I was too busy hating all the people I hate to catch many of the words. I reckon it was as good as you can get on a teleprompter. All those Moochers on TV seemed to like it.
Now we can go back to the wars on each other. Have a good lunch everybody.
Doggone/GA
January 21st, 2013
12:29 pm
“dog – time to stop using it”
Nope. It is, and always should be, politically accurate
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:32 pm
well sung.
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:34 pm
ceremony well done. one of the best.
four more years of progress
Middle Class
January 21st, 2013
12:35 pm
Like the first four years…rich will get richer (stock market grew). Poor will become more dependent on government and less likely to find work. Health care costs will increase for working people. Wages will not grow. Gas prices will remain high. In short, the middle class will bear the brunt again. The people Obama loves to demonize in public (the very wealthy) will do just fine. I’ll give BO the benefit of the doubt on tax increases and say there were none on the middle class in his first term since the SS thing is debatable. However, the second term will see taxes increase for the middle class. Debt will increase again because the middle class will want to maintain the standard of living to which they’ve become accustomed. Borrowing requirements will once again be relaxed in order to project the illusion of national prosperity. Banks and the mortgage companies will make out like bandits again. By the middle of the next president’s term, we will have another debt crisis.
stands for decibels
January 21st, 2013
12:36 pm
The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.
Please make a note of it.
bookman parrot
January 21st, 2013
12:36 pm
the first order of “business” is to try and keep my lunch down … LOL
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:37 pm
class = sound like a born optimist
FarTrain
January 21st, 2013
12:37 pm
M-I-S-E-R-Y !!!!!!!!! Those who voted for him will be the first ones yelling and screaming. Wait and see!
Bill Campbell
January 21st, 2013
12:39 pm
Depressiion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He will seal his fate as the worst US President in History!!
getalife
January 21st, 2013
12:40 pm
“By the middle of the next president’s term, we will have another debt crisis.”
Are you counting the giant regulation of gop self inflicted crisis or are you not paying attention?
RB from Gwinnett
January 21st, 2013
12:40 pm
I predict the next 4 years will include an executive order making illegals legal enough to vote, probably before the mid-term elections. I don’t think it will get through congress, so it’ll get shoved down our throats the same way Obamacare did.
I also predict in January 2014, there’s going to be MAJOR calamity with a large percentage of low wage workers hours being capped at 30 hrs/week to avoid the Obamacare limit. It may even be significant enough to throw us back into a recession as these 30 hr/wk employees rent, gas, food, etc. will INCREASE as their pay decreases. A storm is brewing and you’d better be paying attention. In fact, you libs might give Ray Nagin a call to see what happens when you ignore a storm.
Class of '98
January 21st, 2013
12:40 pm
Well written, Middle Class. It is one of the great fallacies of our age that “greedy wall street bankers” caused the economic crisis. The blame is squarely on the fed and the subsidized mortgage loans backed by Freddie and Fannie that caused it all. The “illusion of prosperity” phrase hit the nail on the head, and it will happen again, probably sooner than later.
Richard
January 21st, 2013
12:42 pm
As an aside, the Falcons fought a good fight Sunday and have nothing to be ashamed of. They can hold their heads high after completing such a successful year. Too bad they couldn’t hold on to the lead, but there is always next year and Matt Ryan is a great QB. Way to go Falcons!!
getalife
January 21st, 2013
12:42 pm
bill,
The bush depression is over.
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:43 pm
menu for lunch sounds awful. where are the mashed potatoes and blac eyed peas. and chocolate cake and coffee
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 21st, 2013
12:44 pm
What? RB did not predict the $25 Pappa John’s pizza because of Obamacare?
td
January 21st, 2013
12:45 pm
Jay,
“Barack Obama was officially if informally sworn into office for the second time Sunday, but the formal, public ceremony is taking place today”
Should not this be in reverse rather then the way you wrote it? Yesterday, was the formal (Constitutional) swearing in and today was informal and for the public’s benefit. Just asking.
stands for decibels
January 21st, 2013
12:45 pm
parrot @ 12.36, if the prospect of a centrist-Democrat President being inaugurated for a second term actually makes you physically ill, maybe you ought to get some kind of professional help.
BlahBlahBlah
January 21st, 2013
12:46 pm
If recent history holds, something BIG and UNFORSEEN will hit in his second term.
Clinton’s second term = Monica and impeachment
Bush’s second term = Katrina and the housing meltdown
Obama’s second term will have something BIG (and likely bad) that he’ll have to deal with. I wish him luck.
Oscar
January 21st, 2013
12:46 pm
class – the private sector screws up and cons blame the govt for failure of regulation, which they don’t want any of.
crooks rob a bank,blame the cops for not having stopped them
PlainTtruth
January 21st, 2013
12:46 pm
55 million children aborted since abortion murder became legal by Democrats! You will have to give an account for your vote one day! Obama is the most pro-abortion President ever!
RB from Gwinnett
January 21st, 2013
12:46 pm
“The commitments we make to each other…”
That may have been true back when everybody contributed to the tax base that “we” pulled from, but I can assure you, that ain’t the case any more. The only commitments being made these days are liberals are committed to spending every dime they’re able to fleece out of somebody else.
Jay
January 21st, 2013
12:48 pm
td, I think not. Yesterday was official — as required under the Constitution — but comparatively informal. Today was the formal ceremony, while the technical swearing-in was yesterday.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 21st, 2013
12:48 pm
“Abortion became legal by Democrats”
You mean a constitutional right? Your hatred is duly noted as well as your lack of comprehension of the issues.
getalife
January 21st, 2013
12:49 pm
He keeps speaking of innovation because something big is coming.
Something that will create a new bubble to create millions of jobs.
I am very optimistic about our future.
Competent leadership makes that happen.
BlahBlahBlah
January 21st, 2013
12:50 pm
RB, conservatives have no problem spending every dime either. Right wing hero Paul Ryan never saw a spending bill he didn’t LOVE under Bush, and only found fiscal Jesus when a Democrat moved in to 1600 Penn Ave.
Soothsayer
January 21st, 2013
12:50 pm
I still can’t understand why Ryan threw that long pass into double coverage. I guess he’ll have a whole year to think about it.
Corbin Sharpe. I think, therefore I am...I think.
January 21st, 2013
12:51 pm
All in all, a very great and historic day.
stands for decibels
January 21st, 2013
12:51 pm
55 million children aborted since abortion murder became legal by Democrats!
WTF?
Are the pharmacies closed today?
Soothsayer
January 21st, 2013
12:52 pm
I especially can’t understand why we play our 1st team in games that don’t mean anything and result in injury to our star player (Abraham).
Corbin Sharpe. I think, therefore I am...I think.
January 21st, 2013
12:53 pm
“55 million children aborted since abortion murder became legal by Democrats!”
Can’t stand what today means so he turns on the deflector shields…
Jm
January 21st, 2013
12:54 pm
That was short as heck
Fine by me
Any more collectivist commentary from the prez and I’d have had to turn the boob tube off
Class of '98
January 21st, 2013
12:55 pm
Oscar, i was a loan officer from 2003 to 2008 and worked for a company who refinanced mortgages to adhere specifically to fannie guidelines. We broke no rules, and followed the letter of the law, and we could get a ham sandwich approved for a loan, which we would immediately sell to larger banks or fannie itself.
We in the business knew it was a house of cards built on sand that would collapse, and ultimately it
did. The people who were most concerned about “equality” and mass home ownership were the ones surprised by the fallout.
You can put whatever spin on it you please, but REGULATION drove our actions.
Jackie
January 21st, 2013
12:55 pm
It seems the “haters” still have not figured out that stagnant middle-class wages have been a reality for the last 30 years and those that believe that there are people who work and do not contribute their fair share to the tax base should stop and read what the tax code entails and leave the talking-points to the politicians, as the “haters” are not scholars who dismiss the facts and abandon reality.
Here is something that explains what has occurred.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/09/30/a-closer-look-at-the-pay-gap-in-charts/
Thomas Heyward Jr
January 21st, 2013
12:55 pm
Arthur Blank will get his stadium upon the backs of the working poor……………and you’ll like it.
Cigarette, gasoline, and booze taxes will soar…..Everybody will have health insurance but very few will have healthcare.
.
And Obmam’s HR 347 ..which Criminalizes protests anywhere the Secret Service goes……will be just a taste of things to come.
.
But on the bright side…… the Ron Paul Army will continue to grow.
.
Soothsayer
January 21st, 2013
12:55 pm
10 trillion chickens who will never see the light of day because we ended their lives by frying, cooking them in omelettes, or boiling them in water.
Jm
January 21st, 2013
12:56 pm
Jay I agree on the poem
Soothsayer
January 21st, 2013
12:58 pm
Jay, I have a suggestion for a thread: one that somehow incorporates abortion, gun control, climate change and the FairTax. It would set new records for the number of posts.
The other half of your brain.
January 21st, 2013
1:00 pm
Keep Up the Good Fight!
January 21st, 2013
12:03 pm
climate change! Hope that is a sign that Obama will act strongly on the issue.
He is Keep, Solyndra is leading the way.
Jay
January 21st, 2013
1:01 pm
No, Class of ‘98. By your own account, it was GREED that drove the process. By your own account, it was the ABSENCE of strong regulation that contributed to it.
The other half of your brain.
January 21st, 2013
1:01 pm
Soothsayer
January 21st, 2013
12:58 pm
Jay, I have a suggestion for a thread: one that somehow incorporates abortion, gun control, climate change and the FairTax. It would set new records for the number of post
True, however it will still be approx 20/30 people posting 20 or 30 times.
getalife
January 21st, 2013
1:02 pm
The first President to call on gay rights in a inauguration.
This President is all about making history.
stands for decibels
January 21st, 2013
1:02 pm
10 trillion chickens who will never see the light of day because we ended their lives by frying, cooking them in omelettes, or boiling them in water.
Please can you stop the noise I’m trying to get some rest
From all the unborn chicken voices in my head
barking frog
January 21st, 2013
1:06 pm
The next four years will be like the last four except a little better.
Class of '98
January 21st, 2013
1:07 pm
No Jay, we were just playing by fannies rules. My company took NO RISK at all in selling those mortgages. If there was LESS regulation, we never would have risked selling mortgages to deadbeats with 450 fico scores. But BECAUSE of the regulation, we took no risk at all.
Besides, all you libs who whine about our “greed” now patted us on the back in 2007 because we helped the “less fortunate” stay in their homes.
Make up your mind.
Jeffrey
January 21st, 2013
1:08 pm
Did anyone see Romney? I thought he was supposed to be there. I miss that huckster.
saywhat?
January 21st, 2013
1:10 pm
Ah yes, Inauguration Day! Or as Mitt Romney calls it, Monday.
saywhat?
January 21st, 2013
1:11 pm
Inauguration Day!!!!! Or as Mitt Romney calls it, Monday.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
January 21st, 2013
1:11 pm
“Obama II: What will the next four years hold?”
The same as JAWS II ………… more carnage.
Jm
January 21st, 2013
1:11 pm
Good choice on the main course