19th January 2009
There were over 4million people to see this historic event, Barack Obama, the first black President of the United States of America.
"My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.
I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition."
"Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath."
"The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit to chose our better history, to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation, the god-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."
"We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to it's people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan with old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lesson the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet."
"We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in it's defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering the innoncents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken, you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."
"Our challenges may be new, the instruments with which we meet them may be new.
But those values upon which our success depends- hard work, honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiousity, loyalty and patriotism- these things are old.
These things are true."
During his speech the television cameras scanned the millions of people there, many of whom were openly crying, and I was rather emotional myself to be honest.
The speech went on for about 20 minutes, these are just a few paragraphs I have picked out, to be honest they were my favourite part of his speech. However, there was one thing I thought of when listening to Barack Obama, it was that he reminded me of two people.
1. J.F.K.
2. Martin Luther King.
With a mixture like that I don't think you can go to far wrong.
3 comments:
Crikey, Annette. And what happened to those two?
Dear Annette, I hope Dickiebo's fears never become a reality in the present instance. Judging by the security in evidence yesterday and the sight of The Beast, otherwise known as the presidential limousine USA 1, it would be a foolish man who attempted a repeat of previous assassinations. I too watched the inauguration and was moved by his fantastic oratory. What a difference to his predecessor who could hardly string two words together without making a faux pas.
I was particularly struck when he reminded us that it was only 60 years ago that his father was refused entry to a local restaurant in USA because of his colour. From that to this in just over a half century is truly remarkable and something for us all to celebrate.
To me he is like a breath of fresh air and although expectations are so high and, without doubt, all of them will not be fulfilled one day soon, I am certain it will not be for lack of genuine commitment and hard work. That coming from me, politically a conservative evangelical Republican not a liberal Democrat,is praise indeed. I sincerely wish him well.
Ditto, Old Plod. Judging from some of the US police blogs I scan, there are some very unhappy folks out there in the wake of this man's election. As an outsider peering into America as I do from time to time (and someone with a real soft spot for this amazing country) I am loathe to get into political shenanigans, but I wonder if some of the commentators of the aforementioned blogs realise how very unpopular the word `America` is around the world at the moment. It is a great nation, has made many sacrifices to ensure our freedom from nazi Germany and deserves to be seen in a better light. I hope the new Pres can do just that.
Thanks Annette
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