Entries tagged with “Barack Obama” from Reality Window

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Helen of Margaret and Helen nails it in this post. Emphasis added by me.

Margaret. Forgive me honey for I have sinned... I realize now that President Obama is not perfect. I was wrong to suggest that Obama would rid the world of evil and walk on water while doing it. I was wrong to believe he was the Messiah. I can now say that he is not the smartest human to have ever lived and quite frankly he throws like a girl. Whew. That feels good to get off my chest.

I am a big enough woman to admit when I am wrong. But there is one thing wrong with all of this. I never said any of those things in the first place and neither did any Democrat I know. I never said he was perfect. I never expected him to solve all the problems of the world. And I know lots of women who can throw a ball better than most men. I recognize that he is human and I am sure most people in their right minds know that as well. But you would never know any of this if you listen to Rush Limbaugh. Evidently we Democrats are deaf, dumb and blind when it comes to Obama.

Bullshit.

I am not giving Obama a free pass. I'm giving him a chance. He has four years to "make it or break it" as they say. And considering what George Bush did to it, breaking it is the least of our worries. Healthcare in the United State is broken. Our reputation around the globe is broken. The banks are broken. The tax system... the school systems... the environment - all broken. Someone needs to try and fix it. So why not Obama?

When George Bush was President I didn't want him to fail. I wanted him to stop acting like an idiot. I wanted him to be honest and listen to the debate of the people. I didn't expect him to act like a Democrat. I expected him to act like an American. And I expected him to at least try to keep his campaign promises.

Exactly Margaret. She has more to say. Read the rest here.

I liked this part the best:

I know there are many -- Muslim and non-Muslim -- who question whether we can forge this new beginning.  Some are eager to stoke the flames of division, and to stand in the way of progress.  Some suggest that it isn't worth the effort -- that we are fated to disagree, and civilizations are doomed to clash. Many more are simply skeptical that real change can occur.  There's so much fear, so much mistrust that has built up over the years.  But if we choose to be bound by the past, we will never move forward.  And I want to particularly say this to young people of every faith, in every country -- you, more than anyone, have the ability to reimagine the world, to remake this world.

All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort -- a sustained effort -- to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings.

It's easier to start wars than to end them.  It's easier to blame others than to look inward.  It's easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share.  But we should choose the right path, not just the easy path.  There's one rule that lies at the heart of every religion -- that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.  (Applause.)  This truth transcends nations and peoples -- a belief that isn't new; that isn't black or white or brown; that isn't Christian or Muslim or Jew.  It's a belief that pulsed in the cradle of civilization, and that still beats in the hearts of billions around the world.  It's a faith in other people, and it's what brought me here today.

We have the power to make the world we seek, but only if we have the courage to make a new beginning, keeping in mind what has been written.

The Holy Koran tells us:  "O mankind!  We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another."

The Talmud tells us:  "The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace."

The Holy Bible tells us:  "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."  (Applause.)

The people of the world can live together in peace.  We know that is God's vision.  Now that must be our work here on Earth.

Thank you.  And may God's peace be upon you.

Al Rodgers has many more pictures of Obama's visit to Egypt in this post.

Here's the video of the complete speech.

The president's read on Dick Cheney in this Newsweek interview is pretty interesting. He actually makes the point that Cheney had lost credibility in the prior administration and that he's trying to re-litigate issues he already lost out on.

What's your reaction to Vice President Cheney's ongoing [criticism]? He's not quite twittering your administration [ laughter ] but he's coming fairly close.

You know, Dick Cheney had a strong perspective about national security. It was tested in the early years of the Bush administration, and I think it resulted in a series of very bad decisions. I think what's interesting is that, in some ways, Dick Cheney actually lost these arguments inside the Bush administration.

And so he may have won early with Colin Powell and Condi Rice, but over the last two or three years of the Bush administration, I think there was a recognition among Republicans and Bush administration officials that these enhanced interrogation techniques that were being applied--that they had applied early on--were potentially counterproductive; that a posture of never talking to our enemies, of unilateral action, of framing national security only in terms of the application of force, often unilateral--that that wasn't producing.

And so it's interesting to me to see the vice president spending so much time trying to vindicate himself and relitigate the last eight years when, as I said, I think, actually, a lot of these arguments were settled even before we took over the White House.

The president's comments on his daughters dating while being guarded by men with guns and on Startrek are pretty interesting too.

Via Huffington Post, new photos of the Obamas.

At the end of April, White House photographer Pete Souza released a huge slideshow featuring 300 of the best behind-the-scenes photos of Obama's young presidency. Now Souza has added over a hundred new pictures. Included in the set are shots of the president doing everything from meeting with Al Sharpton and Newt Gingrich to playing with his dog.

Mouse over the top of the slideshow to see more options, and click on a photo to view its caption. The newest photos appear at the end.

In many ways, I think the first 100 days summation is a false marker of sorts. The world goes at its own pace and things like pandemics don't really care who is President of the United States. But given that the US (and foreign) media are fascinated with the arbitrary assessment point and have produced lots of verbiage and pictures for us to review, here's some of the things that made an impression on me.

The president held a prime-time press conference (transcript via NYT) which was distinguished by a couple of things. First, how nice to have a president who can speak intelligently and articulately on a broad range of issues. David Gergen on CNN almost embarrassed himself exclaiming over this point. The second was the improvement in the quality of the questions this time around. Here's the video of the complete press conference in case you missed it.

Chuck Todd no longer needs to hang his head in shame. He redeemed himself with his question on Pakistan. Actually it wasn't that the question was so outstanding other than raising the topic itself of Pakistan's stability vs. its nuclear arsenal. What was notable was the response it elicited from Obama about US connections with the Pakistan military and the fragility of the civilian government. It almost makes one wonder if there aren't scenarios drawn up somewhere that encourage the Pakistani military to step back in and take control of the government in a military coup if the Taliban threat proves too much for President Zardari and his government.

But the two best questions came from Michael Scherer and Jake Tapper with an assist from Mark Knoller of CBS.

Jake tackled the question of torture, specifically asking if Obama thought that the Bush administration sanctioned torture. Obama never said yes, directly but he did talk at length about the fact that waterboarding was torture and that he had put a stop to such "enhanced interrogation techniques". He brought up a story of Winston Churchill and his response to suggestions of torture for German detainees during WWII. Not one I'd heard before but it's an outstanding response for those among us still debating in their minds about whether or not torture is ever the right response. Here's part of Obama's response to Jake's question.

I was struck by an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British during World War II, when London was being bombed to smithereens, had 200 or so detainees. And Churchill said, "We don't torture," when the entire British -- all of the British people were being subjected to unimaginable risk and threat. And then the reason was that Churchill understood, you start taking short-cuts, over time, that corrodes what's -- what's best in a people. It corrodes the character of a country.

There's more plus the video clip on Jake's blog. See the NYT transcript for Knoller's follow-up which did shed more light.

Michael Scherer asked Obama about his stance on the State Secrets act and whether he was going to continue as the Bush administration had. This is an area which has been very unclear as to where the Obama administration stands. Obama took the opportunity to clear the air on it, noting that it was overly broad in its current implementation. From Scherer's post about the exchange:

He said there should be "ways to redact, to carve out certain cases, to see what can be done so that a judge in chambers can review information without it being in open court, you know, there should be some additional tools so that it's not such a blunt instrument." This is, in rough terms, the idea behind the State Secrets Protection Act, a bill that has been introduced in the Senate by Feingold and other Democrats. Though Obama has not yet said whether or not he would support that bill, he clearly indicated Wednesday that he is ready to work on negotiating a new standard with civil libertarians.

All in all an interesting way to spend an hour. And just for the record, this is Obama's third prime-time press conference of his presidency on day 100. Per Tim Fernholz at The American Prospect, "...his predecessors Bill Clinton and George W. Bush each had only four in the entire eight years of their respective presidencies." Though as Ben Smith, in a post about Clinton's lack of prime-time pressers deriving from the refusal of the networks to carry them, noted this "Obama's ability to command the television time -- though the networks will, no doubt, quickly tire of losing revenues -- speaks both to his star power and the depth of the current sense of crisis."

Well, let's hope that the sense of crisis lessens to the point that prime-time presidential press conferences are once more considered too boring for prime-time. And on that note, the White House media people have posted a presidential photostream on flickr with a Creative Commons attribution license. Enjoy:

David Leonhardt, an economic reporter with the NY Times, did a lengthy interview with President Obama. It provides a lot of insight into how Obama is approaching his presidency and where he anticipates things will go after we get over the economic hump.

Andrew Sullivan comments on it and rounds up other comments as well:

Leonhardt scores an interview with the President. It's interesting throughout. A snippet:

I knew even before the election that this was going to be a very difficult journey and that the economy had gone through a sufficient shock and that it wasn't going to recover right away.

In some ways it's liberating, though, in the sense that whether I'm a one-termer or a two-termer, the problems are big enough and fundamental enough that I can't sort of game it out. It's not one of these things where I can say, Oh, you know what, if I time it just right, then the market is going to be going up and unemployment will be going down right before re-election. These are much bigger, much more systemic problems. And so in some ways you just kind of set aside the politics.

The article is already bouncing around the internets. Matthew Continetti thinks Obama is setting the stage for healthcare rationing; Jonathan Cohn also focuses on the healthcare angle; Tim Fernholz wants Obama to make a better case against bank nationalization; And Reihan calls the interview "really remarkable." Reihan:

At the very least, the Leonhardt interview suggests that Obama understands the thorny landscape, and that's saying a lot. My basic fear remains the same: I think we expect too much from government in general and from the president in particular. Still, it's hard to argue that Obama doesn't wear the mantle of "bearer of responsibility" fairly well.

Jake Tapper has an interesting post up about President Obama's 10 letters a day from the public at large which are a part of his daily briefing material.

The letter to President Obama came from a woman in Arizona whose husband lost his job. He was able to find work, but the new gig came with one-third the pay; the family is struggling to make their mortgage payments.

The letter from the Arizona woman illustrated a policy conundrum, recalled senior adviser David Axelrod. President Obama read it, and absorbed the lesson.

"She said they had made all their mortgage payments, but were running out of money," Axelrod said. "And they were told they could not renegotiate unless they were delinquent in their payments."

Before President Obama's housing speech last week, he'd made copies of his letter and "sent it to his financial team and said, 'This is the kind of person our housing plan should help," Axelrod recalled.

The president had other copies made of that letter. He had it distributed to staff on Air Force One.

"He had been struck by how powerful the story was," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. "He wanted us as we were creating policy to make sure that we were listening and hearing these examples as well."

[...]

Monday through Friday the head of White House Correspondence delivers ten letters to be read by the President, choosing among letters that are broadly representative of the day's news and issues; ones that are broadly representative of President's intake of current mail, phone calls to the comment line, and faxes from citizens; and messages that are particularly compelling.

Some of these, maybe two or three each day, the President responds to in his own hand.

Gibbs says that before two different economic speeches, the President "pulled letters he has gotten and distributed them to staff, to understand what people were going through."

The vast majority of the calls coming into the White House, and over a third of the faxes have been on the stimulus package and the economy, so up to half of the letters the President sees are on that broad subject. Aides say that many of these correspondents also have other complications: bankruptcy due to health care, lost job, lost opportunities for their children.

A smaller number of the letters address other issues, such as the environment, health care, education, foreign affairs, or nuclear proliferation.

And a handful, usually no more than five a week, are from people who have a simple supportive message or inspirational story to tell.

The head of correspondence also includes letters to the President from smaller children who ask questions or give advice.

FDR historian Robert McElvaine wrote at Huffington Post that Obama has modeled his reading after FDR. Evidently we Americans are a loquacious bunch when it comes to writing letters.

In the week following FDR's inauguration, 450,000 letters poured into the White House. For years the average remained at 5,000 to 8,000 communications each day. Under Roosevelt the White House staff for answering such letters quickly increased from one person, who had been adequate in past administrations, to fifty.

Letters from the public were very important to Roosevelt, who saw the mail as a way to gauge fluctuations in public sentiment. According to his aide Louis Howe, FDR "always maintained that a personal letter from a farmer or a miner or little shopkeeper or clerk who honestly expresses his conviction, is the most perfect index to the state of the public mind." The president therefore had the mail analyzed on a regular basis and sometimes read a random sampling of letters himself "to renew his sense of contact with raw opinion."

It's good to know that he's found another way to increase the porous nature of the White House bubble and that it's making a difference in his policy.

Barack Obama's first press conference was a new experience for me or at the least, one that I haven't had for a long while: listening without cringing or suppressing the desire to throw things at the TV. Listening to someone who can deliver complete and well-thought-out sentences on a wide range of topics extemporaneously, someone who understands the material about which he is speaking as opposed to someone who is parroting memorized phrases that he thinks have something to do with the topic at hand, was such a pleasure.

Here's the video. If for some reason you had to miss it, you'll find his opening statement of interest.

Josh Marshall made this point after the press conference.

I think the power of President Obama's presentation tonight speaks for itself if you saw it. (Below I've included his answer to the first question on the economy, which was the essence of the press conference.) There's an important debate about the proper outlines of stimulus bill. But there's little serious debate over whether a large bill, predominantly focused on spending, is necessary. And yet that's what the Washington discussion has been about.

Yet the real key to understanding that press conference is in information that came out earlier today: two polls showing the public is overwhelming on Obama's side in this battle (see Gallup and CNN). According to Gallup, 67% of the public supports Obama on the Stimulus Bill versus 31% for congressional Republicans. 58% of Americans disapprove of the Hill GOP's stand on this issue.

What's most striking about these numbers is the continuing disconnect between the mood of the capital and that of the country. For me, a lot of that is a product of how Washington continues to be wired for Republican control. A president, and particularly one like Obama, is the one person who is in a position to cut through that.

Well, it's clear that the villagers and the chattering class haven't figured out what the people of Elkhart, Indiana (my parents live there) and the rest of the country know all too well. It's bad, really bad and getting worse. This is not the time to be screwing around scoring political points.

[Sidenote: Obama gave his speech in the gymnasium of the high school that a couple of my siblings graduated from. My brother's name is still on the wall along with the record he set in the mile in the 70's.]

On the other hand, the longer the Republicans do this to please the increasingly extreme right wing fringe that constitutes their base, the more irrelevant they become in US politics. Wonder when they'll figure it out.

Obama served warning last night. This is serious. Our nation gets it. 2009 is going to be tough. Let's move forward. Get this stimulus package passed now.

Paul Krugman has a message for the Washington crowd: don't compromise our future.

It's time for Mr. Obama to go on the offensive. Above all, he must not shy away from pointing out that those who stand in the way of his plan, in the name of a discredited economic philosophy, are putting the nation's future at risk. The American economy is on the edge of catastrophe, and much of the Republican Party is trying to push it over that edge.

Well, Mr. Krugman, your wish is granted.

Obama had a few words to say at the Department of Energy yesterday. [via]

Then President Obama spoke to the House Dems last night at their retreat. He gets it.

Start at the 2:30 point to skip the opening thank yous.

Memorable points from his speech:

We can't embrace the losing formula that says only tax cuts will work for every problem we face; that ignores critical challenges like our addiction to foreign oil, or the soaring cost of health care, or falling schools and crumbling bridges and roads and levees. I don't care whether you're driving a hybrid or an SUV -- if you're headed for a cliff, you've got to change direction. (Applause.) That's what the American people called for in November, and that's what we intend to deliver.

[...]

If we do not move swiftly to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe. This is not my assessment. This is not Nancy Pelosi's assessment. This is the assessment of the best economists in the country. This is the assessment of some of the former advisors of some of the same folks who are making these criticisms right now.

Millions more Americans will lose their jobs. Homes will be lost. Families will go without health care. Our crippling dependence on foreign oil will continue. That is the price of inaction.

This isn't some abstract debate. Last week, we learned that many of America's largest corporations already laid off thousands and are planning to lay off tens of thousands of more workers. Today, we learned that in the previous week, the number of new unemployment claims jumped to 626,000. Tomorrow, we're expecting another dismal jobs report, on top of the half a million jobs that were lost last month, on top of the half a million jobs that were lost the month before that, on top of the 2.6 million jobs that were lost last year.

For you, these aren't just statistics. This is not a game. This is not a contest for who's in power and who's up and who's down. These are your constituents. These are families you know and you care about. I believe that it is important for us to set aside some of the gamesmanship in this town and get something done.

[...]

Understand the scale and the scope of this plan is right. And when you start hearing arguments on the cable chatter, just understand a couple of things. Number one, when they say, well, why are we spending $800 billion -- we've got this huge deficit? First of all, I found this deficit when I showed up. (Applause.) Number one. (Applause.) I found this national debt doubled, wrapped in a big bow waiting for me as I stepped into the Oval Office.

Number two, it is expected that we are going to lose about a trillion dollars worth of demand this year, a trillion dollars of demand next year because of the contraction in the economy. So the reason that this has to be big is to try to fill some of that lost demand. And as it is, there are many who think that we should be doing even more. (Applause.) So we are taking prudent steps.

It's worth it to listen for those points. His delivery says more than the words on the page.

It's time to put the whiny, impotent naysayers in their place, grasp the hands of those who are willing to put the country first, step up and get this bill passed ASAP. And just remember who was in charge of Congress from 1994 to 2006 and the White House from 2001 to 2008: the people who deregulated because government rules were getting in the way. Those rules that protected your hard-earned wealth were blown away or pushed to the side. That wonderful economy that everyone admired ... all smoke and mirrors and now we're seeing what happens when the mirrors are broken. So when those same people who ran our country and our future into the ground start objecting, just remember they don't have your best interests at heart. In fact, they don't give a damn.

Barack Obama adds one more tool to his arsenal of things he's doing differently as president. His op-ed in the Washington Post within the first two weeks of his inauguration indicates that he's choosing lots of different communication venues to make the case for his initiatives.

In recent days, there have been misguided criticisms of this plan that echo the failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can meet our enormous tests with half-steps and piecemeal measures; that we can ignore fundamental challenges such as energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.

I reject these theories, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. They know that we have tried it those ways for too long. And because we have, our health-care costs still rise faster than inflation. Our dependence on foreign oil still threatens our economy and our security. Our children still study in schools that put them at a disadvantage. We've seen the tragic consequences when our bridges crumble and our levees fail.

[...]

These are the actions Americans expect us to take without delay. They're patient enough to know that our economic recovery will be measured in years, not months. But they have no patience for the same old partisan gridlock that stands in the way of action while our economy continues to slide.

So we have a choice to make. We can once again let Washington's bad habits stand in the way of progress. Or we can pull together and say that in America, our destiny isn't written for us but by us. We can place good ideas ahead of old ideological battles, and a sense of purpose above the same narrow partisanship. We can act boldly to turn crisis into opportunity and, together, write the next great chapter in our history and meet the test of our time.

I think he's talking to you, Congress. The rest of us already get it as he acknowledges in his writing.

The traditional media are all talking about the rule changes regarding lobbyists in the Obama administration which was announced during Obama's first gathering of senior staff and cabinet secretaries. But they've missed the real story in Obama's statement.

Which is this:

But the way to make a government responsible is not simply to enlist the services of responsible men and women, or to sign laws that ensure that they never stray. The way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable. And the way to make government accountable is make it transparent so that the American people can know exactly what decisions are being made, how they're being made, and whether their interests are being well served.

The directives I am giving my administration today on how to interpret the Freedom of Information Act will do just that. For a long time now, there's been too much secrecy in this city. The old rules said that if there was a defensible argument for not disclosing something to the American people, then it should not be disclosed. That era is now over. Starting today, every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information but those who seek to make it known.

To be sure, issues like personal privacy and national security must be treated with the care they demand. But the mere fact that you have the legal power to keep something secret does not mean you should always use it. The Freedom of Information Act is perhaps the most powerful instrument we have for making our government honest and transparent, and of holding it accountable. And I expect members of my administration not simply to live up to the letter but also the spirit of this law.

I will also hold myself as President to a new standard of openness. Going forward, anytime the American people want to know something that I or a former President wants to withhold, we will have to consult with the Attorney General and the White House Counsel, whose business it is to ensure compliance with the rule of law. Information will not be withheld just because I say so. It will be withheld because a separate authority believes my request is well grounded in the Constitution.

Let me say it as simply as I can: Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.

This is why we elected President Barack Obama.

~ The agenda for President Obama's first day in office.

~ Following up on their other behind-the-scenes looks at the Obama campaign, Newsweek has posted photos taken from behind the scenes during yesterday's Inauguration. My favorite is the one where Obama has his eyes closed. They have more slide shows up including this one of photos from around the world. Zimbio also has pictures.

~ GlobalPost has done an incredible job rounding up reports about Obama's inauguration from around the world. There's a lot of expectations riding on that man's shoulders. Be prepared to spend some significant time dipping through all the links.

~ Al Jazeera English has a roundup of world leaders' comments on Obama's inauguration. Another item from Al Jazeera to consider:  The article on Obama's first full day in office is interesting for the views of other leaders that they solicit and quote.

~ This is truly unfortunate. The imperial vice president strikes at our nation again.

~ Here's another unfortunate legacy of the neo-con Republicans and their politicization of our military.

To the military officer who thinks that he failed: I am so sorry you were placed in that position. In my book you are not a failure. We all do what we can.

~ If John Podesta's opinion counts, Obama is keeping his Blackberry. UPDATE: Marc Ambinder confirms that Obama will get to keep his Blackberry after it's been appropriately modified. He has more technical details.

~ What do Rush Limbaugh and Osama Bin Laden both wish for the US? In Rush's own words: "I hope he fails." The "he" in question being President Obama, of course. So much for your so-called patriotism, Rush. You've just defined yourself as the fringe of the fringe. One last loony-tune outpost of hate.

Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker was moved yesterday.

It is the curse of the journalist always to be present, but never really There.

The job requires that we stand slightly apart, seeing but not believing; hearing without being seduced. …

Then comes the rare instance that penetrates the armor, when something causes you to put down the pad, turn off the camera in your head, and become part of the moment. The short list in recent history includes the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the signal marches on Washington, the terrorist attacks of 9/11. To those we may now add Inauguration Day 2009. …

We knew it was coming. … And yet, when the hour finally arrived and Obama raised his right hand, his presidency was somehow not quite imaginable.

Sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, extremities numb despite layers of wool, and seeing so many gathered to witness this thing they called "change" was, dare I say it, awesome. That most-annoying hipster term for anything remotely acceptable is suddenly useful for its intended purpose.

For awe is the truest word to describe what transpired and what was inspired. …

It is awe for what is, in fact, not change, but the natural, if difficult, progression of an ideal that is true and good and transcendent through time. Barack Obama's presidency isn't a change from, but a continuation of the American experiment toward its hoped-for destination.

Obama hinted at this in his speech by invoking American values of hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism. In honoring all those who came before, who fought and died from Concord and Gettysburg to Normandy and Khe Sanh, he reminded us that change is not a single event on Election Day, but an evolutionary process.

The change we've been waiting for? No, the goal we were always aiming for. …

It is now the day after. Work awaits, bills remain, wars persist. The afterglow is hard to sustain as the promise of yesterday becomes tomorrow's challenges. Armor on, cameras whirring, pens poised. The march toward a more perfect union continues.

Good luck, Mr. President.

Kathleen, I know you haven't always been a fan of Mr. Obama but I salute you for this column which captures so well the awe and essence of what occurred yesterday.

Thank you.

~ A roundup of newspaper covers from around the world. Here's what the World has made of what we accomplished today.

~ The best 404 error page ever. [via]

~ Features of the new presidential limo - the tank that thinks it's a car.

He's taken the oath of office. Via Ann Althouse and Jeff Toobin of CNN, Chief Justice Roberts screwed it up.

His speech has a number of high-points. The full-text of the prepared remarks is here.

Here are some of the phrases or parts that caught my ear as I listened.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

[...]

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose 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.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

[...]

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

[...]

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

[...]

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 and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

[...]

In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

UPDATE: If you happened to miss it, you can watch it for yourself, courtesy of Politico.

It started in Springfield in 2007. We got a big boost in January 2008 in Iowa and the next 10 months led us to this:

And thus to today at last:

The New York Times has put up a remarkable photo gallery with narration by the photography team that took the pictures of people who are or have been affiliated with President-Elect Obama. There's a short bio on each person as well interesting tidbits which the narrators divulge. Just maximise the gallery, turn your volume up and click through the pictures. Great photography.

An interesting inside look at the relationship between the Obamas in 1996 from the New Yorker.

Almost a year ago, this video appeared.

It was based, of course, on the soul-stirring words that Obama delivered in New Hampshire on January 9, 2008.

That speech inspired the conservative denizens of Red State to comment positively on the power of Obama's vision and oratory. Even a waiter in Marrakesh was so impressed by this speech that he memorized and recited it to his customers.

...in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.

It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: Yes, we can, to justice and equality.

Yes, we can, to opportunity and prosperity. Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can repair this world. Yes, we can.

 
~ transcript link

In this week before President-Elect Obama's inauguration, the phrase "Yes We Can" rings with new resonance and clarity. If his inaugural speech approaches the clarity and inspiration of his New Hampshire speech, Obama will offer hope to millions more.