Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Well, Hello Mr. President!

Hail to our new Commander in Chief!

A favorite gem from his speech.

"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."

A partial copy of the beautiful poem Elizabeth Alexander wrote for this day.

We need to find a place where we are safe.
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.
Say it plain, that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks,
raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce,
built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.
Praise song for struggle.
Praise song for the day.
Praise song for every hand-lettered sign, the figuring it out at kitchen tables.
Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."Others by “first do no harm”,or “take no more than you need”.
What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national.
Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.
In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp –praise song for walking forward in that light.
***
The music, the poem, the speech and the prayers. All wonderful.
Such euphoric bliss. Such happiness. What a great country we live in.
God Bless America.

4 comments:

okbushmans said...

Congrats and enjoy the day! It has been AMAZING to watch. And honestly, one of my favorite parts was the musical number which preceeded his swearing in. What can I say, I am moved by music!

L said...

Thank you. The music was really beautiful. I tried to post a sound copy here, but alas - copyright! Yo-Yo Ma is so fun to watch.
And the poem I thought was effective too. The way she brought it across was...okay, she was obviously nervous - and who wouldn't be - but the words were very meaningful.

A funny side note - Was it Justice Roberts or President Obama that had a dyslexic moment?

Christina said...

It was Justice Roberts- and I think it was pretty funny as Obama was like, "ughh, you just said that wrong- do you want to try that one more time?" Anyway, just goes to show that it doesn't matter how much planning goes on, something is bound to go wrong!!!

What a great day, though- I really hope that even people who don't like Obama at least appreciate the beauty, the excitement, and the history of today. The next four years will determine how he does as President, but at least for today- let's just all be a UNITED country and love this beautiful, historic moment! (and I sincerely appreciate your words, Bushman- I am going to remember that when Dems face a defeat, that it is always the higher road to be gracious and not hateful. Thank you!)

okbushmans said...

No matter how much you completely disagree with the man (which on many issues, I do) you can't deny he loves his country, is intelligent, is honest, and this is an amazing moment for our country. And honestly, his cabinet picks seem to be more conservative than what I guess McCain would have nominated trying to woo the liberals. So, we shall see!