Obama 2.0

[gb2000ie]

Despite living thousands of miles from American shores, I joined many people all around the world in watching Obama's second inaugural address live.

It was great to hear gay rights proclaimed so clearly from such an important platform. Thank you Mr. President!

All in all I thought is was a much more realistic speech than his first. Still aspirational, still inspirational, but tempered by the hard real world in a way his first fairytale inaugural address wasn't.

What did others think?

B.

 

[Tjerk12]

Despite living thousands of miles from American shores, I joined many people all around the world in watching Obama's second inaugural address live.

It was great to hear gay rights proclaimed so clearly from such an important platform. Thank you Mr. President!

All in all I thought is was a much more realistic speech than his first. Still aspirational, still inspirational, but tempered by the hard real world in a way his first fairytale inaugural address wasn't.

What did others think?

B.

I have only seen fragments of the inauguration. I am glad that the Republicans did not win the race, but I am afraid that I belong to the majority of the Dutchmen when it comes to trust in governments and administrators (in my case my opinion is meant worldwide):

12 hours ago, the last poll in The Netherlands:
Confidence in politicians and directors of companies in Netherlands is further decreased. Only 10% believe that corporate directors speak the truth and 6% think the same of Dutch politicians. Dutch politicians belong hereby to the most unreliable in the world.

 

[bme5628]

I am an american of 56 years. I have seen so many changes in this country since I was a kid...In the state I live in, this year the voters approved the legalization of marijuana. We now have a black President...and maybe next time we will have a woman President. My state also legalized Gay marriage. So many good changes that I thought would never happen in my lifetime. I feel very fortunate that I lived to see these things, and it gives me hope that people can still learn to live together in peace and harmony.

 

[topdog]

We the people declare today that the most evident of truth that all of us are created equal -- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls and Selma and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth...

Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal, as well.

Wow. I have to say I was not expecting anything like this. It took my breath away.

In that first paragraph above he links women's rights (Seneca Falls), black civil rights (Selma), and gay rights (Stonewall). He essentially says that they are equal struggles and at the same time they are the same struggle. Then he ties them all to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King on King's birthday.

Then a couple of minutes later, as if the point wasn't explicit enough before, he spells out the importance of gay rights. He also links gay marriage to the constitutional promise of equal protection under the law, which is the argument that will come before the Supreme Court this spring.

No other president has even mentioned the word "gay" in an inaugural address. Obama not only said it, he embraced it and declared that it is as basic as Thomas Jefferson's declaration that "all men are created equal".

Bravo!

 

[tonka]

Words do matter, and they matter a lot from our president.

I don't expect much action on gay rights from the federal government the next few years. That will mostly come from the courts and the states.

 

[RefixnarcisM]

I like this part: Our
journey is not complete
until we find a better way to
welcome the striving,
hopeful immigrants who still
see America as a land of
opportunity; until bright
young students and
engineers are enlisted in
our workforce rather than
expelled from our country.
Thats really motivating. For sum it all, it was a good speech.
And I enjoyed Richard's poem, beautiful.

 

[trencherman]

All of the above are great thoughts and reactions. I agree with them all.

 

[bigsal]

Dutch politicians belong hereby to the most unreliable in the world.[/I]

I'm sorry to contradict you dear friend :hug: , but this is a record that belongs to Italian politicians. All. Just remember that Italian politics when it comes to gay rights, it is very close to that of Uganda.

 

[Urban]

We all will probably agree that substantive changes are not likely to occur with the Congress that we just elected. BUT to hear our President speak those words is utterly mind-blowing, and to realize that a substantial number of our citizens agree is almost incredible!

No one should expect any major changes in the short run, but I honestly believe that the momentum has begun and, in the long run, is unstoppable.

I also believe that the President has finally begun to hear the voices of the people who voted for him. Chalk it up to his having no more elections to lose, but I'll take what I can get, and I am very encouraged that he has finally started to put aside the notion that it is in any way possible to "negotiate" or "compromise" with the Republicans in Congress. His first four years were spent watering down every important piece of legislation to suit the Republicans for absolutely no reason, since no Republicans voted for any of that legislation anyway.

I hate to get too encouraged by his recently found backbone, because I'm probably letting myself in for a big fall, but the new Obama is now a lot more like the one I thought I was voting for in 2007 than the one I thought I was being forced to settle for this time around.

 

[c750dt]

Gay rights is nice but at the moment, this country is involved in some nasty wars and our economy is in the shitter. I can vote and the cops are cool as hell to me and I don't feel any sense of my rights being violated so I don't consider anything gay related to be a good top priority. Once the job market isn't sucking and our soldiers aren't dieing overseas will be a more appropriate time for the president to convince the court to let gay marriages become national.

With that said, I think Romney would be better with our country's economy. However, Obama has been doing a good enough job that we shouldn't replace him now. He's already started a lot of significant tasks that he needs time to finish and he has a system down. Replacing him now would only create disarray.

 

[RefixnarcisM]

Heard that the inaugural was held twice since the first one is on Sunday...isnt a bit contradicting since America as long as I know still struggle with fiscal issue? The cost of the first inaugural (I heard on some news) is about $800 million something, if it held twice then...those inaugural cost are taken from taxes right? Arent they supposed to held it just once.

 

[Urban]

Heard that the inaugural was held twice since the first one is on Sunday...isnt a bit contradicting since America as long as I know still struggle with fiscal issue? The cost of the first inaugural (I heard on some news) is about $800 million something, if it held twice then...those inaugural cost are taken from taxes right? Arent they supposed to held it just once.

There's a difference between "inauguration" and "inaugural festivities". It is required by law that the "inauguration" be held on January 20. The inauguration literally is nothing more than the "oath of office", which is the swearing in ceremony, and it was held on Jan 20, as required.

Because Christianity still has such an enormous influence in the USA, the "inaugural festivities" are never held on Sunday. Like it or not, that's just the way things are here. So the festivities were held on Monday, Jan 21. The oath of office was repeated, just for dramatic effect, but the official one had already been held on the day before.

The inauguration, or oath of office, is paid for by the taxpayers. Everything else, the parades, performances, inaugural balls & everything else, is paid for by private donations raised by the inaugural committee. None of that is paid for by the taxpayers.

There's an enormous amount of money spent all over the world on stuff like this; you & I could both argue that the money would be better spent in other ways, but nobody who "matters" gives much of a damn about our opinion.

 

[gb2000ie]

Gay rights is nice but at the moment, this country is involved in some nasty wars and our economy is in the shitter. I can vote and the cops are cool as hell to me and I don't feel any sense of my rights being violated so I don't consider anything gay related to be a good top priority. Once the job market isn't sucking and our soldiers aren't dieing overseas will be a more appropriate time for the president to convince the court to let gay marriages become national.

With that said, I think Romney would be better with our country's economy. However, Obama has been doing a good enough job that we shouldn't replace him now. He's already started a lot of significant tasks that he needs time to finish and he has a system down. Replacing him now would only create disarray.

You make it sounds like Obama gave the gay rights thing more attention that the wars. I don't think that's a fair representation of the speech. I focused on that part on this forum because, well, this place is for gays after all, but gay rights were not the biggest or the most important parts of his speech. The wars were also addressed, as was the economy. And remember, the war is being wound down ahead of schedule this spring, hence him being able to say that "a decade of war is ending".

I also want to rebut the suggestion that rights issues can wait until there is nothing more important left to be done. We would be waiting for ever. There is always a new crisis. Rights need to be fought for at all times until there is equality.

B.

 

[tonka]

We can do rights and the economy.
Making sure everyone has equal rights helps an economy a lot.

Civil rights and personal dignity are also huge for kids. Gay kids, black kids in America...and two little kids being raised by their gay Dad and his partner in Atlanta.
Your president is on your side, and theirs.

 

[Urban]

I also want to rebut the suggestion that rights issues can wait until there is nothing more important left to be done. We would be waiting for ever. There is always a new crisis. Rights need to be fought for at all times until there is equality.

You've hit the nail on the head! The implication was that gay rights are less important than black rights or women's rights, but in truth they are all civil rights, and very little is more important than ensuring equal civil rights for all people.

 

[Ainsey]

After my boss at work found the perverbial loophole in the Obama-care health reform; I didn't watch it. Any president or anyone else that allows pioneers like my greedy self-serving boss get away with the crap he pulls on his slaving employees; doesn't deserve any of my real attention.

 

[bottombitch]

Remember they are all politicians an lie to get your vote. Why do people give Congress the lowest rating ever but still vote to send them more money and give them more power to rule over our lives and take away our rights. You can only print so much money and accrue so much debt before the debt bomb explodes. You rely on the government at your own risk. They are only looking out for themselves and their elitist class. Lemmings be warned. Am I all over the place...sure...but look around, Europe is your future. BTW, please let me know how those gay rights are working out in muslim countries and places with sharia law. I rant, I vent but my eyes and ears are open to the world around me.

 

[gb2000ie]

After my boss at work found the perverbial loophole in the Obama-care health reform; I didn't watch it. Any president or anyone else that allows pioneers like my greedy self-serving boss get away with the crap he pulls on his slaving employees; doesn't deserve any of my real attention.

I can understand how hurt you are by your employer, but, I think your anger is miss-directed. Obama is not a dictator, Obama Care is the art of the possible. It is not an ideal bill, and the Democrats don't claim it is. What is claimed, and what I think is undeniably true is that it is progress. It's not the end of the process of fixing the US healthcare system, but it is a start.

I think you, and all Americans should be angry at the Republicans who lied through their teeth about fictitious death panels to try stop any progress, and the "blue dog democrats" who forced the bill to be watered down to get it passed.

I know Obama is not perfect, and that he is a politician, but, as politicians go, he's about as good as I've seen them get in at least a decade.

B.

 

[RefixnarcisM]

@bottombitch since I live in one of the largest Muslim country in the world, I can say that there are still cynical feelings toward LGBT, but not hatred. Like 'if you dont want then dont look' or so. There are case around 2010 or so, its when a gay men convicted doing murderous to more than 20 people and he buried them in his backyard. Mutilated. Since that case, people think that all gays are having psychosis or so since they believe that LGBT relationship tend to be more possessive than heterosexual relationship. Its dumb to have that kind of assumption since its depending on the person. Since that case, typical cases involving LGBT as the murderer or victim grew. The point is, people still think that LGBT are like that psychopat. Well, some think that way.

 

[bigsal]

I can understand how hurt you are by your employer, but, I think your anger is miss-directed. Obama is not a dictator, Obama Care is the art of the possible. It is not an ideal bill, and the Democrats don't claim it is. What is claimed, and what I think is undeniably true is that it is progress. It's not the end of the process of fixing the US healthcare system, but it is a start.

I think you, and all Americans should be angry at the Republicans who lied through their teeth about fictitious death panels to try stop any progress, and the "blue dog democrats" who forced the bill to be watered down to get it passed.

I know Obama is not perfect, and that he is a politician, but, as politicians go, he's about as good as I've seen them get in at least a decade.

B.

I agree.

No democratic statesman has ever gone so in an official statement, in front of millions of people.

You have to give credit to President Obama who, even though have his faith, favors secularism of the nation.

Which unfortunately does not happen in my country, where all politicians are puppets tied to the wires of the Vatican.