Inauguration Day

[Jedi Master Carr]

Today was day of a transition of power. How many saw his speech? I thought he made a very well crafted, strong speech telling us the message he wants to send the world. The transition to power itself has been very peaceful and both sides have been very graceful. For me there is a lot of hope for the next four years. I think we are off to a great start for a different direction for the country.

[Flux]

I only got to see his speech, and I'm not even sure I saw all of it, but what I did see was very positive and uplifting. I actually feel good about the way the country's going.

[Charlotte Tur'enne]

I was rather impressed by his speech. Had a wonderful overall feel of moving-forward to it. Was nice as it progressed because when he first started out you could tell he was a it nervous (and who the hell wouldn't be?? Professional speaker or not, knowing that milllionnnnsssss of people are watching you is bound to give at least some butterflies) but he ended very strong and motivated and really gave off a lot of energy.

And on kinda another note that happened...while part of me was slightly amused...I think my better judgement was rather dissapointed when everyone booed Bush Jr. Like the guy or not, some semblance of respect is kinda called for in that situation. *shakes head* Aw well...

[Dasquian Belargic]

I need to find somewhere online to watch this. Exciting :)

[Droo]

It being quite a slow, uneventful day for me today, I watched hours of coverage of this on BBC News.

I found some elements of the ceremony a bit random; Aretha singing, the John Williams piece played by Yoyo Ma et al., and the poem, they all felt wedged in rather uncomfortably to add a speck of culture to an otherwise purely political event.

Nevertheless, it was a momentous occassion and a proud day in American history. Obama surprised me, he's a wonderful orator but I was pleased that his speech wasn't overburdened by colourful superlatives and instead it very much felt like a business proposal. Here we have a man who sets to talking very specifically about problems he needs to tackle and how he plans to go about doing it moments after officially being sworn into office. That is an encouraging sign, I thought his speech had the right blend of intelligence and hope required to inspire a country forward.

Happy New President Day, Amrica!

[The Original BuffJedi]

Today I mourn for our country. This is with out a doubt one of the bleakest days in our countries history. Today a man that goes against everything our forefathers fought for will be sworn in as our leader, the leader of the free world. It amazes me how sad our country has gotten that we would elect such a man, a man who cares more for or enemies foreign and domestic than the hard working men and woman who still strive to make this country great., a man who believes do as little as possible and get rewarded (as he did) What amazes me more is why he was elected, actually there are several reasons and none of them for the betterment of this great and once proud country. In our infinite wisdom we elect a man that is barely, in the whole grand scheme of things, more qualified than me, and that’s a sad state of affairs. But I assume that the masses thought that perceived race of a man , media hype and a few calculated words were more important than substance and experience, oh and love for one’s country. The only thing we can do now, is pray that he opens his heart to the true Lord and savior and allows himself to be guided by him during his term in office, no matter how long that may be. That my friends is our only hope, for a secure future for you and your loved one’s and this country.
But here is to hoping I eat my words. I guess time will tell, I really am hoping I'm wrong :(

[Jedi Master Carr]

Today I mourn for our country. This is with out a doubt one of the bleakest days in our countries history. Today a man that goes against everything our forefathers fought for will be sworn in as our leader, the leader of the free world. It amazes me how sad our country has gotten that we would elect such a man, a man who cares more for or enemies foreign and domestic than the hard working men and woman who still strive to make this country great., a man who believes do as little as possible and get rewarded (as he did) What amazes me more is why he was elected, actually there are several reasons and none of them for the betterment of this great and once proud country. In our infinite wisdom we elect a man that is barely, in the whole grand scheme of things, more qualified than me, and that’s a sad state of affairs. But I assume that the masses thought that perceived race of a man , media hype and a few calculated words were more important than substance and experience, oh and love for one’s country. The only thing we can do now, is pray that he opens his heart to the true Lord and savior and allows himself to be guided by him during his term in office, no matter how long that may be. That my friends is our only hope, for a secure future for you and your loved one’s and this country.
But here is to hoping I eat my words. I guess time will tell, I really am hoping I'm wrong :(
I really like Obama and he stands pretty much for the things I stand for so I really disagree with you, but I will not get in any partisan arguments today. Today is suppose to be a very bipartisan day and not decisive.

[Cat X]

Snipped complete garbage

So what part of Free Republic did you cut and paste that crap from? And if it's what you really think, go give yourself an uppercut.



And on kinda another note that happened...while part of me was slightly amused...I think my better judgement was rather dissapointed when everyone booed Bush Jr. Like the guy or not, some semblance of respect is kinda called for in that situation. *shakes head* Aw well...

Considering what he did.... nah. He deserves every boo and hiss. He should give himself an uppercut too :)

Here's hoping President Obama can rise to the challenges presented before him - no one would suggest that his will be an easy time in the White House. But he has an immense amount of good will and people ready to follow him in meeting those challenges. God Bless you Mr President and bring that Change on.

[Razielle Alastor]

Agreed with the boys ^ & ^^. Right on!

I'm excited. I watched the whole thing and I am very optimistic.:D:D:D

[Dasquian Belargic]

The only thing we can do now, is pray that he opens his heart to the true Lord and savior and allows himself to be guided by him during his term in office

No thank you. Religion and government should not mix. The US is not a theocracy.

Also, hooray for a president who thinks about more than just his own country. Whilst I'm not saying that the leader of a superpower should ignore the needs of his own country, it's critically important that someone in the president's position be mindful of the impact his choices have on the rest of the world. The influence, passive and active, which the US has throughout the globe is pretty big - in particular your foreign policy and the wars your government has chosen to wage.

[Nya Halcyon]

Well said. Nothing is more frightening an idea than a theocratic superpower.

[Razielle Alastor]

Well said. Nothing is more frightening an idea than a theocratic superpower.

Indeed. Not everyone in this country shares the same beliefs and we need a leader that can handle that. He definitely fits the bill.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Yeah we have so many beliefs in the country that the leader has to respect them all.

[Cat X]

No thank you. Religion and government should not mix. The US is not a theocracy.


Agreed, even if I am Christian, the state has NOTHING to do with my beliefs and it should stay the hell out of them as mine should stay out of the state. And despite the fact Obama is the kind of Christian who .... OMG!.... gets out on the streets and helps the poor and homeless (well damn, a Christian actually doing what Jesus told us to do?) he's on record as statign that despite his real views on abortion, gay marrage et all, he knows what seperation of church and state means. And that he is not governing for just Christians. The USA is not a Christian country, it was not founded on Christian principles, the majority might label themselves as Christian but the real majority have all sorts of beliefs and faith, because Christian is not some solid one groupthink block. Plus the Catholics, the Muslims, Jews, Atheists, Flying Spagetti monsters....

I personally cant beleive there are people so stupid tho as to still think President Obama is a muslim. But also on the other hand... why would that matter? Is he a fit man to be President is more important, not who he bows to. GWB claimed he was a Christian and look at the smoking mess, the lies and deaths.....

I have to admit tho, laughing up a lung with the racist and hard core idiots on places like Free Republic and Stormfront's head's all exploding as they realised they have a black centre right dude as THEIR President.

[J'ktal Anajii]

Eh, I didn't vote for him.

[Rutabaga]

No thank you. Religion and government should not mix. The US is not a theocracy.


Agreed, even if I am Christian, the state has NOTHING to do with my beliefs and it should stay the hell out of them as mine should stay out of the state. And despite the fact Obama is the kind of Christian who .... OMG!.... gets out on the streets and helps the poor and homeless (well damn, a Christian actually doing what Jesus told us to do?) he's on record as statign that despite his real views on abortion, gay marrage et all, he knows what seperation of church and state means. And that he is not governing for just Christians. The USA is not a Christian country, it was not founded on Christian principles, the majority might label themselves as Christian but the real majority have all sorts of beliefs and faith, because Christian is not some solid one groupthink block. Plus the Catholics, the Muslims, Jews, Atheists, Flying Spagetti monsters....

Agreed 100%. I am a devout Catholic who completely believes in the separation of church and state. And it is laughable how so many people in government who call themselves Christians then say and do extremely un-Christian things. They give people like me a really bad name, and I resent it.

I also believe that this was one of the most beautiful, positive, and hopeful days that this country has seen in a long, long time.

I was at the main hospital doing my usual morning rounds and kept watching the clock, since the oath was administered at 9am California time. I really wanted to see it live, since this was truly a historic moment and I wanted to be able to say I saw it live instead of just a rerun later tonight. So I ended up in a room with 2 patients and another nurse as we watched it happen. I was so proud and so full of hope and happiness that I just about started crying. My only regret was that I couldn't watch the speech, but I had to get back to work.

Today the world is definitely a little brighter and more beautiful than it has been for the last 8 years.

[CMJ]

I was stunned how many of my co-workers didn't realize they screwed up the Oath of Office. I mean no one is gonna challenge Obama having Presdential authority now, but according to how I read the Constitution he shouldn't have Executive powers because he didn't say the Oath correctly.

(And yet he'd still be President. Amendment 20 says he bacame President at 12 noon regardless....but Article 2.8 says the President doesn't gain power until speaking the oath. Granted, no one will challenge this in courts, and besides....Obama could give the Oath in 20 seconds tomorrow morning in a freaking closet over the phone to Roberts...but there is no question he didn't say it right)

[Cat X]

I was stunned how many of my co-workers didn't realize they screwed up the Oath of Office. I mean no one is gonna challenge Obama having Presdential authority now, but according to how I read the Constitution he shouldn't have Executive powers because he didn't say the Oath correctly.

(And yet he'd still be President. Amendment 20 says he bacame President at 12 noon regardless....but Article 2.8 says the President doesn't gain power until speaking the oath. Granted, no one will challenge this in courts, and besides....Obama could give the Oath in 20 seconds tomorrow morning in a freaking closet over the phone to Roberts...but there is no question he didn't say it right)

It wasnt his fault, Roberts was the one who screwed it up. Obama even stopped for Roberts to get it right :)

And he wasnt the only one to do that either. Points for naming the three other Presidents who have had a Presidential oath stuffed up :)

Lets see how many wing nuts will use this in some sort of Muslim born in Kenya not sworn in NOT MAI PREZIDENT!!!! dribble :)

[CMJ]

It wasnt his fault, Roberts was the one who screwed it up. Obama even stopped for Roberts to get it right :)

And he wasnt the only one to do that either. Points for naming the three other Presidents who have had a Presidential oath stuffed up :)

Lets see how many wing nuts will use this in some sort of Muslim born in Kenya not sworn in NOT MAI PREZIDENT!!!! dribble :)

Oh, I know it wasn't his fault...and I could tell that's why Obama looked so confused. He'd probably practiced saying it dozens of times. Doesn't mean it's not a Constitutional snafu. :lol

And I'm usually great with trivia nuggets, but I have no clue who else messed it up.

[Rutabaga]

No surprise here...courtesy of Chris Wallace of Faux News, here is your wingnut talking point re: the oath:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/01/fox-news-chris.html

You just know that Limbaugh, Savage, and company will beat it to death. :x

[CMJ]

He might've already redone the Oath for all we know.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I was stunned how many of my co-workers didn't realize they screwed up the Oath of Office. I mean no one is gonna challenge Obama having Presdential authority now, but according to how I read the Constitution he shouldn't have Executive powers because he didn't say the Oath correctly.

(And yet he'd still be President. Amendment 20 says he bacame President at 12 noon regardless....but Article 2.8 says the President doesn't gain power until speaking the oath. Granted, no one will challenge this in courts, and besides....Obama could give the Oath in 20 seconds tomorrow morning in a freaking closet over the phone to Roberts...but there is no question he didn't say it right)Oh did he mess it up? I was wondering why it was so... difficult for him to repeat what was being said. :p I've never watched an inauguration before though, so I actually have no idea what the real Oath is supposed to be.

I did think it was shorter than I was expecting, though. :)

[CMJ]

[Oh did he mess it up? I was wondering why it was so... difficult for him to repeat what was being said. :p I've never watched an inauguration before though, so I actually have no idea what the real Oath is supposed to be.

I did think it was shorter than I was expecting, though. :)


In Article 2 this is what it says...


Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Roberts flubbed at least 2 lines, most notable saying throwing "faithfully" after "United States".


And as I stated earlier Amendment 20 says this


Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin


So as I noted earlier, you could be President, but not have the powers of the Presidency. Not that anyone will challenge the validity of Obama having the full powers of the Presidency(besides like Roberts would pick up that case...it'd be admitting he screwed the pooch). I just thought it was interesting to note. :D

[Cat X]

[quote=Cat X;294029
And I'm usually great with trivia nuggets, but I have no clue who else messed it up.

Eighty years ago, in 1929, Chief Justice William Howard Taft recited the wrong word entirely when administering the oath to Herbert Hoover.
"To preserve, maintain and defend the Constitution," Justice Taft said, instead of "to preserve, protect and defend"


- ABC News


And the other two appear to be just stumbles more than outright it got wrong - I'm just verifying that Clinton as that's been claimed as a stumble.


Also, Obama made one factual mistake. He claimed there has been 44 men who have taken the oath. Anyone care to name why this is wrong? :)

[CMJ]

Grover Cleveland, #22 and 24.

[Cat X]

Grover Cleveland, #22 and 24.

He's gooood :)

[Rutabaga]

President Obama retook the oath in the Oval office this evening, with Roberts administering it again:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/21/obama.oath/index.html

Personally I think it was unnecessary, but it was probably wise to do it anyways...it will silence the extreme right-wing nutosphere once and for all over this complete non-issue and let us get down to business.

[CMJ]

I wouldn't consider myself a right winger on any level, but I do think it was appropriate. :p

[Charley]

Checking in this thread to see if David Addington has been thrown from the Tarpeian rock yet. President Obama please do this tia.

Actually if I was truly a death penalty proponent, having people killed that way would be fucking metal in an old school SPQR sort of way :)

[Morgan Evanar]

I couldn't remember who Addington was for a moment but it made my blood boil. Then I checked and the lid was gonna come off.

Concrete shoes + Potomac please.

[Cat X]

Who's Addington?

In other news, GITMO closes, waterboarding is banned, they begin a rational foreign policy, they begin getting out of Iraq and oh my LORD, the adults really are in charge! And that's not countign the midnight executive orders stopped, more government transparency....

And that's just in two days. The adults really are in charge again.

[Morgan Evanar]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Addington
David S. Addington (b. January 22, 1957, Washington, D.C.), was chief of staff and former legal counsel to former Vice President Dick Cheney.[1] He was appointed to replace I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. as Cheney's chief of staff upon Libby's resignation after being indicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice on October 28, 2005.[2] He was described by U.S. News & World Report as "the most powerful man you've never heard of."[3]

[Cat X]

Oh, concrete shoes for sure. Him and Cheney.

[Charley]

Read the book "The Dark Side". Addington is Cheney's counsel, and is basically the Grima Wormtongue of the Bush administration.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I was at work trying to figure out frame order for an animation. I was so caught up in it and didn't even notice everyone else outside my office crowding around one of the TV's. So yeah, I completely missed it :(

On a slightly humorous note though, I was talking to my dad and he's already pulled the Obama=Hitler rhetoric on me. I kind of rolled my eyes and laughed it off. As much as I love my father, he's got some crazy thoughts swirling around in his noggin.

[Figrin D'an]

You kind of have to be a WoW or MMO fan to completely appreciate this, but I'll post it here anyway, as it is worthy of some lols.




** US Democracy Server: Patch Day **

President

* Leadership: Will now scale properly to national crises. Intelligence was not being properly applied.
* A bug has been fixed that allowed the President to ignore the effects of debuffs applied by the Legislative classes.
* Drain Treasury: There appears to be a bug that allowed loot to be transferred from the treasury to anyone on the President’s friends list, or in the President’s party. We are investigating.
* Messages to and from the President will now be correctly saved to the chat log.
* Messages originating from the President were being misclassified as originating from The American People.
* A rendering error that frequently caused the President to appear wrapped in the American Flag texture has been addressed.

Vice President

* The Vice President has been correctly reclassified as a pet.
* No longer immune to damage from the Legislative and Judicial classes.
* The Vice President will no longer aggro on friendly targets. This bug was identified with Ranged Attacks and the Head Shot ability.
* Reveal Identity: this debuff will no longer be able to target Covert Operatives.
* Messages to and from the Vice President will now be correctly saved to the chat log.
* A rendering bug was affecting the Vice President’s visibility, making him virtually invisible to the rest of the server. This has been addressed.

Cabinet

* There was a bug in the last release that prevented the Cabinet from disagreeing with the President, which was the cause of a number of serious balance issues. This bug has been addressed, and we will continue to monitor the situation.

Judiciary

* Many concerns have been raised regarding balance issues in the Supreme Court. This system is maintained on a different patch schedule, and will require longer to address.
* A large number of NPCs in the Judiciary were incorrectly flagged "ideological." We are trying to identify these cases and rectify this situation.

Homeland Security

* Homeland Security Advisory System: We have identified a bug in this system that prevents the threat level from dropping below Elevated (Yellow). The code for Guarded (Blue) and Low (Green) has been commented out. We are testing the fix and hope to have it in by the next patch.
* Torture: This debuff is being removed after a record number of complaints.
* Item: Large Bottle of Water is incorrectly generating threat with TSA Agents when held in inventory. We are looking into the issue.
* Asking questions about Homeland Security was incorrectly triggering the Chain-Jingoism debuff.

Economy

* Serious on-going issues with server economy are still being addressed. We expect further roll-backs, and appreciate your help identifying and fixing bugs. We can’t make these fixes without your help.

PVP

* Reputation with various factions are being rebalanced. The gradated reputation scale was erroneously being overwritten by the binary For Us/ Against Us flag.

Quests

* The” Desert Storm” quest chain was displaying an erroneous "Mission Accomplished" message near the beginning of the chain.
* The quest chain that begins with “There’s no Cake like Yellow Cake” and terminates with “W-M-Denied” has been identified as uncompletable, and has been removed.

Reagents

* Many recipes that currently call for Crude Oil can now be made with Wind, Solar, Geothermal and Ethanol reagents. We hope to roll out even more sweeping changes in the next patch.

Events

* The “Axis of Evil” event is drawing to a close. Look forward to the “Rebuilding Bridges” event starting in January.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Haha, I love it. Especially the Reagents part.

[Thall]

LOL :lol loved the VP being reclassified as a pet too. :)

[Cat X]

Events

* The “Axis of Evil” event is drawing to a close. Look forward to the “Rebuilding Bridges” event starting in January.

Priceless :lol

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Ha! I admit I've never played an MMO, but I hear stories all the time from friends who do, and I can understand all of that well enough to find a large amount of humor in it :lol

[Rutabaga]

That was hilarious! :lol

I saw this photo at Wonkette and knew I had to share it here, it was part of a post about an apparent Obama action figure being made:

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb164/Rutabaga64/barry-o-doll.jpg

[Darth Decepis]

That was hilarious! :lol

I saw this photo at Wonkette and knew I had to share it here, it was part of a post about an apparent Obama action figure being made:

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb164/Rutabaga64/barry-o-doll.jpg

All I can think about is the scene in Chasing Amy with the black nationalist comedian ranting about how Darth Vader, a strong & powerful black man is actually a shriveled pasty white man inside.

[Jedieb]

The woman who teaches next door to me is the state's Teacher of the Year. She was invited by Warner to attend the Inauguration. She had great seats and I'm dying with envy, especially since she's a diehard Rep. But she's very excited and humbled by the experience. She's a history teacher and she appreciated the significance of the day. Not all Republicans are crying themselves to sleep desperately waiting for 2012 to roll around and Palin to come save the nation. (And yes, these loons are out there.)

Here's a pic so you can get a sense of how close to the action she was.
http://www.sw-fans.net/imagegallery/data/2/DSC01240.JPG

Her luck continues this spring. The finalists for the national TotY award will each get a meet and greet with Obama later this year. There is no justice!

[CMJ]

Damn, that's a better seat than most of the government VIP's.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

That is one lucky woman right there, I gotta say.

[Rutabaga]

The woman who teaches next door to me is the state's Teacher of the Year. She was invited by Warner to attend the Inauguration. She had great seats and I'm dying with envy, especially since she's a diehard Rep. But she's very excited and humbled by the experience. She's a history teacher and she appreciated the significance of the day. Not all Republicans are crying themselves to sleep desperately waiting for 2012 to roll around and Palin to come save the nation. (And yes, these loons are out there.)

Here's a pic so you can get a sense of how close to the action she was.
http://www.sw-fans.net/imagegallery/data/2/DSC01240.JPG

Her luck continues this spring. The finalists for the national TotY award will each get a meet and greet with Obama later this year. There is no justice!

Jealous, I am!

[Jaime Tomahawk]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/26/al-arabiya-obama-does-fir_n_161087.html

Confirmed, we have a sane US Administration.

Also with Obama getting a few digs in at hate spewing mouth breathing retards like Rush Limbaugh, it's like he's decided to troll like hell the retarded who still think he's a Muslim socialist anti American LIBERAL. Not a bad thing really :)