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A woman films the inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama and spectators watch the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America in New York's Times Square January 20, 2009. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES) Evony Henry raises her hand in prayer at the end of U.S. President Barack Obama's inauguration, while watching a broadcast of the events from Washington, in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, January 20, 2009 . Traders watch the inaugural speech of President Barack Obama on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009.

Q. Why did George Bush declare a state of emergency for Barack Obama's inauguration? A. Because everyone knows it's a national disaster. Q. What's an example of irony? A. Bruce Springsteen is scheduled to sing "Born in the USA" at Barack Obama's inauguration. Chief Justice Roberts: Knock, knock. Barack Obama: Who's there? Chief Justice Roberts: Kenya. Barack Obama: Kenya who? Chief Justice Roberts: Kenya show me your birth certificate before you're sworn in? Barack Obama: Knock, knock. Taxpayers at the inauguration: Who's there? Barack Obama: Eff. Taxpayers at the inauguration: Eff who? Barack Obama: Eff you.

So easy, a poet could do it. The internet is full of poetry generators, most of which do a better job than Elizabeth Alexander's strange musings. My favorite, the Beatnik Rambler. The United States muscle hath United The are just its much 'cause athlete you freaks am liking No, then dance, toes of the drug deeply. to sing, to dance, to watch "Frasier" weekly... yet time waneth not like unto the moon and whatever's there Dancing the Boogah 'neath the big Disco Ball. When is this ranting to end!? I declair. All this pointless waste of air. Don't breathe! My...

Humility, gratitude and sacrifice. From his first words, Barack Obama let us know that even on a day so bright he was not blinded. Not by the cloud of witnesses in front of him. Not by the lights of cameras sending his words across the planet. That he was willing to sound so somber on his day of celebration tells us many things at once. At a time of scarcity, do not waste opportunities. When the world is watching and willing to follow, tell them where you want to take them. And above all tell the truth. (Read Obama's Inaugural...

CNN correspondent Zain Verjee, in a report posted on CNN.com on January 17, likened the expected large crowds for the inauguration of Barack Obama to the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca: “The coming political pilgrimage to Washington is similar to another grand event in both size and preparation -- the Hajj, the most important religious pilgrimage in the Muslim world.” Verjee has personal experience of the Hajj, as she belongs to the Ismaili branch of Shiite Islam. She filed a web log for CNN of her experience on the pilgrimage in 2005. During her report, she emphasized how...

No intro today...instead supplies for what we will need to get through this crap. Barf bags for everyone. ***Please note Jimmay Cartah is being introduced as I did this....so I have plenty of barf bags.

WASHINGTON -- Authorities monitored a rush of intelligence leads Tuesday at the largest security operation in presidential inauguration history, including a possible threat from an East Africa radical Islamic terrorist group. Law enforcement and intelligence officials received information that people associated with a Somalia-based group, al-Shabaab, might try to travel to the U.S. with plans to disrupt the inauguration, according to a joint FBI/Homeland Security bulletin issued Monday night. The information had limited specificity and uncertain credibility, said Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke. U.S. counter-terror officials have grown concerned in recent months about the threat posed by the militant al-Shabaab...

Filmmaker Ron Howard was chatting in Maureen Dowd's living room, saying he didn't mind spending hours in the cold for the inauguration and that even his conservative brother had come to admire Barack Obama. Outside on the chilly Sunday night, Tom Hanks decided against venturing into the jam-packed row house, mock-announcing to a small crowd on the Georgetown street that the party was paralyzed: "No more hot dogs! The Chinese food never got here!" The country's big-name anchors, actors, commentators, news executives, producers, editors and scribes have been celebrating the quadrennial event -- and themselves -- at one glitzy gathering...

Emily Miller made a beeline for a rack of gowns, grabbing a fuschia dress and a stole for an inaugural ball Tuesday. Combing through the display tables, she added silver pumps, a beaded choker and earrings. Then, she enjoyed a manicure as live jazz played in the background. Many inaugural celebrants shelled out hundreds - if not thousands - of dollars to attend one of the dozens of balls across the nation's capital. But Miller, who until four months ago had been homeless, will pay nothing. The opportunity comes courtesy of Virginia businessman Earl W. Stafford and his nonprofit foundation,...

We have a new moment. Soaring rhetoric of a new birth of freedom will not be enough to move us forward, toward a "more perfect union". All Americans who understand the truth revealed in the Natural law concerning the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death know that legal recognition of this right to life is the prerequisite for any real “New Birth of Freedom”. Freedom is a good of the person. Taking the lives of our youngest neighbors through procured abortion is a heinous crime against them. It absolutely impedes the progress of true freedom. We...

Barack Obama's inauguration promises to be one of the most important civic events in American history. Millions will make their way to the National Mall. More than 10,000 buses will be chartered. At a website called Inauguration or Bust, people anywhere in the country can find locals to travel with. At the site, the contingent from Savannah, Georgia, refers to its trip as a "pilgrimage". That word, most often associated with religious fervor, is appropriate here. The inauguration buzz is reminiscent of the excitement I have encountered in Muslim countries in the days preceding the hajj. The theological comparison isn't...

Barack Obama hit the road, the furniture movers loaded up, and Tiger Woods made the cut for an inauguration the likes of which this country's never seen. The golf star - who has steered clear of politics - announced that he will speak at the Lincoln Memorial concert tomorrow to kick off the festivities as Obama gets set to take office. --snip-- Meanwhile, the White House staff readied a clockwork plan to move President Bush and First Lady Laura out and usher in Obama, First Lady Michelle, their daughters, Sasha and Malia, and the first lady's mom. The hand-off of...

Two hours before Springsteen sang 'The Rising' and Tom Hanks quoted Lincoln, the crowd attending the pre-inaugural 'We Are One' concert Sunday on the National Mall was showing clear signs of Obama-mania. A group of five African American twentysomethings strode down 17th Street toward one of the security checkpoints, singing "Obama my lord' to the tune of 'Kumbyah, my Lord.' Everyone was wrapped in Obama scarves and Obama toques, and screams went up when the giant JumboTrons showed images of Obama ahead of the concert. Not everyone was joyous. A woman wearing security credentials kept shouting "You are about to...

With Barack Obama's approval ratings in the 70s and his visage plastered on every shop window and Metro card in Washington, it's hard to remember that 58 million Americans voted for the other guy. Even President Bush — who presumably counts himself among that group — said last week that Obama's inauguration is "a moment of hope and pride." That's not exactly how Michelle Malkin describes it. "Jan. 20 has turned into a schlock inauguration, (where) every last moocher has come to cash in on Obama," says the conservative blogger and pundit. "There are some of us who want to...

Washington - Barack Obama's team vowed to lose no time remaking the nation and the world as a blazing constellation of stars kicked off a three-day inauguration party for America's first black president on Sunday. Once he takes office on Tuesday, top aides said, Obama will immediately set in train economic revival, an end to the war in Iraq and a new dawn for US diplomacy. U2, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder - whose songs were totemic anthems of Obama's barnstorming rise to power - were headlining a concert for a sea of people standing in arctic cold in front...

FNC just announced that HBO paid BHO millions of dollars to run a 4-hour concert that will only be made available to those who have HBO or digital cable. There are also some other events that have been bought and paid for that millions of Americans will not be able to see as BHO has received money for exclusive rights. One of these programs is right on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The guest from MRC on Fox said that he doubts any other networds will report on this. So much for Obama's promise to be a president "for...

Caution: The following contains a report on activities many will find objectionable. Peter LaBarbera at Americans for Truth about Homosexuality announced today that a Washington, D.C., inaugural week event that originally was described in an e-mail as a "pig sex" orgy has been cancelled after concerned citizens complained to the Doubletree Hotel hosting the event. "A big 'Thanks' to each of you who called the Doubletree and its parent company, Hilton Hotels," said LaBarbera in a statement, "urging them to not allow this unbelievably depraved and unhealthy homosexual event to occur in public conference rooms." LaBarbera continued, "We learned that...

Barack Obama's historic train ride to Washington on Saturday drew large, cheering crowds of people who braved freezing weather and gathered along the tracks in cities and small towns along the way in hopeful anticipation of getting a glimpse of the nation's next president. In Baltimore, Maryland, alone, about 40,000 people stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the cold to greet Obama as he stopped on his way to his Tuesday inauguration. His welcome was raucous and animated, as the sea of people cheered, waved and took pictures. Tears rolled down one woman's face as Obama spoke. "We love you, Obama!" another yelled...

They are already talking about building a statue of Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger. Lucrative book and movie deals could follow. But even though the death-defying pilot of Flight 1549 is being celebrated as a hero, he still faces an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board that will critique his every action. That is one of the reasons, union officials say, why he has stayed quiet as his star has risen. "Until the NTSB says, 'He's a hero,' he's under investigation," said James Ray, a spokesman for the US Airline Pilots Association, which represents crews at US Airways. "The NTSB...

Do as he says. Not as he does. Here’s an environmental impact story you’re not likely to see in the mainstream media. Neither NBC’s chief environmental affair correspondent Anne Thompson, nor ABC correspondent Bill Blakemore nor CBS “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley – all of whom have been eager over the years to expose so-called crimes against the environment – have rushed to report on the massive carbon footprint of the Obama inauguration. But a comprehensive new study by The Institute for Liberty (IFL) took an in-depth look at each component of the Jan. 20 inauguration in Washington, D.C., and...