Posted on 01/18/2009 2:51:43 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
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 of Washington's Lincoln Memorial.
The tens of thousands attending were the advance guard of an inaugural crowd expected to number millions, as an unprecedented security operation began with police and army reservists taking up position across the US capital.
Hollywood royalty including Tom Hanks, Jamie Foxx and Denzel Washington were reciting historical passages interspersed with the all-star musical lineup, to mark the formal countdown to Tuesday's momentous inauguration on Capitol Hill.
Wreath
In advance of the afternoon party, Obama struck a more sombre note as he joined vice president-elect Joseph Biden in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery.
Dressed in black winter coats to guard against the freezing temperatures, Obama and Biden held their hands over their hearts as "Taps", the US military's haunting lament to the fallen, was played by a lone bugler.
Obama and his wife Michelle then climbed into the incoming president's new armoured Cadillac with a blue licence plate reading "44" - his numerical position as the newest, and first African-American, commander-in-chief.
A 'new Declaration of Independence'
The incoming First Family headed to a raucous reception at the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, Washington's oldest African-American church, and joined in a swaying, emotive recitation of hymns and Biblical passages.
"Let's make sure this election is not the end of what we do to change America, but the beginning," the president-elect said as he trundled towards Washington and his place in history during a day-long train journey on Saturday.
Along a railroad from Philadelphia to Washington, a route once traced by his hero, Civil War president Abraham Lincoln, Obama urged Americans to adopt a new "Declaration of Independence" from bigotry, small thinking and ideology.
Aides said those themes will figure large in Obama's inaugural address after he is sworn in at noon on Tuesday and takes his place alongside the pantheon of past presidents including Lincoln and Franklin D Roosevelt.
Where’s the projectile hurl alert?
THE AUDACITY OF TRUTH ABOUT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA
BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA IN HIS OWN WORDS
NOW WE KNOW WHAT A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER DOES
OBAMA, THE STOCK MARKET, AND ENERGY
THE AUDACITY OF TRUTH ABOUT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA'S UPBRINGING
Hmmm... How can we adopt a stand against bigotry when he and his wife are walking poster children of bigotry mentioning every damn second they are the first black this and that over and over? Not only do they make my skin crawl but I’m angry as hell this is all happening and “allegedly” america wanted this nothing of a man to have this job. I still say he’s a Jackal in disguise and we have some of the stupidest people living here amongst us.
He has more than that on his side. He has almost every institution at his disposal, as he marches to cram the agenda of the Left down our throats.
Count me in too on that.
We have work to do.
II Chron 7:14
I wish he was raring to go away and leave the country alone.
Somebody do me a favor and conk me on the head hard enough to sleep until 2012 (2016 if necessary).
The mind, soul and eye's of Obama's administration.
The worship of these narcissists by people is incredible.
To deny God (the real one) and give praise to a corrupt Chicago pol is so sad - but it also means that we may be in the End Times.
Great, the pompous, the stupid, and the blind. Perfect representation of his supporters, his cabinet, and the media.
Oh BS. I'm tired of him and his ilk referring to my great country as bigoted and small-thinking. Move to Europe, where only the white elite get ahead. Anyone with a dream and a work ethic can make his or her mark in America. How many countries stand up for the oppressed around the world, even when it is unpopular? How many African orphans are fed by individual (many of who are white) Americans and their generosity? Get over it Obama and stop laying blame on our country. It's time for America to stop blaming bigotry for the failure of some of its citizens.
Wish I shared your optimism, Jeff. He has all branches of government, the media, Hollywood, higher education, lower education, unions, Wall Street, the majority of the electorate, the U.N., the Europeans, etc. None of those, nor he, really care about the Constitution or what is right.
We have nothing left but a 1-party system....the GOP is dead. Outside of being a voice crying in the wilderness, what is it you are proposing we “do?”
I begged the Bush Administration -- on these threads -- to arrange for nonpartisan observers to be present when the facilities are turned over to Obama. But nooooooo.
Well the Rats can now accuse Bush of trashing the offices and leaving insults sprayed on walls and doors. The Rats will do what rats do (no insult to rodents intended): project their own loathsome habits onto others.
The Rats will trash the computers and spray the racial insults on the walls and doors themselves. The Obamgasmic employees of the MSM will oblige by publishing photos and expressing outrage coast-to-coast.
IMO.
Political party affiliation is a side to political promotion.
Liberal mindset and "change" from what our country is based upon -vs- steadfast promotion of dictate is the real issue.
Okay, let me put it to you this way: We don’t have enough steadfast promotion of dictate votes in Congress to overcome the liberal changes on the horizon. Say hello to card check, gays in the military, FOCA, Fairness Doctrine, trillions in debt, socialized medicine, and so on.
George Washington had it right when he said, long ago...
"No country upon earth ever had it more in its power to attain blessings. Much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to depart from the road which Providence has pointed us to, so plainly; I cannot believe it will ever come to pass. The Great Governor of the Universe has led us too long and too far to forsake us in the midst of it. We may, now and then, get bewildered; but I hope and trust that there is good sense and virtue enough left to recover the right path. " - George Washington...and Patrick Henry saw what it would take to bring us back...
"Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles." Patrick HenryIt's time for one of those, "recurrance to fundamental principle." The only question is what it is going tot ake to bring it about.
Many of our countrymen are lost and bewildered...but we can help them find their way...and in so doing enlist others to do the same.
I am hoping, working, and praying for a start at a turnaround in 2010, and more fully in 2012. it may well take us to 2014 or 2016...but we can and must keep trying.
While keeping our powder dry.
Annie look much closer at who you are deifying as carrying a majority of alleged control. He has no more overwhelming support from a major populace of this nation. Sadly black
america voted in droves based only on skin color but they weren’t the majority vote. To say we have some stupid ignorant Repulicans who will buy anything is an understatement. This will be a painful lesson to them but a much needed lesson as they watch this country fall to pieces. I promise you the Republicans that did cross over to vote for so called change will cross right back over in 4 years and never again fall for the con. As for the power of the media it’s a running joke and with my hand to God they will willingly turn on their own creation when he bores the stuffing out of them. He is swimming in a pool of backstabbers who don’t give a hoot about him or his success and they’ll turn on him in a flash. It’s in their blood. Just ask Mrs Clinton and watch her cheshire smile over all that.
Obama urged Americans to adopt a new “Declaration of Independence” from bigotry, small thinking and ideology.
Great idea Obie. Unfortunately, I don’t think Democrats are willing to change.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.