"It will not be easy for President B. Hussein Obama. More than half the country voted for him, and yet our newspapers are brimming with snippy remarks at every little aspect of his inauguration.
Here's a small sampling of the churlishness in just The New York Times:
-- The American public is bemused by the tasteless show-biz extravaganza surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration today. -- There is something to be said for some showiness in an inauguration. But one felt discomfited all the same. -- This is an inauguration, not a coronation. -- Is there a parallel between Mrs. Obama's jewel-toned outfit and somebody else's glass slippers? Why limousines and not shank's mare? -- It is still unclear whether we are supposed to shout 'Whoopee!' or 'Shame!' about the new elegance the Obamas are bringing to Washington. Boy, talk about raining on somebody's parade!These were not, of course, comments about the inauguration of the angel Obama; they are (slightly edited) comments about the inauguration of another historic president, Ronald Reagan, in January 1981. Obama's inaugural address tracked much of Reagan's first inaugural address -- minus the substance.... Obama was also not as fulsome in his praise of his predecessor as Reagan was.
To appreciate how remarkable this is, recall that Reagan's predecessor was Jimmy Carter. Under Carter, more than 50 Americans were held hostage by a two-bit terrorist Iranian regime for 444 days -- released the day of Reagan's inauguration.
Under Bush, there has not been another terrorist attack since Sept. 11, 2001. But I gather that if Obama had uttered anything more than the briefest allusion to Bush, that would have provoked yet more booing from the Hope-and-Change crowd, which moments earlier had showered Bush with boos when he walked onto the stage. That must be the new tone we've been hearing so much about. So maybe liberals can stop acting as if the entire nation could at last come together in a 'unity of purpose' if only conservatives would stop fomenting 'conflict and discord' -- as Obama suggested in his inaugural address.
We're not the ones who booed a departing president. ... Liberals always have to play the victim, acting as if they merely want to bring the nation together in hope and unity in the face of petulant, stick-in-the-mud conservatives.
Meanwhile, they are the ones booing, heckling and publicly fantasizing about the assassination of those who disagree with them on policy matters.
Hope and unity, apparently, can only be achieved if conservatives would just go away -- and perhaps have the decency to kill themselves. Republicans are not the ones who need to be told that 'the time has come to set aside childish things' -- as Obama said of his own assumption of the presidency. Remember? We're the ones who managed to gaze upon Carter at the conclusion of his abomination of a presidency without booing."
Here’s something posted on the same thread on the ToL forum:
Obama curriculum a hit with students
Rowntree Public School is grooving to a reggae-infused hip-hop beat; Grade 4 boys are breakdancing beside Ms. Boudreau’s desk while Grade 1 kids bop tentatively in a room down the hall.
From the speakers blasts Michael Franti and Spearhead’s uplifting “Obama song”: “Building blocks of a new vow/ A million stops and a new route ...”
“We listen to classical music every day, but this week we’re listening to Barack,” says fast-talking, fast-walking principal Kyra Kristensen-Irvine, “Mrs. K.I.” to the kids.
In past years, the 800 students at this Brampton school have studied Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Terry Fox. Now they’re taking part in a week-long Obamathon leading up to Tuesday’s inauguration. They have watched Barack Obama shoot from relative unknown to most talked about man in the world in the span of months. They’ve seen his riveting speeches on television; they’ve talked about him at the dinner table.
There will be no need for musty textbooks: the kids at Rowntree are learning history as it happens.
“This is a teachable moment,” says Kristensen-Irvine, who brought teachers together to form an Obama Committee shortly after the election.
The principal says she noticed a change in this booming immigrant community near Wanless Dr. and McLaughlin Rd. N. as soon as Obama became president-elect. “They stood taller, I tell you,” she says. “... You know when somebody finally gives you that chance, you say, `Oh wow, they notice me?’”
It is easy for these children to follow Obama’s story, the story of a boy who, like most of them, came from a multicultural background and has connections to countries around the world. A boy who dreamed big and grew up to be the first African-American president.
Rowntree teachers are using the president-elect to teach geography, goal-setting, letter-writing, Internet-searching, and how to properly pronounce “44th” for “44th president” (don’t forget to stick out your tongue on the “th”).
Many students at the JK-to-Grade-5 school are from immigrant families, with parents born in countries like India or Pakistan, and increasingly from Africa and the Caribbean. They speak 40 languages, and at Rowntree one in five receives ESL training.
Sandy Sparks’ Grade 5 students might not know the meaning of “ethics reform” and “nuclear proliferation,” and they just learned the word “inauguration”, but they certainly have an answer to question number five on their Obama video worksheets: “Why is it significant to have an African-American president?”
Ten-year-old Sophie Mbulu raises her hand.
“In the past, black people, they weren’t treated well, like other-coloured people,” she says carefully. “Now, they didn’t just look at him, his colour, and think he was bad because of his colour.”
Past presidents have been old and white. Obama is not, and that means something to these kids.
In another room Grade 2 students sit cross-legged in front of a large screen. Their teacher, Susanne Jackson-Lloyd, is telling them the story of Obama’s life, using colour-coded maps to point out all the places he’s been – red for Kenya, green for Illinois, pink for California.
The kids learn that Obama’s parents divorced when he was a toddler; that his mother died of cancer.
They already know the names of Obama’s daughters, Malia and Sasha, and that he’s written books. “Two!” blurts out 7-year-old Simran Thandi from the back of the room.
The school is inviting parents for inauguration day, when students will gather in the gym to watch Obama’s swearing in. Many of the students have been following his journey with enthusiastic family members – Monique Fagan, 9, says her aunt went to the United States of America to see Obama; 10-year-old Kaché Campbell’s family had a party the day after the election.
Parents Sharon and Augustus Smith call Obama’s victory “overwhelming.” They were born in Jamaica and have four girls, ages 10, 9, 7 and 4. Three go to Rowntree.
“You know, with Obama being the first African-American president, it does give me hope,” Sharon says, looking at her daughters, who are lined up on the living room couch in matching braids and beads.
“It does give me hope they can achieve whatever it is they want to achieve, and that glass ceiling, so to speak, will be removed, and they will not be judged because they will see the abilities that they have.”
The eldest, a precocious 10-year-old named Denae who speaks eloquently about the Liberal-NDP coalition and says that Grade 5 has really broadened her horizons, plans to follow Obama’s presidency.
“I want to be a lot of things,” she says. “I want to be a nurse. I want to be a teacher. I want to be in a band with my sisters. I’m not really sure yet.”
She hasn’t ruled out politics.
http://www.thestar.com/article/572035
Ann Coulter is the best :)