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Friends, what a day! Not only did the president make an excellent speech, but today's inaugural festivities were absolutely fantastic. Anyone notice how sun came out when Bush spoke? That was priceless. As promised, here's a few photos for your viewing pleasure. More to come. Four more years!!

The inaugural address was in several respects confusing. The arresting feature of it was of course the exuberant idealism. But one wonders whether signals were crossed in its production, and a lead here is some of the language used. The commentators divulged that the speech was unusual especially in one respect, namely that President Bush turned his attention to it the very next day after his reelection. Peggy Noonan and Karen Hughes, speaking in different television studios, agreed that this was unusual. Presidents attach great importance to inaugural addresses, but they don’t, as a rule, begin to think about them...

Former presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) gestured to the crowd before the swearing-in ceremony. (AP Photo)

The international community does not want George W. Bush's freedom and democracy, neither does it want its hearts and minds won over by shock and awe tatics, thank you very much. Let's face it, if there was an election in the international community, George W. Bush might get elected as a member of a freak show, or perhaps a kitchen hand, handing out plastic turkeys in tents, but for the leadership of a country?Perhaps in a handful of countries like Albania, which might first think about bank accounts rather than any notion of political leadership; but in the international community...

When you first see “Mr. UnCredible” you think they’re attempting a clever play on words, but when you look down and see “…and her family don’t care” you realize that the English no longer speak English very well. I can’t read the caption, but this is the largest, clearest version I’ve seen yet of that great mopey Kerry picture. I’m still hoping I can find it poster-sized. Boring. Don’t know if the text is positive or negative (something “promises of liberty”, I’m guessing) but the picture is beautiful. I don’t know what it says, but the crosses make me...

Chris Matthews called Bush’s speech “frightening.” Jeff Greenfield said it was “startling.” But was bush really that far out of the mainstream of other inaugural addresses? ”Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time.” – BUSH “The passion for freedom is on the rise. Tapping this new...

WASHINGTON While the partisans and partygoers are still basking in the afterglow of yesterday's inaugural celebrations, the Secret Service is evaluating the performance of the scores of agencies that provided security. Secret Service spokesman Tom Mazur (MAY'-zur) says the agency considers the security plan "an overall success." It is especially pleased with the way its joint communications center worked. The high-tech nerve center, located in northern Virginia, was staffed by representatives of each of the federal, state, and local agencies participating in the security plan. Massive street closures may have caused grumbles among many of the inaugural guests, but Mazur...

Some Confused By Bush's 'Satanic' Salute In Texas, Sign Shows Support For School POSTED: 11:11 am EST January 21, 2005 OSLO, Norway -- President George W. Bush's "Hook 'em, 'horns" salute got lost in translation in Norway, where shocked people interpreted his hand gesture during his inauguration as a salute to Satan. That's what it means in the Nordics when you throw up the right hand with the index and pinky fingers raised, a gesture popular among heavy metal groups and their fans in the region. Residents of the Scandinavian country were taken aback when they saw the First Family...

I haven't edited them yet because I don't have my new laptop set up for everything yet, so here are a few pictures from last night:::

“…so help me God.” Such are the final words of the Oath of Office as recited by second term president George W. Bush on Inauguration Day 2005. They concluded the oath that saw the president reaffirm the duties he faithfully executed during his first term in office and that he swore to perform again in his second. To President Bush these words mean something. They are the ultimate expression of his commitment to fulfill the promise that he has made to the American people, himself and, so help him, to his God. Most people, whether religious or not, recognize that...

Singers, presidents, letters, &c. Friends, I thought I'd share with you some inaugural jottings. Then we'll have a few "regular" items, then some letters — maybe a lot of letters — then out. Okay? The best line I heard uttered by a TV commentator yesterday was from a correspondent at Fox News. I forget who it was. He was noting that Senator Kerry was seated only 30 feet from where the president would speak, "And what a difference 30 feet makes." Um, shouldn't Republican music be a little better? And — much as I love Hatch and Ashcroft — isn't...

Probably more vigilance and money are being devoted to protecting Thursday's inauguration of President Bush from terrorists than have been dedicated to any public event on U.S. soil in history. But what if it isn't enough? Suppose — G-d forbid — an Islamic terror cell buried deep within this country for years has been given the code it has been waiting for to conduct the most public assassination of American public officials...

Many of the Creative Coalition famous party-goers acknowledged that they didn't vote for Bush on Nov. 2. But, they said, they're not sitting around licking their wounds. "Like it or not, [Bush] is the president of the United States and you can [complain for] the next four years or you can sit back" and be active, said actor Matthew Modine, who's been featured in movies such as "Full Metal Jacket," said. Entertainers who passed through the media line reiterated that their involvement in the coalition isn't because of political ambitions but because of a strong desire to work on issues....

David Bauder reviews today's TV coverage, and notes that this was Dan Rather's sixth and final inaugural: Dan "became emotional quickly, his voice breaking as he listened to a patriotic song being played. Also: "With bags under his eyes, Rather appeared subdued and suffered with a few technical glitches: interrupting one speaker for an anticipated entrance by President Bush that didn't come for five minutes, for instance, and appearing angry when he had to abruptly halt one discussion for a commercial break."

WASHINGTON - Thousands of sign-wielding protesters opposed to President George W. Bush are expected to crowd the streets of Washington as the US leader is sworn-in to a second four-year term. A hodge-podge of organisations representing blacks, women, environmentalists, anarchists and others have planned demonstrations in a capital that will be protected by a massive security net. "January 20 is just our first day in the opposition," said Sister Shazza Nzingha of the Black Panthers, an African American militant group whose roots date back to the 1960s civil rights movement. Groups and individuals have also used the Internet to suggest...

The Army specialist let her commander-in-chief lead. Army Spc. Jazmin Azcona, a Queens native, took to the floor with President Bush at the Commander-in-Chief Ball during last night's inaugural festivities. "It was exciting. I was really nervous," the 23-year-old GI, whose family lives in Corona, told The Post. "It was the first time I got to meet the president." Azcona, a clerk with the 12th Aviation Battalion out of Fort Belvoir in Virginia, said Bush was "really nice." As the president danced with Azcona, First Lady Laura Bush was partnered with Marine Lance Cpl. Richard Hansen.

If nothing else, President Bush's second inaugural address yesterday should put to rest the myth that the idealistic roots of his foreign policy aren't his own. The vast "neo-con" conspiracy would appear to start at the top. Not since JFK in 1960 has an American President provided such an ambitious and unabashed case for the promotion of liberty at home and abroad. "We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands," the President said. "The best hope for peace in our...

Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, out of the public eye since undergoing medical procedures in October for thyroid cancer, made a dramatic appearance nearly at the last minute yesterday at President Bush's inauguration, firmly reciting the oath of office that Bush repeated to begin his second term.Minutes before the oath was to be administered, Rehnquist emerged from the Capitol as the last dignitary to arrive for the ceremony.Clasping a cane in his right hand, he gingerly decended the Capitol steps to take his place on the inaugural platform. A scarf hid the tracheotomy tube that the 80 year old...