Today is a good day to be a conservative in D.C. (Photo by AFP)
Not only do I have the day off, I get to spend it watching inauguration coverage on TV and online, smiling and very glad that it won’t be John Kerry up on that podium taking the oath of office. While Democrats have fled to parts unknown this week, conservative Washingtonians can take comfort in knowing their (our) measly 9 percent Bush vote counts in a big way today.
Imagine how you’d feel right now if John Kerry had won. Yeah, me too. Unbearably gloomy.
This post will be updated throughout the day with links from around the web. By the way, I’m a contributor to GOPbloggers. Check out the new blog.
See Washington Post (reg. req.), Yahoo! and Washington Times inauguration coverage.
Bloggers: Power Line, Polipundit…
9:23 a.m.: This is so cool. I just looked out the window and saw a large group of protestors walking by carrying signs. According to a weather report, it feels like 24 degrees out there and the wind is kicking at 15-20 mph. I hope they’re wearing thermal underwear.
10:02 a.m.: The inaugural ceremony has begun, and Bush will take his oath at noon. The main difference between 2000 and now is that Bush won decisively this time. And Republicans picked up seats in the House and the Senate. Now matter how liberals try to spin it, Bush really does have a mandate this term. I just hope he does the right thing. He can start by dumping that amnesty-for-illegal-aliens plan.
The protestors I saw were headed to Meredian Hill Park, which is a block behind my apartment building. Wouldn’t it be a coup to head over there with a tape recorder for interviews? Since I’m black, they’d never guess I’m a Bush supporter!
The requisite black choir is singing in the cold.
10:47 a.m.: The camera’s panning the crowd, and I think I saw Rudy Guiliani. Haven’t seen Kerry or Obama. Bill and Hillary!
11:07 a.m.: The announcers (or whatever they’re called) have to fill up air time talking about something, so they’re chattering about differences of opinion on whether Bush’s inauguration should be so lavish, especially during wartime. The only time liberals care about national defense and tax dollars is when they aren’t in power. They’re anti-killing now, for example, but they had no problem when Clinton killed Serbians or bombed an aspirin factory (wrong target) to knock the Lewinsky scandal off the front pages. It was an undeclared war, you see, so it didn’t count.
OK. Back to the ceremony. Some man is singing now. He’s not wearing a coat.
11:24 a.m.: Check out Frank J.’s inauguration drawing. 
Paul at Wizbang is semi-live blogging.
The lovely Lady Laura is decked out in a white coat. Bush is about to appear. Maybe it’s just me, but why aren’t these people wearing hats? It’s cold and the wind is blowing.
Bush has to be feeling really good right now. Whether they like him or not, the world watches.
11:32 a.m.: The president of the United States takes his place at the podium.
11:44 a.m.: Actually, Bush hasn’t taken the podium yet. Trent Lott just gave a speech and now he’s announced that Chief Justice Rehnquist, suffering from cancer, is in attendance. The crowd gives him a stand ovation as he slowly makes his way to his seat.
Vice President Cheney is being sworn in, reciting the same oath Bush will take:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
[Correction 1/21: A commenter points out that the president takes a different oath than the Vice President, which is found in Article II, Section I of the Constitution.]
One of my favorite opera singers, Denyce Graves, is singing. Beautiful.
Rehnquist is about to administer the oath of office to Bush. I hear a lot of noise outside, police sirens and such. I thought I heard gunshots, too (!). The protestors must be coordinating their “protest” with the events. The new term has begun.
12:00 p.m.: Sorry to interrupt coverage, but you have to see Cox and Forkum’s latest.
Great tagline from Bush; “[O]ppression, which is always wrong; freedom, which is morally right.” I’m too lazy to do running commentary on the speech. I’ll post a link as soon as it’s up. [Update: That was "freedom, which is eternally right," although it's morally right, too.]
12:24 p.m.: The text of Bush’s speech. It is done!
Read David Limbaugh’s comments on the speech. Joel White lists a few memorable lines from the speech. Captain Ed share his thoughts. It was really a great speech. Very lofty, idealist and philosophical.
Not excited about the inauguration? Neither is Steve.
Joe Gandelman has a round-up of bloggers’ reactions to the speech.
Michelle Malkin has protest pics.
Look at these people.
Austin Bay: “The President’s inaugural speech said in spades what I wish he would say every day. When I returned from Iraq I said our biggest mistake was failing to “ideologize” the war. This war is truly a fight for the future — a struggle between liberty and tyranny.”
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Hi La Shawn:
I am honored to be the first comment today.
I also have the day off after being on-call.
I just can’t tell you how happy I am that President Bush will be in charge.
As usual, the Angry Left Dems have tried to spoil Bush’s day by delaying the confirmation or Rice and Gonzales. Good riddance to them.
Hi Frank – I don’t know what kind of post this would be if Kerry were being inaugurated.
Took the day off . . . watching the whole show and flipping the channels to see what kind of coverage is being given.
Hello La Shawn! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as today’s events unfold. I had read on Fox that Terry McAuliffe says he will be at home watching the movie “Titanic” today, to “Get him in the mood for the second Bush administration.”
Puhleeze.
I wish I could take part in the festivities… can’t even go to the parties here in NYC (but that’s been true of all parties and after-work meetings since I became a mother.)
Anyway, enjoy yourself today! I know my ma-in-law is out there in the crowds somewhere, but that’s about it for my friends & family.
Even though I can’t go party, all in all, I feel pretty good.
I’m not a supporter of President Bush so I can’t say I’m particularly excited about him, but I do LOVE the pomp and circumstance regarding the inauguration, particularly the tradition and history of it all. It’s fun to watch a bit of history taking place.
If Kerry had won then we would have found ourselves subjected to endless, self-righteous, taunts and jeers from the likes of Michael Moore and his Hollywood ilk (ewww). But of course that would have been the least of our problems.
Like you guys I decided to take the day off from work to watch the Inauguration. Granted if it were the Kerry Inauguration I definitely would have gone to work today.
If Kerry were being inaugarated today, I think you would see fewer protestors. Too many Bush supporters have jobs of the variety where taking a day or two off, so that you can throw a hissy fit, just wouldn’t fly.
I am hoping that the TV in our cafeteria is turned on and tuned in when the time comes.
It is a great day indeed.
After the discusting behavior of “no-show any other day to do work” Kerry and “Raving Moonbat” Boxer (thanks Michael King) earlier this week…
today is a GOOD DAY indeed.
)
(sorry, just couldn’t help myself
LOL
That is funny. You know how they all “assUME” that all us black folk hate Bush.
You would definitely have some KODAK moments to share.
Sondra,
I wonder, is his membership in the ‘reality based community’ going to be revoked or confirmed by this latest comment…
I hadn’t heard about that, but I am not surprised. It is especially funny given his own performance head of the DNC. The captain of the Titanic only sank one ship, but how many election defeats has Terry presided over?
Still, like Tiffany, even when it’s not my candidate getting sworn in, I’ve always loved the pomp and fun of the events. Like the 4th of July, it gives me that warm fuzzy glad to be an American feeling.
Now, if only the firewall here didn’t block streaming audio and video… but, the TiVo is recording the whole day, so I can watch the highlights tonight
I concur, today is a good day. The fewer barking moonbats out there the better.
Did ya’ll hear about ABC soliciting interviews with any families that will be burying a loved one killed in Iraq? ABC wants to put an inauguration special together entitled “Honoring Fallen Heroes on Inauguration Day”. Pluhleeze!!
Altho ABC quickly took the webpage down, Captain Ed managed to archive the page and guess what, the comments to ABC still works from there, so go over and read up on it at http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/003583.php and be sure to pass your thots/disgust on to ABC.
I saw the archived page over there. One great thing about the blogosphere is that you have to be very careful about what you post. Somebody at ABC saw their hit counter explode and decided to check out a few links. Once bloggers get ahold of a story (disapprovingly), posts and links suddenly disappear. I predict this will happen more often.
It’s a great day to celebrate the greatest democracy ever. I am lucky and proud to be an American.
Now, off to work so I can pay those taxes.
Keep good notes La Shawn, like always.
I’d be surprised if ABC didn’t create a new position in the past couple months: “Blog Monitor”. Kind of like a hall monitor, except instead of keeping us from running in the halls, the Blog Monitor is supposed to keep us from running with the truth.
Kerry’s right there . . . auuugggghhh.
So’s Obama
La Shawn DO IT!!! Take a video camera!
Peter Jennigs just pontificated on Bush probably being the the only 2-termer, barring Nixon, to return with the lowest approval rating on inauguration day. What was that 2 Nov 04 poll breakout again?
What a wonderful day!
LaShawn,
For the inaugural, I decided to take off work today… before I decided against it!
It’s SO SWEET to see Kerry in the stands and BUSH IN CHARGE!
LMB & et cetera,
Note that Alma Powell has her head covered (sounds like my wife!) and that Condi has fur hat.
Condi took verbal beating from Barbara Boxer, Joe Biden, and John Kerry. If she were a Democrat, she would be treated nicely. They do not want diversity of ideas. I stood to see Truman’s and Ike’s first inauguration along the parade route.
JMB
How appropriate that when a President is reelected he has to be re-inaugurated. A testimony to the importance of the voters in a democracy. A President cannot just say, “I got reelected so it is business as usual.”
Good point Evon, that thought never occurred to me before.
Yay!!!!! Beautiful inaugural speech. I’ve got tears in my eyes and goosebumps as well. It is a good day to be an American. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!
Hey James M. ask yourself whether Boxer would have dared challenged the integrity of someone like Colin Powell. The answer is ‘NO’, because she knows Powell would’ve cleaned her clock.
Great Prayer by Rev Caldwell. “Supply & Supplier”, “Forgive”, “Evil”, “Priorities” & “Jesus Christ”
Ponder that Mr Newsome!!
K. Ham, it would appear that Condi cleaned Boxer’s clock as well.
y’all see the Hildabest in the crowd? I’m sure she’s thinking “next time it’s my time” NO, No, No!
I know what the problem is with the protestors and big media. It is,”We’re despondent, and you’re partying.”
La Shawn,
Are you getting me emails?
Stacy
La Shawn,
excellent job of tracking this most wonderful event … i have to say i was most impressed by this section of The President’s speech:
We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. When our Founders declared a new order of the ages; when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty; when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner “Freedom Now” – they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled. History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty.
to me that is the crux of liberty and our precious way of life …. Go W and keep going La Shawn ….
Hi LaShawn,
Congratulations on being accepted as a blogger at CPAC. I knew you would get it! Good luck and God Bless.
To keep it a good day….. don’t turn on CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC. They’ll be somber and sad. I’ve seen it before.
I agree with La Shawn. I only agree with Bush 70-75% of the time. I am a centrist/conservative and Bush is to the left of center. The largest disagreement I have is keeping the borders of this nation secure.
When this country allows more “legal” immigrants than all other countries combined, why must this country allow “illegal” immigrants as well.
By whatever name it is called (worker-permits, amnesty) it means that somebody who didn’t come into this country the right way is being rewarded with some sort of status that isn’t right.
Evon I hope you don’t mind I am going to steal that for my blog, I of course will give you credit.
It’s to bad that you didn’t mix with the moon-bats, but then again it’s cold, and Lord knows what you might pick up.
Poor William Rehnquist! I’m glad he made it out there, but geez!
I wonder, if the junior senator from Massachusetts had won (*SHUDDER!!*), if Rehnquist would have made such an effort to show up?
Next Chief Justice = Clarence Thomas. Get ready for it!
Your site is awesome. I love your writing style and insight. I watched the inauguration at work and was much impressed. My only complaint is the constant panning to billary and her boy toy. Ugh. Aside from that, it was classy. Mrs. Bush looked amazing.
Thanks, Theresa. Welcome to my humble abode.
ABC did their best to minimize George Will’s air time so the others could moan and groan about how much it was all costing. Peter miffed that no where in Bush’s speech did he acknowledge Iraq let alone the problems.
Then they groused about how bad it must look to world wide observers that upon seeing the protestors must think Bush a hypocrite for speaking so loftily when it is obvious that the protestors have serious disagreements over his policies.
Plus they managed to find the-mourning-mom-on-the-street amongst the protestors and gave her 15 seconds to bash Bush for taking away her son.
Yo Peter, thats what the State of the Union Speech is for. This aint no time for policy, it’s a time for expressing the overarching vision.
If you really want to get riled, why not slam the EU for putting Tsunami damaged Thailand over a barrel. Yep, here it is http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=66782005
The EU has decreed that Thailand must buy 6 Airbus 380s (the new doubledecker just rolled out eariler this week) at around 2.5B USD or face tariffs on their fishing industry.
Guess what folks, if any of your Tsunami donations went to say, one of the UN’s agencies, or end up being transferred to the Thai Treasury dept, guess what, you’re gonna help Thailand buy some new jumbos, and I ain’t talking about jumbo shrimp.
Kinda reminds me of the good old USSR days, when the proletariat pretended to work and pretended to be paid by their benevolent superiors. Altho this would qualify as more cynical, more like the EU is donating the downpayment and pretending to call it Tsunami-Aid
But in Jennings’ eyes we’re the stingy one thanks to Bush
So, Andy, how do you really feel about this?
I’m right there with you though.
Evon: A President cannot just say, “I got reelected so it is business as usual.â€
He did say basically that about his iraq policy.
Andy: My landlord offered to match funds that any of the tenants wished to contribute to the relief effort. I then found out that we were told to write out our check directly to UNESCO. I said no, thanks!
Caugt most of the speech. CSPAN this week played inauguration speeches of the past. Caught Reagan’s Jan 1981 speech, and in my opinion NO ONE will top that!
SCSI, Mark
SCSI, how do I really feel? Relieved not to be in PEST therapy, bwwahaha
Mark, Reagan rocked, but so did Lincoln’s second. Ptut it this way, in a generation from now, Bush will most likely be in the top 10 POTUSes, maybe even 5. And no doubt, some of current moonbats will be telling their spawn, yep, I voted for that man
Thanks for mentioning the Protest Warriors on your website. I am looking forward to their video of the event.
Actus, that ain’t so — you should read his speech and contrast that with Slick’s 2nd speech. Iraq is just a milestone. there’s other priorities to be dealt with sequentially, as well as concurrently.
Besides, usually after being re-elected, they’re lame ducks, so how’s that bidness as usual? Seems typically they start worrying about leaving a legacy, but tend to wind up in trouble of one type or another. Barring Reagan of course, which Congress had to trump up a scandal
Methinks it’d be different since Bush knows he has his work cut out
PS Actus, if the Bush transcript is too laborious to sift thru, you can check out the cliffnotes version at http://www.englishandwhite.com/rattler_gator_blog/2005.01.01_arch.html#1106249838426
Was nice to get the day off! Hmm, metro was pretty plugged up from out in FFX, but I decided to celebrate by snowboarding instead (listened to the speech on XM though!)
2 thoughts -
Apparently tin foil hats are not very warm.
Cost of inaug. – Because we can. Being able to do such things is a part of *civilization*.
Hi Lashawn,
I had the very fortunate opportunity to attend all three events yesterday; the ceremony, the parade and 1st ever Commander-in-Chief’s Ball. I must say it was worth every moment. I am exhausted & hoarse but I haven’t come down from the clouds.
Busy with the festivities, I missed the “symbolic protest” of Kerry & Boxer who apparently teamed up with ex-Klansman Sen. Byrd in an attempt to disrupt the festivities and delay the Condi’s confirmation. It’s funny but it seems that as long as we remain uninformed and buy into their condescending rhetoric, the Democratic Party will pretend to be busy advancing the issues that affect the black community. When will we wake up and realize the true democratic agenda has nothing to do with advancing our issues but maintaining our loyalty at the voting booth and social dependency upon them. I could talk all day on this subject but this is your column, I LOVE IT! and I have been a subscriber long enough to know that most of your readers understand the underlying message here.
I have been socially conservative since reaching voting age and have voted the conservative/republican ticket more often than not. Something about this last election, Kerry, and the words & recent actions of the Democratic Party has just rubbed me the (quote) “right” way, probably for life.
Yes! January 20, 2004 was definitely a good day to be conservative and a great day to be American.
One little correction. The VP takes the general oath that all federal employees take. The President takes a special oath contained in the Constitution in Article II, Section I.
The one you quote is not the presidential one which is:
“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, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
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