Armchair Innaguration: The Speech

If Barack Obama had a cool sports nickname, it would be something along the lines of BO44 or the O-Bomb, which wouldn't normally be relevant at a presidential innaguration; but, it's not very often that a president-elect takes the stage to the same type of chant you'd hear forDustin Pedroia.

So, as this largely wildly popular president prepared to assme the position of Commander-in-Chief in front of the largest crowd ever gathered for a presidential innaguration 9at thee time of this writing, place estimated to be around 1.4 million people in the mall alone) it remains to be seen whether or not he will be succesful in leading the United States in getting us out of this economic hellhole.

In terms of his much anticipated speech, however, President Obama (that sounds wierd) attempted to bring forth shades of JFK, FDR, LBJ and other great presidential speeches that may or may not have been made by presidents who were referred to by their initials. However, as Obama's speech developed, it quickly became apparent that this was not just another speech on "change" and "yes we can."

Obama's inagural speech incorporated many harsher tones that were avoided during his campaign. As he spoke, he shifted to a tone that is much more familiar with Bush' speeches, that "wrath of god" aura that has become commonplace in presidential speeches since 9/11. As it was noted on TV, Obama spent very little time on policies and what he will actually do in office.

There was no mention of Guantanomo or bailouts; instead, Obama focused on the values that will be incorporated in his administration and what he hopes to accomplish while he is in office. It was a type of speech that was, until now, not expected of Obama. It was made in the "yes we can" model, using the word "I" only three times (I'm saying this on the TV analysts' word, I didn't I would analyzing the speech too much myself).

Notes:

There is a tendency at speeches for politicians to not wax poetic. So, why is it that inagural speeches use poets? I do appreciate the author's contribution to the inaguration and Barack Obama; but, the poem really didn't make all that much sense. I got the idea of it, but it just seemed really vague and didn't get the point of it. "We see this," "this person works hard," "this person goes through this "hardship." It felt like I was in English class again, trying to figure out what the hell was being said in the poem.

I'm not going to have those five minutes back.

Dr. Joseph E. Lowry had the first truely lighthearted moment of the inaguration as he finished the benediction. When he first took the stage, I thought the guy was having a stroke. But once I got past the slightly slurred words, I saw what was really the most personal take on the civil right aspect of the election when Lowry said that now is the time where it's ok for:
Black to not go back.
Brown to stick around.
Yella' to be mella'.
The red man can get ahead, man.
White to do what's right.

By the way, am I the only one who tried to call the ABC narrator's bluff in mentioning that the White House website changed to acknowledge Barack Obama as the 44th president?

And isn't it just appropriate that Dick Cheney leaves the White House in wheelchair, an image indicative of the prior administration basically dragging itself along as it came to a close. Also, it's nice to see the emphasis that ABC ( I'm not quite sure what the other networks were showing) put on George W. Bush leaving town in a helicopter. It seemed that the cameras were going to remain trained on the chopper until his being no longer remained on Washingtono soil, a detail sure to be enjoyed by the former president's many opponents.

Nick O'Malley