Oh, Yesterday Went Suddenly

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Oh, Yesterday Went Suddenly

January 23rd, 2013 12:00 am Leonard Pitts Jr.

How fitting that Richard Blanco chose the sun.

A 44-year-old poet raised in Miami, the first Cuban-American and the first openly gay person ever to deliver a presidential inauguration poem, he used the earth star to frame his composition, “One Today,” at Monday’s ceremony before the U.S. Capitol. Blanco found poetic significance in tracing the many disparate American lives, the truck drivers and schoolchildren, the waitpersons and accountants, upon whom it sheds light during its daily trek across the sky.

But there’s another reason Blanco’s choice made sense. The dawn is the symbolic beginning of the new day and thus, the symbolic end of the old.

Keep that in mind as people parse Barack Obama’s second inaugural address. Keep it in mind as they debate What It All Means that he has adopted a more combative stance toward Republicans in Congress, that he sang the praises of liberal values, that he apparently became the first president in history to take a stand for — or even mention — gay rights during an inaugural address. Keep it in mind as Republicans piously declaim Obama’s failure to seek common ground with them, conveniently forgetting that every time over the last four years the president reached a hand out to them, he drew back a nub.

Keep it in mind, because Blanco was, perhaps, righter than he knew when he invoked an inclusive new American dawn, with its implied farewell to an exclusionary American yesterday.

Indeed, a collective shiver climbed through some of us when the president invoked places made sacred by the freedom crusades they saw.

“We, the people,” he said, “declare today that the most evident of truths — that all of us are created equal — is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall.”

There was more to that passage than sibilant alliteration. There was also a reminder that there was nothing pre-destined about this American dawn, that we come to it by way of struggle and blood, courage and vision. Yesterday, 1848, at Seneca Falls in New York, 300 people convened to advance the radical idea that women are fully equal human beings. Yesterday, 1965, at Selma, in Alabama, African-Americans had their bones broken and bodies bloodied to put forward the radical idea that they were American citizens who deserved the right to vote. Yesterday, 1969, at The Stonewall Inn, a bar in Greenwich Village, gay people rioted and protested to drive home the radical idea that they had the right to be left the h–l alone.

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Tags: Barack Obama, civil-rights, Gay Rights, inauguration, Leonard Pitts Jr., LGBT, progress, Richard Blanco

http://www.facebook.com/dominick.vila.1 Dominick Vila

The message during this Inauguration festivities was about inclusion and hope. The choice of Blanco, Beyonce and others was not an accident. It highlighted the importance of our diversity and the need to move forward, in direct contrast with the doom and gloom and the not too subtle messages that come out of the GOP.
This is one of the most important reasons Mitch McConnell and others rushed to criticize President Obama’s speech. The theme they want to advance is one of total disaster, chaos and moral and economic ruin. Hope, for them, is literally a four letter word.
I must admit that I was impressed by Eric Cantor’s diplomatic answer when he was asked to comment about the speech. Ryan, Rubio and the rest of the gang may have a problem in their hands if they are planning to run in 2016. If that response is an example of Cantor’s character and vision, the rest of the GOP crowd is in trouble.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TT6POTCLZCE74T76WAJIIIUAHU frida

Eric Cantor has some brain above the others, though sometimes he lets it escape him. What I can envisage is Ryan and Rubio will never lead the greatest nation on earth. They have no vision at all and they do not know where they are roaming around now. They look like cows in the field waiting for the cowboy to direct them where to go.
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

I Agree As Always My Friend!! They Couldn’t Wait To Start With The Obama Bashing These Are Some Real Sad Excuses For American Human Beings!! With Their Same Old Screw The 98% Of The American People, I Can’t See Another GOP/Tea Party President In The White House For Years To Come!! They Have Learned Nothing Their Still On Their Agenda To Lie, Cheat And Steal Their Way Back To The White House!! While The World Was Watching Obama Being Sworn They Were Putting In Place Move To Steal The Votes In The Va.

lana ward

Less people watched this time than 4 years ago

http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

FUCK YOU!!!

lana ward

I’m sorry you were abused, sure has made you ugly
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

Sorry You’re A Cock Sucking Dumb Ass Bitch Who Don’t Seem To Get It Thru Your Toothless Cave Dwelling Ass I Want You To Shut The Fuck Up Talking To Me!! Stupid Low Life Gutter Tramp!!!
Inthenameofliberty

You are a sad and bitter person. If you can not be better, how do you expect your President to support you? You can bet your ass he would not approve of what you are writing. There are some on this site that are trying to get along. Yes, I know that I can be annoying and so can the one you are fighting with. I get it. But the hate and vile things that spill from your mouth….I do NOT get it.
Bitterness such as yours is an evil thing. And your friends on this site find your behavior acceptable?

REALLY?

I get put down when I go over the line. And I try to learn from what I did so as not to do it again. I don’t always succeed. But at least I do try.
I am not abusing you. I am waiting for you to hold yourself accountable for what you write and be a better person that is going to help figure out how to fix all of us. I am being serious. You need to be part of the solution and rise above. I am waiting to see you do that. And I think you could.
Go ahead – surprise me. You have put out some good ideas when you are not angry. I am asking you to do it again.
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

FUCK YOU TOO PUNK ASS BITCH CAN SUCK ON RUCK LIMPDICK, LIMP DICK WHY DON”T YOU AND THAT GO FUCK YOUR SELVES!!!
patuxant

Lana…Please cool down. When you wallow in the crap they throw out and respond in the way you have just now, no one will take you seriously. I am on your side but you need to let the hate go…
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

If You Are Talking To lana You Should Push Her Reply Button Not Mine!! If You Know Me And Have Read My Post I’m A Grown Woman You Raise Your Kids Not Me!! If What I Said Offend You STOP READING IT I’M NOT TALKING TO YOU!!!!
patuxant

Gee Fern. Didn’t mean that to go to the crazy nut ball even though she needs to calm down and use reason but I don’t think that is possible! I just know I feel your anger and frustration and I try to calm myself down from letting these idiots rile us….take care Sweetie!
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

I’m Not Mad I Just Want The Trolls To Stop Talking To Me!! I Don’t Give A Damn What They Think Or What They Got To Say Just Leave Me Alone!!!
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

You Do You Cause You Can Bet Your Life On Me Doing ME!! GET IT!!!!
patuxant

Love ya, Babe!
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

Love You Back But I’m Till Going To Do Me!!
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

Why Don’t You Go Help lana wand With Those 33 Cats She Hoarding And Most Likely Torturing and Eat Cat Shit Together!! I Don’t Give A Damn What You Think Just Stop Talking To Me!! UNDERSTAND!!!
Hollie

Let us hope that she listens to you. She carries no credibility when she acts that way. She would not pass a MMPI and she claims to have a gun.
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

You Damn Sure Hold No Credibility Being A Pest And A Troll!! When Some One Say They Don’t Want To Talk To You Leave Them The Fuck ALONE!!! GET IT!!!
Hollie

I was not talking to you Fern. Do you honestly think being called a troll hurts me? I am on this site because I get e-mails from this site, I unlike you like to see everyones thoughts. I don’t see the troll comment on the repubs site …yet. As an independent I watch and listen to both sides. What I read challenges me to be better informed doing my own research….sincerely the Troll
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

I Care Less What The FUCK YOU THINK STOP FUCKING WITH ME PERIOD!!
Hollie

You really aren’t to bright are you? You started it today..I was talking to someone else..not once did I respond to anything you said until you replayed to something I said to someone else..I believe as you have explained that would make you real Troll…and a hypocrite…sincerely the fake troll
Hollie

Ok since you started this today..stop talking to me!!!
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

Congress Today Is Back At Yet Another Witch Hunt That’s Going No Where Same As The Other!! Hillary Clinton Is Handle Herself Like A Champ!! LOL She Making Them Look Like The Fools They Are!! Where Were The Hearing When 3,000 American People Lost Their Lives On American Soil Under Bush Watch??? Where Are The Hearing On The Bankers That Bush Signed The Papers On To Bail Them Out!! Just More Bullshit From The Party Of Thugs!!!

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_B6RROC4IUESHT322QS5VJVPYRM Lynda

Indeed fewer people attended the event in person. Not a surprise considering 2008 was usual in many ways. Did the reduced number have some special meaning to you? Still seeing a milllion people was impressive…was it not?

http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

Just More Obama Bashing What She Seems To Get Her Nuts Off On!!!
lana ward

Are you kidding! I wouldn’t waste my time. I can’t take one more time of watching him lie!!

http://www.facebook.com/people/Gary-Godfrey/100000665142650 Gary Godfrey

In corrrect English one would say, “fewer people,” since people can be counted. More to the point, there are almost always fewer people at a second inauguration. This year they were predicting 800K would show up, but more than one million came. There is no perfect count, however. The numbers would have been higher, but Geo. Bush I and II and Mitt Romney stayed away. Humm, I wonder why. Well, father George was recovering from his hospital stay, excuse accepted.

ococoob

Eric Cantor is a weasel.

http://www.facebook.com/bob.brindell.7 Bob Brindell

Well said!
jointerjohn

That is an insult to weasels. Yes they kill randomly but once they have been through one hen house, they leave. Eric Cantor won’t go away until we enlighten and empower the people of his District, then he becomes nobody.

montanabill

Work is a four letter word, too. Maybe instead of campaigning, the President should try it. Along with a substantial percentage of those getting government largess.

Yes, all conservatives want total disaster, chaos, moral and economic ruin, children to starve, old people thrown out on the street, women to pay for their own birth control and all other sorts of nasties. We should change our ways and understand that government knows all, provides for all and is the total salvation. We should all quit working, get food stamps and live on welfare, and let those evil rich people pay more taxes. Oh wait, there won’t be any rich people if we quit working.

fljrod

You my friend are one of those that just don’t get. Sometimes in order to reach out to a fellow American you need to reach down to lift them up. Not step on their shoulders to lift yourself up. I am not in the 2% , but I ‘m blessed with more than I need and I’m willing to give a little more back in order lift those less fortunate. The recent election demonstrated that thankfully there are more Americans like me than you.

http://www.facebook.com/bob.brindell.7 Bob Brindell

Well put! I am old enough to have lived during administrations starting with FDR. LBJ was the frist Pres. I was able to vote for. My experience as a middle class working person is that both parties want to take my money. Difference is the Dems. want to help those who have less then I. the Rep. want to give my money to those who havemore then I and do not need it. Under the Repubs. I feel like a share cropper. I do the work the owner gets the profits leving me just enough to subsist. And for all the near do well’s who vote with the Repubs. thinking you will move that high up the ladder they keep the deck stacked. Enjoy what you have!

sigrid28

In the back woods of America where I live, casinos are everywhere, and supporters put forth building more as great “job creators.” One of the Big Lies rich GOP operatives, like the Koch brothers, have spread throughout the poor, information-challenged Republican base is the idea that the only way for the working poor to become wealthy is by winning the lottery,by cashing in at a casino, or by winning a huge legal settlement. One report found that 35% of Americans think this way.

montanabill

Really? Exactly what do you do to ‘lift those less fortunate’? Provide them hand-outs or provide them jobs? I build companies that provide good paying jobs and run those companies so they can grow and continue to provide more jobs.
And you are right, the election proved there are more Americans like you than me.

fljrod

Wow! You really don’t get it.
montanabill

So, why don’t you explain it?
puzzled21

How many Government subsidies have you/your company received?
montanabill

None. We did not even take a break in local ad valorem taxes that was offered when we built a new office building a couple of years ago.

patuxant

Montana seems to think the sun rises and sets on his ranch out there in the wild west. He also seems to think that his being a faux capitalist, that all of his employees are his ‘subjects’ and that without him they are nothing. Am I surprised? No. Was Henry VIII surprised? No? Does Montana Man think he is a real capitalist? Yes, he does, but in truth, he is NOT!

fljrod

On point. You are speaking above his level of comprehension. As I said, he will never get it, even with your explanation.
patuxant

Yes. And I recall the term “Benevolent Dictator”.

http://twitter.com/ThelmaReyna Thelma T. Reyna

Your comments sound like perhaps you not only had blinders on when you see/hear Pres. Obama make any speech, you possibly also have EARMUFFS on. (Remember those fuzzy round things that cover your ears when you’re out in the cold?) He has never suggested that Americans NOT work. On the contrary, he has put forward JOBS BILL after JOBS BILL, only to meet the GOP’s obstruction. That tells me that it’s the GOP who wants folks to stay at home and not work.

Also, Montanabill, Pres. Obama always emphasizes “hard work” as part of his vision for Americans attaining the middle class or any type of success. Funny that you’ve never heard that! I hear him say it all the time. Millions of Americans hear him say it all the time. Plus, a major reason we have so much poverty in America now also leads to the GOP: Tea Partiers slashing public sector jobs galore in the past 2 years; Tea Partiers and other GOP slashing education support, blocking progress, blocking medical care in state after state, forcing families with ill members to go bankrupt. Conservatives refusing better benefits and pay to our brave soldiers and their families. The list of what the GOP has done to hurt everyone (except the top 1%) is long. History will not forget this.

http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

You Go Girl!! LOL These People Must Really Think We Are Stupid And Will Fall For This Craps Fox Fake News And Rush Limpballs Feed Them Daily!!! Sad Excuses For So Called American Human Beings!!! All That Lying Brainwashing , Stealing And Cheating Only Works On Their Party Base!!
montanabill

Well, Thelma, since you are an expert on the President’s proposed ‘JOBS BILL’s, perhaps you can tell me how many long term jobs the bills would have provided. Then tell me what kind of jobs those would have been and, most importantly, how much it would have cost per job to have created each of those jobs.

Do you have any idea how the middle class was created? Who or what created the middle class? Did they just appear or were they created by government edict?

You believe too much hogwash. Republicans have not blocked medical care. They have blocked excessive government intrusion into healthcare. The bill they blocked for veterans was a duplicate of benefits already in place. You need to get much better information and stop automatically believing simple talking points.

puzzled21

You pose a lot of questions, however as usual you fail to provide any answers. When you do attempt to defend your position you do as you have accused Thelma of doing spout talking points. You guys believe it should only work for you. This is not to say that Thelma was attempting to employ this tactic. The fact that you deny what any three year old knows, that the Repubs. obstructed the President in his attempts to create jobs, because they were more interested in making him a one term President as opposed to doing what was best for the county, speaks for itself. Maybe you need to pull out a history book and find out yourself how the middle class was created. To deny that what the repubs are really upset about is that the President is in favor of cutting off the gravy train for their cronies in the medical industry is ludicrous.
montanabill

Here is where I disagree with you. Just because the President called it a ‘jobs bill’ does not mean it was actually a jobs bill. As written, it was simply another pork distribution bill with some money thrown in for short term construction projects. A real jobs bill would be one that provided incentive for businesses to invest in themselves for growth or provided an opening for entrepreneurs. Here are a couple of examples: 1) going to the moon. A very expensive project, but it created jobs and opportunities for new entrepreneurs. It was spread around the country and the result was new businesses, expanding established businesses and it brought us a lot of new technology. An unfortunate result was the massive expansion of NASA that has lead to it being just another bloated government bureaucracy. 2) DARPA. The technology for packet switching was being developed simultaneously by several businesses, as well as, DARPA. It was the colleges that transformed packet switching into a useful internet. And you know the businesses that have sprung from that investment in technology. I call both of those government investments, jobs bills.
puzzled21

Just let the infrastructure piece pass. How many years would that take to complete and how many jobs would be created? We all know that the majority of the bridges in this country need attention as well as many major highway systems and over passes.
montanabill

I’m frankly puzzled at why we have so many bridges in need of repair. Every year fuel taxes account for a revenue of around $38B for road maintenance, according to the Tax Policy Institute. However, the American Trucking Association reports that commercial trucks paid $38B alone and they constitute 12% of the traffic.
In any case, are we doing such a bad job building roads that they require $38B or more every year for maintenance, exclusive of bridges?

I have no idea how many years it would take to fix the bridges, but they are scattered around the country and would be fixed typically by local or regional companies. That translates to multiple companies doing relatively short term work.
puzzled21

We have so many for the same reason I have to send paper, paper clips,crayons etc. to the school, even though they are supposed to be receiving revenue from the lottery. The people who are supposed to be acting in our best interest are looking out for themselves. I agree that multiple companies might be involved, but with the condition of our infrastructure it would definitely be a long term project. Of course it would vary and some areas would benefit more than others. As a whole the country benefits from the infusion of cash into the economy. There are so many entities involved with the process of repairing the infrastructure, feeder businesses that support this industry somewhat like the auto industry. Investigating where that tax money is being spent and holding those responsible for it’s distribution, feet to the fire, might also be a good idea
montanabill

That lottery for school funds seems to have been a popular scam. We do have companies whose primary business is highway maintenance. We have a saying in Montana (and probably other northern states as well), our seasons are Fall, Winter, Spring, and Road Repair. In any case, there was not enough money in Obama’s ‘Jobs Bills’ to have had much effect on bridge repair. $50 billion of $447 billion. Most was allocated to pork.

jointerjohn

I am totally tired of hearing the arrogant and ignorant tripe you spew. I am a liberal who fights everyday for the working people of this country who are underemployed. They work hard at gas stations, diners and dry cleaners but cannot make a living wage.

Did it ever occur to you that the fastest way to end welfare was through wages and benefits? No I didn’t think so. Then you would have no one to look down upon.

Get your focus from the pure takers out there, and I admit there are some, but then look at the hard working people who cook our food, do our dry cleaning, and clean hotel rooms.

Everyone needs to get used to the fact that every retail clerk we see while we are buying our Chinese made goods qualifies for Food Stamps. Are you happy with that low-priced bargain you got from Walmart?

You paid a much heavier price because that “Associate” who helped you make you purchase is federally subsidized in order to make her corporation richer.

When the mother of two clerk at McDonalds makes only minimum wage, who do you think makes up the difference? WE DO. Through her subsidized housing, school lunch program and food stamps.

Who got the free ride on federally funded welfare? It wasn’t the worker, it was the Mc Donalds Corporation and Walmart.

http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

Walmart Is Making A Killing Putting Million Dollar Insurance Polices On Their Workers Heads!! When They Die Collect And Don’t Give The Families A Dime Not Even To Help Bury Them!! They Call It Dead Peasant Insurance!!! Look It Up!!
montanabill

Perhaps it would help if you knew that I spent a substantial part of my early years being ‘underemployed’. Many of those years were before I completed college and some after I completed college. I worked at jobs that paid for production, many in farm fields or orchards. I worked at jobs that paid minimum wage, like feed mills and dishwashing. I knew I didn’t want to live my life that way, so I was determined to get an education. I worked and paid my way through school. It took years and a lot of colleges, but I was determined. I never had family help, received scholarships or took out loans. I never applied for unemployment when I found myself out of one job. I simply found another, even if it was in a different part of the country. And, yes, I was supporting a family through most of that. Nobody made any ‘difference’ for us. We made our own difference.

I worked with many people who somehow accepted their ‘lot in life’. If they make that choice, fine. Then live with the consequences of your choices.

I don’t worry about corporate welfare. I don’t like it and think it ought to be stopped, but it is not the reason why so many people have become dependent on government. I submit that without that aid, a substantial number of perfectly healthy adults would make the decision and do the work to get out of subsistence living. But if you can live on welfare without much work and are okay with it, then there is no need to better your education or work your way up. I’m okay with welfare for people who really deserve help, those born with disabilities, have a serious illness or accident, or service injury, but not so much for healthy people who simply make bad choices and continue to make them.

puzzled21

I can’t honestly say that I disagree with a lot of this posting. I will say that I think you do have a misconception of what it is like to live on Welfare. It is also very difficult to accept that anyone, no matter how independent, driven and self motivated, could overcome all of the hurdles in life without a helping hand from someone along the way. This is not impossible just improbable.
Inthenameofliberty

Double edged sword here. I had a thought not that long ago that some people just don’t know how to go about getting a student loan and aid and then succeeding in school to better themselves because No One Has Shown Them how to do it.
Yes, poverty can be overcome. If one knows how to work the system and can overcome fear and get the information on how to do it and take the chance and go for it.
But if I didn’t know anyone before me that had done it then I might be too scared to do it myself.
There are many helping hands. Maybe people are just too scared to do it. They’ve never known anyone to do it.
Damn. I am in my forties and still paying off student loans. I got government help to get those loans. But I filled out the scary loan applications (with the help of my dad). And I refinanced over the years (with the help of financial planners) because I was motivated and I had family backing. My parents were very motivated to see me succeed and told me that I could do it. They were inspirational.
But the government has made a fortune on me and more than doubled (and then some) what they put out to help me.

Maybe people just simply don’t have the support they need to accomplish their goals. Maybe part of the curriculum in school needs to be teaching kids how to get where they want to go – what it means and how you apply for loans (I know, guidance counselors try, but there is so much variability from counselor to counselor), what it means when to you when you get out of school and you are paying off the equivalent of a mortgage……..and no house to show for it…what it means to want to achieve a certain profession and what the payback could be vs. how much you are going to spend to get there……

Yes. There needs to be a way to give all in this country this opportunity. And babies having babies……need to break the cycle and get the youngsters educated with a means to get out of poverty.

Birth control does not work. Abstinence does not work. At least not in many areas of the country. So in many instances unfit parents are having children and continuing the vicious cycle of poverty.

How do we change that? Open to suggestions here…..I still think that SO many of our problems are the breakdown of the family unit and people having children who have no business doing so – until they have matured and can take care of themselves and mostly rely on themselves (I said mostly, because I do believe it takes a village to raise a child and American has long since run out of villages up to the task, IMO) BEFORE they bring a precious new life into the equation. There HAS to be a better way.
montanabill

And though I have never done it, I see no harm in seeking and accepting temporary help when it can get you over a difficult time in life. I would measure that time in weeks, not years. I believe the problem is that too many people make it a way of life. It may not be the most pleasant way to live, but for too many, it beats doing the hard work to change your life.
Obviously, a robust economy would greatly improve one’s chances of getting off welfare if there was a desire. That kind of economy occurs when businesses or potential entrepreneurs see opportunity and incentive. It lifts people out of poverty and grows the middle class. The middle class will not grow simply because the administration says it should. Nor will sucking available investment money out of the economy in the form of higher taxes induce growth or create a larger middle class, unless you are counting those who were previously higher on the food chain and have now been taxed into the middle class. A true ‘jobs bill’ would be one that provided incentives, not high cost short term jobs.

Eleanore Whitaker

The GOP is not helping their party by maintaining their hard line contrarianism and boisterous, righteous obstructionism. It’s divisive and Americans see it as such.

A good employer knows he cannot control employees. He can control their work and thus retain direction and reach goals. This is not what the GOP preaches in their gospels of fear and retaliation. When a party focuses solely on gaining power and not the work involved in helping the country move ahead, it is self-destructive. It gathers no impetus nor encourages support from those from whom they need it most…individual Middle Class Americans.

When you consider the posturing of power by the GOP since 2001, you see what their party has become: a male dominated society of relic college preppies who still believe excess and self-indulgent power plays are the stuff of which success is made. How wrong can they get?

Today, more and more Americans opt for centrism. Why? Balance…financially, morally, educationally and most of all, ideologically. Centrism isn’t divisive and offers freedom of thought and natural progress. What centrism doesn’t tolerate is corruption and massive extortion of those working the hardest to bring the country out of recession and into the light of advancement. This flies in the face of the Norquistian Kingdom where only the elite make gains. Now you know why the GOP is losing ground.

http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

They Still Don’t Get It??? We Are Now A Large Rainbow Of People Out Here And We Work Hard And We Want A Piece Of The American Dream!!!!

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EQ5LTH2XTZCVP7G4FGK6Z2YTJE ignore the facts

I don’t pay much attention to poetry on a daily basis, but this poem and this person who wrote it, is wonderful. Until the supreme court rules that even “gay” people are people who are entitled to every civil right that the rest of us get, this country is still a “cowboy” country. Ruled by guns, not common sense.
jointerjohn

I have been a political junkie for now fifty years. Heard every Inaugural Address in that time. What is different about this one, and totally different from all the others is that our President used it to take his case on issues directly to us, the public. It frightened the right-wing because they know he holds the keys to the future while they are attempting to keep us locked in the past. President Barack Obama spoke directly to the people in Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Michelle Bachmann, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner’s districts.

He scared the poop out of them because he now has incited the forward imagination of those evolving constituencies. He appealed to their intellect rather than their fears. President Obama, like the little dog Toto, lifted the curtain on Monday to let all see that the right wings’ “Great and Magnificent Wizard of Oz” is just a pathetic manipulative little man.

He was not addressing the ages nor his place in history, he was addressing the still redeemable people in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina! This great man sacrificed his last chance for a place in “speechifying” history to do what is most right for all of us. He framed his second term not as a job to hold but as a job to do!

I met him and became his friend in 2004 when he was only a lowly State Senator and always thought he was destined for greatness, but I never ever imagined he would be this great. In that inaugural address on Monday he set aside his opportunity at his own personal legacy for us. That speech was for us, the big us. He took the case right to the people better than any President has ever done in an inaugural address. The greater us, the kinder and gentler us who will now replace and defeat Cantor, Ryan, Rubio, Bachmann, McConnell and Boehner.

http://www.facebook.com/Laxrealtor Michael Peterson

Wow what you wrote is very profound! Thank you very much!

jointerjohn

Thank you Mr. Peterson, you flatter me. You are obviously one who got the point of how selfless President Obama’s second inaugural address truly was. As one who knew him before his rise to power I can assure you he has never been about himself. He is exactly the same selfless and caring man whom I knew nine years ago. What you see on TV is truly the genuine and actual Barack Obama, there is no other. We don’t get that often in American politics. WYSWYG.

As a friend of the family I can also assure you if he wasn’t, Michelle would bring him back to planet earth very quickly. Perhaps violently, but if any of you out there saw the adoring way she looked at him during the inaugural address you know that’s never going to happen. I have been happily married to a wonderful, smart and strong woman for forty years, but never seen a marriage as healthy and genuinely devoted as Barack and Michelles.’

Back in those days everyone around the table would be riveted on him, his every word, but only until Michelle walked into the room. Suddenly, no one is talking to Barack anymore? He was ignored once his amazing wife was in the room. The campaign advisers dialed her down for the 2008 campaign, and she now must play the “First Lady Role” but she is actually the more riveting personality, a true life of the party. Barack is kind of a professorial/geek/ wonky kind of guy while Michelle is the one who knows no strangers and makes everyone feel good. I think Pluoffe and Axelrod wisely did this because electing a 50% black President was a monumental challenge for our country in 2008, and accepting a 100% black First Lady had to wait until later. She is an accomplished lawyer in her own right who would make a phenomenal President or Supreme Court Justice someday.

By the way, for the mentally disturbed out there like Lana, I once personally sat across the table and watched Barack Obama tear the hell out of a pork chop sandwich, so put that “closet muslim” crap where the sun don’t shine.

karinursula

Love it, he also makes his own beer. Priceless. Thank you
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

He Not Just Flattering You He Telling The Truth About Your Post And I Too Thank You!!! Very Well Said!!:-)

lana ward

Omuslim is not a President, he’s a dictator. He will go down in history as the worst President ever!!

TZToronto

You seem to have a problem, not to mention a gift for inaccuracy.
latebloomingrandma

As the great political analyst, comedian Jon Stewart said, if Obama was truly a dictator, he wouldn’t have had to work so damn hard to win Ohio. Did anyone ever tell you Lana, that are the far,far right wing fringe, ready to fall of the end of the Bell curve into the dustbin of history? .

http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

Thank You!!!

jointerjohn

I advise the members of your family and your neighborhood to seek an official Order of Protection against you immediately and I sincerely advise you to seek psychiatric counseling. Your vitriolic fixation on the President indicates that you are a troubled soul. You also should know that your postings on this site do not help your cause, they actually cripple it severely. Find some happiness in your life Ms. Ward, I truly want that for you.

http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

LOL ROTF LMAO!!! Get Jointerjohn!! LMAO!!!!!!
Inthenameofliberty

While you are at it – do you have any sway with Fern? She is scary most days.

http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

YOU LOW LIFE OBAMA BASHING STINKY BITCHES ARE ON THE WRONG WEB SITE!! YOU ASSHOLES SHOULD BE ON WND= WACKO N DUMMIES

karinursula

Do you really believe this shit that you are writing?

lana ward

During the debates, omuslim singled out Exxon Mobil and blasted them as a corporate welfare recipient who profits off the voters’ pain at the pump–omuslim has accepted $250,000 from them to help pay for his inauguration day!! What a hypocrite, taking money from the enemy!!

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jim-Myers/100001512942781 Jim Myers

Replying to lana ward -

Yawn. Ho Hum.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KOPKDFAUQPIIRAFI3HEXNMSHLQ Ed

Well, it sounds good. But it isn’tgoing to happen unless each of us applies pressure to our electtd officials. The gop HAS SPENT 40 YEARS DIVIDING US THROUGH “WEDGE ISSUES”, LIES AND SLANDER! They won’t stop trying. They intend to destroy the government and the constitution as they presently exist.

lana ward

It is the dems that had control of the house and senate for 40 years. It is their policies that have all but ruined this country
lana ward

Right now, omuslim is stomping all over the 1st and 2nd amendments of the constitution!!

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jim-Myers/100001512942781 Jim Myers

I repeat.

Yawn. Ho Hum.
TZToronto

Could you elaborate, please?

montanabill

Sorry, I guess there will still be rich people. The actors, actresses, directors and sport figures can pay the taxes.
http://profile.yahoo.com/X2KKGDYW2F5T5XUT6233KBNWSI robert

President Obama’s agenda is America. He clearly understands the American Ideal. Why do anyone have to be forced or told to pay their fair share? America is hurting from nearly a decade of war and financial free-wheeling that nearly collapsed its economy into a serious depression. The American people are hurting, and Americans are the ones that the rich accrue their wealth. If the wealthy can’t reach back willingly and help the very people they are getting their money from, what good are they to us or America? Aren’t they American? Their wealth doesn’t elevate them above you or me or anyone else. It is us who elevae them above us, but they are no different than the regular Joe Blow we would meet on the street. We need to bring them down to earth. In 2014, we need to remind Republicans/Tea Bags/Yellow Dogs who they work for and make it unanimously clear to them this time.
jointerjohn

History escapes her crowd, as does reason. My wife and I, both in public service positions, have something we say to each other very often. “I didn’t leave the house today looking to feel intellectually superior, but than I dealt with people and it just hit me in the ass!”
jointerjohn

Those would be the policies that built the greatest world super power and most empowered and self-reliant middle class in the history of the world. To that I plead guilty and successful.
bchrista

I hate to steer away from this subject but I just read an artical that threw me for a loop and that I have been stating some bad information, the artical was called AP IMPACT, Recession, Tech Kill Middle – Class Jobs. Now for weeks I have been guilty like the rest of you blaming everybody but the right person or should I say Technology, there has been an on going investigating by Professors, Economic entities and other institutions on the economies of countries all over the world and the United States and the have found that the main reason the middle class tax payer has been in decline is due to innovations and advancment in Technology and Robotics, machines have slowly been replacing humans in the work place in all areas of work computers, ipads, and other types of electrnics equipment have been making work places more efficient and cheaper to operate a business, take the auto industry for instance whereas companies used to emplyoy thousands of workers robotics have replaced overhalf of the force, because machines do the work faster and more efficient with less errors and this has been the pattern the world over, in all espects of employment thus reducing the manpower that in the past was required to run the business, some business use to employ 10 to 15 worlers and now 2-3 can do the same job and as we get farther into the future it will take less humans to operate a business, the only way to survive this advancment is to come up with new ideas to promote new jobs. At present there are jobs being developed ,however, these new jobs may not all pay the high wages that people were use to be earning, although President Obama didn’t tell us about these figures, in other words the 200.000 jobs that he was developing every month in his first term could have been 2,000,000 in the old days. Bush was not a healer in the employment field but the loss of jobs under him was not entirely his fault, he also faced innovation, his problem was that he ignored the advances in Technology and the loss of jobs grew by leaps and bounds, he was too busy cutting taxes and starting wars. people the job situtation is not going to get that much better unless we move into the computer age andstart retraining people to do other forms of emloyment hopefully Obama can find the right type of people to help him come up with new ideas to get the economy going and retraining people to do these new jobs and this will contiune into the next Presidents term the fact is we don’t need an obstructionist Congress they need to get off their A__ and pitch in for the good of all Americans.

Inthenameofliberty

Well. These are sentiments that I can get behind.
Am I surprising you? Good. But I mean what I say.
http://profile.yahoo.com/X2KKGDYW2F5T5XUT6233KBNWSI robert

bchrista, good question in your post. What you described has been going on for a long time, in fact, since the cotton gin was invented by an African as an attempt to stem the tide of slavery in the U.S. Did it work? Nope, it enhanced the slave trade and caused expansion into western and north-central territories. Technology was reversed and used by slave powers to continue their quest for the bottom line: wealth. Same as in modern day technology, it gives us the impression that robotics would enhance the quality of life for mankind, but it robs mankind of employment. A company can pay a one time purchase of a machine that could reduce its labor force by five-ten employees. It increases his bottom line, takes away jobs for human resources and accounting, removes liability, and more than that, eliminates hated Unions. There remains one or two people to operate machines and a cuple of mechanics or electricians, and profits soar! Technology like outsourcing are joined to the hips. In outsourcing, there is slavery-like efficiency at very little cost to people where a dollar a month is good and the cost of living is very low, where managers and supervisors are also human resources and accounting, no liability, and more than that no Unions. It increases the bottom line and profits soar. It takes away jobs from the country these coporations and industries are outsourcing from, and ironically removes from the corporations and industries a consumer base. Countries hurt so badly from this they deregulate banking and lending industries and provide credit and loans to individuals who are unable to afford repayment and debt grinds economies to a halt. Moreover, subsidies and tax breaks are offered to industries, corporations, and contractors to bring work to various states, but when they arrive, these coporations, industries, and contractors bring in their own in-house workers or import workers from South America, the Phillippines, Nexico, Honduras, and Africa (who are paid subsistence wages and are not citizens) and never hire locals. If they hire locals, those locals are security, holding STOP signs, or greeters at minimum wages. This is the same scenario of technology/outsourcing. It is all based on the bottom line, profit, and indescribable wealth. The jobs in America are from business people who refuse to sell out their country and their countrymen. They take the hit, some without receiving salaries themselves, and are hurting just as badly as their employees, but they believe in their country and their countrymen and are hunkered down to endure this crisis. President Obama has two Jobs Bills in Congress, and Republicans/Tea Bag/ Yellow Dogs are sitting on those bills to continue dragging America and Americans into self-destruction. They are the representatives of Technological/outsourcing/contract slavery that is going on right now and that you described in your post. Check out what Republican/Tea Bag/Yellow Dogs are doing in their red states. Cutting/slashing/dismantling essential aide safety nets in order to provide subsidies and tax breaks to technology/outsourcing/contract slavery corporations and industries. Here in Louisiana, an oil rich state that gets not one penny from the oil and gas it produces from past wrangling and greed of Louisiana politicians. Our Yellow Dog Democrat Senator, Mary Landreiu, is pressuring the Obama/Biden administration to sign onto the Yellowstone Pipeline from Canada, using the unemployment of Americans and Louisianans as a motivation. So, that is why there is so high an unemployment rate in America. Americans are being used as collateral damage by these Republicans/Tea bag/Yellow Dogs to push for the above-stated agenda. Economic/environmental/social destruction = profit, wealth for the very few. It’s the big picture.

bchrista

Hey MontanaBill your such a smart ass you and the rest of the idiots that thihk like you tell me something since welfare seems to be a thorn in your sides please tell me who collects more welfare and food stamps you ought to know that one, I’ll give you a hint Red!
bchrista

To the rest of the pundits out there I bet Lana Ward is sitting at home laughing her ass off bacause she/he is making these ridiculess statements and no matter what your reply the same bullshit keeps spewing out so obviously it isn’t getting through or it’s a deliberate attempt to harass you into getting angry by pulling your leg I tried insulting on numerious occasions and it didn’t change the remarks one bit, then it hit me the remarks didn’t change in the way they were presented the word omuslim usually preceded the comment followed by a small change in the wordage and i feel it was done purposely to incite your retort, so I decided to ignore she/he and address my remarks to someone who I felt sencere about what they were writing about. Check back and see.
ayayaboy

Eric Cantor still recovering from romnesia.
http://profile.yahoo.com/ZWVFYOYMF6ZWMS3EPZAXNEQHLQ EL INDIO

with those bunch of idiot republicans, and dont forget the flea party numb-nuts, always Obama bashing! is why they have learned nothing from the last election, and it seems like they never will! I pretty much would say that they are doomed!!!
puzzled21

I remain in agreement. I also feel that we, all of us, have allowed our morals and values to decline. I think that to many of us spend to much time and energy pursuing the dollar only to find out if you are fortunate enough to get a few, that money and things truly don’t make you happy, warm. loving and meaningful relationships do. So the mothers are out of the homes trying pursuing careers or trying to keep up with the lifestyle, and the father is a visitor, in that he is always working to also maintain the lifestyle, hence the kids are raising themselves. That is why when you hear these stories of these young people involved in horrific behaviors and when they talk to the parents they had no clue what was going on in their child’s life. I also agree that we need to find a way to stem the tide of so many new borns being brought into the world by those to young, unprepared and unable financially, emotionally and mentally to take care of them. I don’t believe that abortion is a part of the answer. The two main topics of discussion with my children and Grandchildren, after Christ are, if you want to be in poverty the rest of your life 1. start having babies when you are young and unprepared and 2. fail to get a good education. My theory is if people are allowed to take part in this American Dream and can get a little piece of the rock they feel vetted in the process and will sacrifice and work to maintain it. The foundation of any society, like the foundation of any structure, has to be strong if it is to support that structure or that society. The foundation of our society is the family, less rescue the family, not just the one in our house but the one next door that needs our help. Why can’t we go back to my childhood when the whole village did get involved with the raising of the children?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tavia-Hughes/100000100020035 Tavia Hughes

Can’t wait for the 2014 mid-term elections! Me and mine will be voting those GOP Obstructionists right on OUT INTO THE POLITICAL WILDERNESS, AND GOOD RIDDANCE TO THEM ALL!!!!!!

http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

AMEN!!! I’m So Ready To Get Them Out Of Office!!!

http://profile.yahoo.com/AAY475HZ3Z2ZKWDGTQ7TUGQGLM Stephen

What about that ultimate inequality of wealth?

On the other hand, you can’t pretend we are all equal, because by design we are all different. Life is meant to be combative, not peacefully equal and effectively dead. Its one thing to explictly re-establish macro ideas of equality because numb-heads can’t see further than their nose. But its another to declare them absolutes. Thats the scary thing about the American constitution. Taken to extremes, some would declare it a formula for life. A bit like how some religious extremists have interpreted various books. Its all about moderation. I hope the president understand equality can be debilitating as well as liberating, and depends very much on context and immediate issues of survival.
http://profile.yahoo.com/X2KKGDYW2F5T5XUT6233KBNWSI robert

montanabill, you’re a bitter pull yourself up by your boots straper. You’re like Cain in the Bible, who toiled and sweated to please God, but turned bitter and cold when God adored Abel’s worship. Like the great Aretha Framklin sang in “Ain’t No Way” Hard cold and cruel is a man who has paid too much for what he’s got. . . You have lost your soul, but God still loves you.
puzzled21

I have lived long enough to know that the same issues affect each person differently according to their attitude concerning the situation. This attitude is formed by life’s experiences, good and bad. We know that a humans basic personality is formed by the age of three. What took place in those three years and what has been added by DNA and the issues of life is important. Those who live with the hope of opportunity and high expectations and the security of knowing that their efforts will be rewarded do push through and persevere and usually are productive positive people in society. On the other hand those who feel disenfranchised, rightly or wrongly, create a need for the rest of us to do better. Nothing makes a man feel like a man, more than the pride you get from being able to take care of yourself and your family, the feeling of accomplishment, being self sufficient, responsible, independent, free. I know it’s hard for us to accept, but sometimes we really do have to walk a mile in the other guy’s shoes.
patuxant

I am always looking with interest at Dom’s postings because they are so well-crafted, articulate, factual, and accurate. I find myself always moving ahead of the article to see what he is going to write. In the case of the Inaugural Address, I guess I am moved by the content and delivery of President Obama. Not only is he a “man for the ages” but he is human and as fragile as the rest of us. I suppose that there are people who think I am a ‘sheeple’ following the magical lilt of a soft-spoken and yet’deceptive’ voice of one who means to do us harm. I, however, reject that concept. There are a miniscule few who can lead us out of the desert and into the land of milk and honey. I truly believe we have been blessed with Barack Obama.

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