Barack Obama was sworn in this afternoon as the 44th President of the United States of America. He thus becomes the first black President, the first minority of any type, ending the monopoly held by white males on the highest office in the land for over two centuries. In some ways this very fact is a good thing. No longer will America's detractors, both within and outside of our country, be able to speak of glass ceilings and inequality with any credibility. Anyone can rise to the highest office in the land. America is willing to accept a person of color, as proven by President Obama's new position. America is willing to accept a woman in the position as well. The support for both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin from their respective party's as they ran last year prove that statement as well. So this is now officially an Obama Nation. He and his supporters are in charge now. The celebrations will continue with a number of parties tonight known as Presidential Ball's, but when everyone wakes up in the morning the real business of governance will begin. President Obama began his tenure by stumbling over his swearing-in ceremony as he was incorrectly led in taking the oath of office by SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts inserted the word 'faithfully' at the wrong point, causing Obama, who had likely prepared for this and practiced the oath a number of times, to halt. The two then did a verbal dance until Obama simply said it in the manner that Roberts led him. We can write that off to nervousness on both men's parts, and the awesome reality setting in that this event was actually finally happening. Everyone is not perfect all the time, not even Barack Obama and John Roberts. However, can you imagine the field day that the media and celebrities would be having were it George W. Bush being involved in such a blunder in front of the whole world? This was a real shame for such a truly historic moment. But human gaffes aside, its the meat and potatoes of the acceptance speech that really matter. President Obama started well by properly thanking President Bush for both his service to the nation and his cooperation in the transition. But he then spoke of how the economy has been weakened by, among other things, a "collective failure to make hard choices." Obama himself and his Democratic Senate colleagues have been front and center in failing to make hard choices and consistently cow-towing to liberal special interests and pork barrel spending programs. It will be interesting to see how the new President leads us into the more fiscally responsible era that he seems to be calling for. He said that jobs have been shed and businesses shuttered. I wonder if he plans on following or supporting the path of Nancy Pelosi and her Democrat House colleagues in allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, and in raising taxes that will only result in even more businesses closing and more jobs lost. He spoke of our health care being too costly. Now is not the time for details, but when they eventually come out will they involve a socialized medical coverage plan that will lower costs for some in initially, but lower care as well while creating frustrating and interminable bueracracies such as those that have emerged with Canada's national health care system? And the costs that will rise from that bueracracy? They will be borne by 'We the People' in increased taxes for all. We will all pay in the end. It's just that now you will be paying that bigger Uncle Sam rather than some medical provider. He said that "our schools fail too many", but is that really appropriate, or do too many students fail themselves because they are unwilling and undisciplined. Is the problem really mostly in the schools, or is it in the home? He said that "we use our energy to strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet" and yet consistently voted against programs that would have led to greater energy independence for America. The new President also incredibly stated that there was a "sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable." I don't know who President Obama has been speaking with...oh wait, yes I do. He has been speaking with and is speaking of his fellow Democrat politicians and their followers. Republicans and American traditionalists of all stripes have never had any such thoughts. We are always confident in our belief in the strength, power, faith, and resilience of America. We always see both the spirit and the actuality of America's greatness extending well into the future. We are always positive. It has only been the Dems and their supporters who have felt this "sapping" and "nagging" about our nation, its world role, its direction. He later went on to call those who do not believe in his programs "cynics" who "fail to understand that the ground has shifted beneath them", and claimed that "stale political arguments...no longer apply." Trust me, we conservatives are well aware of the political shift. And we also realize that political differences remain and the arguments will continue. We will regroup, re-engage, and come back again even stronger in the future. The President said that the problems of government are not whether it is too big or small, but whether it works. The fact is that whether it's working or not is defined differently by many different sources. However, it is also factual that if government is too big, that in itself is a huge problem. Government is already too big and President Obama and his followers plan to grow it to an incredible size. That will create a true "problem of government." The President made a telling statement in addressing world leaders when he said that "America is a friend of every nation, and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity." What he failed to say was anything about how he would deal with those nations whose vision of peace and dignity is not possible without the destruction of Israel as a nation and the erasing of America from its position as a world power. He began to draw to his closing, and one of his comments referred to the goodness of "a parent's willingness to nurture a child." It will be interesting to see how his Supreme Court nominees stand up to that measure of goodness in their willingness to protect those children as God's most precious gift of human life. Despite my skepticism of his plans, Barack Obama is now my President. Unlike the destructive path that the Dems took with President Bush, myself and most Republicans will pray for and support President Obama as our own, our leader, our Commander-in-Chief. But we are indeed the 'loyal opposition', and our loyalty only extends so far. We will continue to fight against him and the liberal Democrats as hard as we can to maintain traditional American values, keep government out of our individual and familial business as much as possible, and maintain our safety and security. We will not allow this new Obama Nation to become an abomination. God bless President Barack Obama, but more importantly, God bless America.NOTE: This article has been amended from its original form, which alluded to problems with the swearing-in ceremony being caused by Obama's nervousness. He may have been nervous, but it was Justice Roberts' gaffe that started the problems. Thanks to a commenter for pointing out this error. Comments can be viewed by clicking on to that below label on every entry.
