The Official Inauguration Thread.....

[Feanor]

Congradulations to President Obama and to the citizens of the United States. There is good hope that a new page has been turned.

Obama's speech was even beyond my expectations, so comprehensive was its scope and full of candor too. There were a number of sharp shots at the outgoing administration, but none more critical than were deserved.

I was impressed by his words regarding the economy, ".Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. ...
But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. ...
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - ..."

And regarding foreign policy and actions, "As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. ... the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake."