Hello to the new boss

[muckefuck]

The petty discomforts of dyspepsia, sleeplessness, and--perhaps--the start of a cold have left me feeling snippy and antisocial. So I deliberately avoided any of the internal gatherings and headed over to the B school, chiefly to buy some tummy-healing yoghurt but also with the thought of catching a moment or two of History. As it turned out, I couldn't have timed it better, arriving just seconds before the swearing in of "About a Ralk Hussein Obama". (Nicely done, CNN!)

I ended up staying for the whole speech. How could I not? For the first time in my life, I actually have a President who I enjoy hearing speak. Clinton, for all the talk about his skills as a communicator, always sounded hoarse and out of breath; the less said about the speaking abilities of Bush fils et père, the better. I might've enjoyed Reagan more if I hadn't been so convinced at the time that he was the Banality of Evil incarnate, and, as for his predecessor, has there ever been any world leader who inspired less confidence when he spoke than Carter? (Bertie Ahearn, maybe? Even sad old Brown has the peanut farmer beat.)

The platitudes aren't terribly different than what we would've been hearing had the other guy won, but they wouldn't have sounded nearly as convincing. Sure, he used the G word plenty of times, but my fellow atheists should be chuffed at the shout-out to the "non-believers". (On the other hand, screw y'all Sikhs and your made-up mumbo-jumbo, apparently.) Plus his concluding quote from the real scriptures of our society was longer and, frankly, more fitting.

So that's that then. Now, how much longer until everything is fixed?

Comments

[danbearnyc.livejournal.com]

UPS is delivering my Unicorn as I type.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I do hope you got the model with the flexible horn!

[danbearnyc.livejournal.com]

It's perfect for the interchangeable silicone and rubber bits!

indeed so...

[monshu.livejournal.com]

I have to agree. How refreshing to have a president again who can actually speak and give an intelligent delivery. No flashiness, no ostentatious hand waving, just plain old solid rhetorical skill. I hope he can achieve at least some measure of all this--I wish him well and much luck. Soon the same old same old Washington business as usual will set in, I really hope he can rise above it and hold his own.

[nibadi.livejournal.com]

Ich beneide Euch! Ich gratuliere Euch. Ach was, ich freue mich mit Euch!

Ich war schon sehr von Clinton angetan, aber Obama ist ein Phänomen ohne Vergleich. Ich war kein Fan der ersten Stunde, aber es war mir irgendwann nicht mehr möglich, mich der Faszination für ihn zu entziehen.

Er ist ein toller Redner. Er spricht wie du schon sagtest alle religiösen Gruppen einschließlich der Nichtgläubigen an, er spricht alle Minderheiten an, er schafft es ohne Mühe zu verbinden und vermeidet es, auszugrenzen und zu spalten.

Auf diesem Posten kommt man doch nicht ohne Ehrgeiz ... und es scheint bei ihm kein Widerspruch zu sein, das Allgemeinwohl tatsächlich im Auge zu haben. Ich bin fasziniert, wie er es schafft, den Menschen weltweit Zuversicht zu vermitteln.

Ich schließe mich dem monshu an und wünsche ihm ganz viel Glück und dass er sich trotz des herausragenden Amtes seine ganz spezielle Art und Ausstrahlung bewahren kann.

Ein wunderbarer Tag. Da bekomme ich Lust, mal wieder in die USA zu reisen.

[princeofcairo.livejournal.com]

(On the other hand, screw y'all Sikhs and your made-up mumbo-jumbo, apparently.)

Once you start listing all the religions in America, the thing rapidly turns into a Maya Angelou poem. The Sikhs have big knives, they don't need Inaugural shout-outs.