“our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.”

(I think this is a reference to the nation and our inability to transition adequately from the industrial age to the fiber optic age more than a slam at Bush)

“restore science to its rightful place.”

(May very well be a proclamation that the days of protecting big business from environmental standards are over.)

“as false, the choice between our safety and our ideals.”
(I agree whole hardily with the President here and think it was important to say. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard than the mafia and Mexican drug lords)

“that we are ready to lead once more.”

Joey, what would you expect him to say? “Don’t worry world nothing is going to change and we will continue to follow in the footsteps of the Bush administration?

If he said that I am sure Reverend Joseph Lowery’s comments would have been more like this: “This Barack is quite a crock.

I don’t know that President Obama would have been able to stay clear of any comments that couldn’t be directed as an indictment toward the Bush administration and remained genuine. How do you expect a President to run for two years on a specific platform and then not mention it in is first address as President?

I do not disagree with your points but would just like to reinforce that that was most likely his intent; doing it in a (somewhat) subtle way is his style.

My dear friend, Andy, the “restless resident liberal,” since you were the first to challenge some of my statements, let me offer you a few excerpts form President Obama’s inauguration speech. Now it’s important to dive into what actually is being said, and not pass over it due to the ‘rhythm and the rhyme.’ Quite frankly, isn’t that how magicians and snake charmers have made their living throughout history?

Now while President Obama’s speech opened with a one sentence compliment toward President Bush, it was his cunning undertones that totally disrespected President Bush and his administration.

Here are a few excerpts of the inauguration speech I gathered from The New York Times. Tell me what you gather from the following statements:

President Obama mentioned “our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.” I believe President Obama is calling out President Bush’s judgment.

President Obama promised to “restore science to its rightful place.” I believe President Obama is stating that recent science (abortion, stem cell research, etc.) was in the wrong place under President Bush’s watch.

President Obama rejected “as false, the choice between our safety and our ideals.” I believe this is a blatant attempt to discredit President Bush’s foreign policy and implementation of interrogation techniques to protect America from those who would do us harm.

President Obama assured the rest of the world “that we are ready to lead once more.” Obviously President Obama is portraying to the world that the United States was running amuck under George Bush.

I was speaking with a Greek man the other day who said “The United States is the most racist country I’ve ever been in!” When I inquired why, he said “Because the African Americans who were slaves still have the slave mindset!” He went on for a bit telling me how a “slave” mindset was poisonous for a country and proceeded to remind me that the Greeks were enslaved by the Ottoman empire for 750 years, yet now they have a completely amicable relationship. He asked why I thought that was, to which I could give no thoughtful reply.

He said the reason was because they don’t give a **** anymore.

He explained to me that he personally was never a slave, his parents were not slaves, nor were his grandparents. Even though there had been some brief hostilities from time to time, they saw that period as just a part of history.

Of course the United States is different from Greece or any other part of the world, the question still begs to be asked, why can’t we just move past this thing”? I personally have no desire to EVER have someone be subservient to me and even even secretly object whenever I hear of my mother paying someone to come clean her house, and yet I might get lumped in with this “mean old white man attitude”. What can I do to avoid this stereotype?

The answer, Joey, is nothing. Be yourself, brother. Stay true to your beliefs and maybe, just maybe, you can change one person’s misconception about you.

As for the liberal media thing? As a liberal, I agree with you. Its pretty biased.

I’ve always been of the mindset that if you need to belittle someone else to make yourself look better, then your position really doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on.
I hear ya man, that’s why I don’t watch Bill O’Reilly!

In regard to you being a slave owner ect… I would simply suggest you consider the source. Our freedoms afford people to share their opinions, no matter how absurd.

In regard to Reverend Joseph Lowery’s comments I sincerely believe you are accepting it with far too much sensitivity. To elaborate I will share with you how I received his poetic license that day. Here is a man who in his life time has seen the peeks and valleys of the Civil Rights Movement. His context is not being pulled from a campaign, a past administration, or even just a few decades. His context is of a people who were considered property less than 200 years ago. His comments were inspirational to a great many who in their own lives must have felt a little closure, either directly or through the stories passed down from grand parents and distant relatives. (Now) if you take it as a threat, or a glorification of the hatred once displayed by the bull conners and other racist leaders of the past: Don’t. You have no reason to fear being lumped in with the slave owners any more than we can take responsibility for crucifying Jesus. And I implore you to minimize any commentary that takes this tone, but at the same time adjust your perspective so that you don’t take sincere jubilation spoken out of liberty as anything more than celebratory comments.

Regarding President Obama’s speech, I need to know the comments with which you took exception. I too was extremely fired up but for different reasons. I continue to be excited about the potential this administration has to lead this greatest of all Nations out of our current circumstances and back to a steady footing.

Lastly, I want to thank you for your comments and commend you for stepping out to make your opinions known. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that “luke warm acceptance is worse than out right rejection” while this was in different context at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, I think it applies for different reasons for situations like we are in right now. If you disagree with a position, I encourage you, as well as any American, to take a firm stand against it. It is only through such dialogue and debate that we can stop bandaging our sores and actually begin to heal them. Great post Joey.