All eyes were on Capitol as the 57th presidential inauguration took center stage.
More then 800,000 people attended the ceremony and millions more tuned in to hear Barack Obamas plan for the next four years.
Whether you agree or disagree with him, you watched.
It must just be a ceremonial tradition or a glorified speech to motivate the country. NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams said most inauguration speeches have been forgettable, comparing it to a graduation speech, but the nation still watched.
Except for this speech you have more then college graduates listening, you have American
Families looking for answers.
Officially, the president was sworn in Sunday within the White House, but this is not why we watch. We watch to hear the presidents words and to see if he will keep those campaign promises of gun control, immigration reform, climate change and gay rights.
Obama started by speaking on the most American topic he could have– the constitution.
“We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional, what makes us American is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago,” Obama said.
Obama’s reference of the Constitution not only took it out of the history books, but made it a document in which all Americans could relate to. He was not done with the Constitution just yet; Obama has quite the agenda ahead of him.
On what was Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday, Obama began his speech of equality under the law.
“For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. For if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” Obama said.
The president has his work set up for him. A day after the Inauguration, Senator Mitch McConnell responded to the president's speech by saying it was partisan and ridiculous.
“The era of liberalism is back,” McConnell said. “If the president pursues that king of agenda, obviously it’s not designed to bring us together.”
Not designed to bring us together? How is the basic belief that all men and women no matter of sexual orientation of beliefs separating the country? In a country that prides itself in being first, why are we waiting to be the first to give all minorities equal rights?
It may be because we are not first; we’re seventh in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, third in median household income, No. 4 in labor force and No. 4 in exports.
Yet we are still hesitant to change our laws to allow equal pay for women and equal rights for gays.
This is not acceptable for the president. In his speech on Monday, he set the tone that he is the president of the United States for the next four years. Except this time, Obama has no concern of any reelection. He simply has his agenda. Whether any legislation will happen is yet to be seen, but I would not bet against Obama.
Obama has made it a staple in his career of giving motivational speeches to America's minorities to gain support. The last thing Republicans need after the last election is to lose popularity among voters.
One thing I noticed that was unique about this inauguration was the amount of Spanish spoken and representation of Hispanics. Miami native Richard Blanco made history not only as the son of a Cuban exile but to be the first openly gay male to receive the honor of giving the presidential inauguration poem.
Maybe its because I relate to Blanco as we are both children of Cuban exiles who grew up in Miami. We were both used to a city of Catholic, Cuban exiles, but the truth of the matter is the United States is more than just our loving home town.
I can only wonder at what point did Blanco notice he was different than the rest of what the United States. To add to his ethnicity, Blanco is also openly gay in a predominately socially conservative country. Maybe it was due to our shared hometown roots, but, when Blanco got up to the podium, I sat quiet and listened. I gave him the same respect as the president.
Blanco read his poem “One Day,” which imagined a future ideal United States where all were equal and happy.
“Like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop and every window, of one country all of us facing the stars hope a new constellation waiting for us to map it, waiting for us to name it together,” Blanco said.
Blanco is saying America is ready for a change, ready to explore new ideas and to expand its rights. Blanco was not the only one who looked to the stars Monday morning.
“'We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths is that all of us are created equal'-is the star that guides us still,” Obama said. “Just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung.”
The president has set up a lofty agenda for the next four years, which include the deficit, equal pay for women, equal rights for gays, climate change, gun control and immigration reform.
The president did not speak of reaching across the aisle in his speech. He choose to speak the millions of Americans watching. It is becoming clear that Obama is tired of fighting with the House Republicans and wants to make a change in Americans' lives.
For the next four years, it could be expected that Obama will be more of the people's president, using his charisma to win over voters in exchange of pressuring House Republicans to vote for his legislation.
What we know for certain is, on Monday, Barack Obama became the first African American to be a two-term president. Obama's term as president is not over, but it is safe to say that this president will be remembered in the history books.
The next four years will just add to Barack Obama's legacy as the first African American president and as the president when Osama bin Ladin was finally captured. Obama will be remembered for his charisma and for the next four years of his presidency. One thing is to be sure the next four years will define generations to come.
Sources
http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/21/16626094-obamas-inaugural-speech-the-full-text?lite
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inauguration-2013-richard-blanco-recites-inaugural-poem/2013/01/21/098c2918-63f0-11e2-b84d-21c7b65985ee_video.html
http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/about/facts-and-firsts
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/21/3192582/cuban-exile-mother-of-poet-laureate.html
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/02/us/american-exceptionalism-other-countries-lessons/index.html
