A Moment All Should Remember

Posted Wednesday, January 21, 2009, at 3:39 PM

Yesterday as I, and about fifty students, watched the Inaugural Address I kept thinking "Will any of them remember this moment?" Let's forget for the moment that Barack Obama is a Democrat, let's forget for the moment that some consider him Liberal, let's forget for the moment that some in this country still think Obama is Muslim even going so far as wondering out loud if he was going to take his oath on the Koran or the Bible. Let's forget that. What should be at the forefront of everyone's minds is just how Historic yesterday truly was. A black man (oh yeah let's forget that he is half white) from a simple background took the Oath of Office and became President yesterday. The first black man man. The first non-white person to ever hold the highest office in this democracy of ours.

Let's put this into perspective. All this happened forty years after Civil Rights, after the Little Rock 9, after Rosa Parks. This happens 60 years after a war that still saw a segregated military (most of the Tuskege Airmen were in attendance). This happens 140 years after the Civil War. This happens just a little more than 150 years after slaves were sold on the lawn that Barack Obama was giving his address to yesterday.

It IS HISTORICAL. No questions. You may not agree with Obama, you may not have voted for him, you may despise everything that he stands for but I hope for your sake you at least watched a portion of yesterday's events just so you can say you witnessed it. Because the fact of the matter only the people that witnessed it either in Washington or on television can say they took part of something truly historical.

I looked around my classroom and wondered how many of those students saw a black man and how many saw a Democrat. Our children don't care about race. Race is just a four letter word to them, it has no baring on them. Maybe we could take a cue for them.

After looking around my classroom in wonderment and listening and watching Obama's Inaugural Address I was in tears because I had truly witnessed something ...

HISTORICAL

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Individual responsibility is going down? I just want to understand you correctly. You believe individual responsibility is going down after the last eight years? There is one thing for sure, over the last years we blamed everyone but ourselves for our mistakes. At this point individual responsiblity can only go up.

-- Posted by MichaelHendricks on Wed, Jan 21, 2009, at 8:35 PM

I agree Mike that this election and inauguration was historical. We probably disagree as to what exactly was historical about it.

It was perhaps that largest demonstration of symbolism over substance in the history of Presidential Politics.

I sincerly hope all that symbolism will pay off with some substance. I cannot help but notice that it is the left, specifically the Democrat Party, which continues to bring up RACE at every turn. I really grow tired of it.

It is you on the left that will stain the Obama Presidency with constant talk of race, not me.

Could you not have honesty told your students, huddled around you, listneing to you talk of profound history in the making, inform these kids, that we now have Americas' first true died in the wool Socialist President? Perhaps explain how they will pay for the NEW New deal, so they had better PAY attention.

-- Posted by sameldridge on Wed, Jan 21, 2009, at 9:12 PM

I agree with G5 on several points. First of all, a man is a man, skin color does not determine the character or quality of an individual. Secondly, I believe that Mr. Obama was ellected because America was ready for a change, so they voted for the skin color instead of the substance that each candidate brought to the table. And I also have some concerns about Mr. Obama's character and political background. I do hope I am wrong.

I dont believe that a mans skin color, wealth, education,or political party affiliation are a measure of what a man can do, or how well he will lead this country. I know some very wealthy, very educated individuals. Most of them got educated becuase Mom and Dad had the money to educate them, and most of them got wealthy from riding the coat tails of a few extraordinary people, some of them were born wealthy. And they pay an army of accountant and investment professionals to keep them wealthy. Most of these people will support and believe in any point of view that has the greatest promise of making them wealthier or keeping them wealthy. They will not go out on a ledge and make thier own true beleifs known for fear that the flow of wealth will be disrupted by lawsuit or by simply turning the heads of the people that are supplying the money. I will admit that the education will give a man the tools to achieve many great things, but if those tools are not developed by experience, they can do more harm than good. I say give me a man or woman that believes in the culture and spirit of this country, that will act in the best interest of the people that ellected him or her, that will look into the eye of those trying to sway him with money and tell them to get bent. Give me a president that has no skeletons to hide. I dont care what color they are, how wealthy they are, or what school they attended. Just give me a good honest leader.

-- Posted by seentoomuch on Thu, Jan 22, 2009, at 10:40 AM

Now the old hippies can go to their graves wrapped in the cloak of their imagined moral superiority. Their dream born in the sixties has come to fruition powered by the collective guilt for crimes they did not commit, though thoroghly convinced they played a part. The final insult by an ungrateful generation to the country that made their temper tantrums possible without retribution. Hope you're happy.

-- Posted by jawalker61 on Thu, Jan 22, 2009, at 2:49 PM

Mike, Thank you for your words. I, too, appreciate the Historical importance of this event. I must admit, that I see the future greatly different than you, but pray, with all my heart, that you are right, and I, wrong.

Some day I will have to tell you about the 'old' black Chief, I met, when I joined the Navy, who taught me much about suffering, and the new-found freedoms he had, in 1957. Had he lived, I know he would have cried, at the progress this country has made in the last sixty-five years.

With all our faults, and short-comings, this Nation is a Giant amongst 'ALL' the other Nations.

In Messiah, God Bless America, for I have great fear for her future, and President Obama is but a small part of that bleak projection. Arley

-- Posted by Navyblue on Thu, Jan 22, 2009, at 6:37 PM

I have a question for all of you. Every single one of you have posted that America is doomed now that Obama is President. You seem ro revel in your hopes that he fails, and fails miserably. But what if he succeeds? What if the next four years sees nothing but success for Obama and his "ilk"? Will you still trash him at every opportunity, or will you give him credit?

Even after Bush was elected the first time, Democrats, for the most part, gave him time. And after 9/11 he was given even more time, but HE went partisan. All I've seen from the far right is the rampant almost joyous hope that Obama fails miserably. I don't think you understand that if he fails, America will be in a world of hurt. Dissention is the cornerstone of Democracy but hoping that our new President fails is really hoping that America fails.

I hope you all are wrong because honestly none of us can predict what the future holds in store. I believe in our President and I have faith that he has America's best interests in his heart and core.

-- Posted by MichaelHendricks on Fri, Jan 23, 2009, at 7:29 AM

I pray that America succeeds in spite of what Barack Obama and his ilk will attempt to imposed on it. There is a difference between wanting the country to succeed and resisting policies, and the person driving those policies, that will move us toward socialism. You say that dissention is the corner stone of democracy, obviously refering to when you were suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome. But now when it comes from the other side, it's hoping America fails and akin to treason. You can't have it both ways Mike.

-- Posted by jawalker61 on Fri, Jan 23, 2009, at 11:38 AM

Actually I don't think I said anything close to "akin to treason" but you read whatever you have to to help you sleep better at night. As far as BDS, to go so far that you claim to know what I was feeling eight years ago based on what I wrote a few months ago is a pretty far stretch. After Bush was elected I was furious, as you would be had the tables been turned, that he could lose the popular vote yet still become President. But I gave him a chance, up until he decided that the war on Terrorism somehow had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden and everything to do with Iraq.

And if you want to talk about having it both ways let's look at your ilk who championed the security that we have seen over the last eight in this country under Bush as him protecting America, and then on the day Obama is elected BITCH about the amount of security in Washington. That's wanting it both ways and highly hypocritical.

As for you Steffanie, you have proven (actually everytime you post you prove) that when someone doesn't have a valid argument they stoop to name calling. Seriously what is it with you and homosexuals and pedophilia? You would be an awesome case study.

And actually I believe it's you who hasn't been observing politics over the past eight years, for if you had you would have noticed that right after 9/11 Bush had the highest approval rating of any modern President (everyone was giving him a chance) and the the day he left office he had the WORST approval rating of any modern president (and that number was actually up). People gave him a chance from all walks of life and he decided he would go the partisan way and pissed off over 70% of this country. Sorry Stefanie and jaywalker and seentomuch and G5 and sameldridge but you are all in minority of how our country has been going for the last few years.

But that's okay, I'm not going to take the Bushaniam method and tell you that if you aren't with us you are our enemy. We need dissenters. So keep up the work and keep us on our toes. This is an historical time, if you want to spend wallowing in self-defeatism that's your Constitutionally given right.

-- Posted by MichaelHendricks on Fri, Jan 23, 2009, at 1:13 PM

I can even comment on that garbage! I think I need to go throw up:(

-- Posted by remington81 on Fri, Jan 23, 2009, at 4:23 PM

Thanks for a reflective column--to those who naysay Obama's agenda, do you remember that just before 9/11 shrub II's ratings were quite low? As a nation we did rally behind him until he decided to invade Iraq. Don't forget, shrub II and company refused to sit down with Clinton's intelligence folks the month before shrub II was sworn in the first time. Had shrub II and company been less arrogant, perhaps 9/11 would have been avoided, because of their refusal to work with the outgoing President we will never know.

I did have the opportunity to travel to Europe shortly after 9/11 then again a couple years later--shrub II pretty much destroyed the good will of our allies in that two year period.

God Bless our humble Christian President and our nation as a whole.

Steffanie, you must be a closet case--most super critical people are! :-)

BTW, the far right supposedly Christian terrorists in this country concern me just as much as the terrorists in the world at large.

-- Posted by ontheleftcoast on Fri, Jan 23, 2009, at 9:11 PM

Amazing. That's just about all I can say without puking up a coat hanger. Amazing.

I think Hendricks and this ontheleftcoast fellow have had a nice dose of Obama's kool-aid. You boys are living proof that CNN and George Soros have been successful in brainwashing the weak of mind.

First of all, the audacity to play the Osama Bin Laden card; when Pope Clinton had the chance on no less than three occasions to pluck Osama out of the hands of the Saudis. Then you want to come back and make Osama an issue in 2009 when he literally hasn't seen the light of day since 2005...if he's still drawing breath. Just what HAS the threat of Osama been for the latter part of this decade? Exactly which administration can take the credit for the deconstruction of his regime and his relative impotence? Hmm...

Then you have the Big BO. BaaaaaaRAAAAACK OoooooobAAAAma. This guys main accomplishment has been to run for office. Every office he attained was not one that he really wanted....but was instead a stepping stone for the next "campaign run" and a bigger and nicer office. I wonder what office he'll start running for in about six months? Other than getting elected; what other REAL achievements has he made? All this talk about unity...then why did the Big BO give the nod for his political attack machine; aka the MSM; to tear apart the lives of average citizens such as Joe the Plumber? Oooo. A real threat to national security HE was. Not like William Ayers an avowed terrorist. Google him and the NYTimes and 9/11 and see what you get.

And Mike - you are dishonest if you can't accept and relate that the main reason for the "low" approval rating for Bush is not solely his performance; but also the constant beating of the "failure" drums by the Lib Washington pundits including Reid, Pelosi, Conyers, Daschle, Dodd, Frank, ad infinitum; who themselves lay claim to being the largest obstructionists in the last century; and the main stream media, who literally SWOONS over the Big BO. (including Chris Matthews who confessed getting a warm feeling up his leg for Obama...???) A vast number of Americans are hard working people who don't have time to go and dig deep into every single false allegation that the MSM has made over and over and over...The failure of the surge in Iraq is just one example. So, yes, the approval rating reflected a constant stream of that negativity.

I guess it's too late to get off of the soapbox, so I'll merely close with this...I do NOT hope for the failure of Obama per se. I do not want to see our country mired ever deeper into an unnavigable bog. But I know Obama's ideology. And that is what I hope will fail. I don't subscribe to the "fashionable" belief that gov't is the source of our answers while free market enterprise is the source of our problems. I believe it's vice versa.

Ciao.

-- Posted by Mickel on Fri, Jan 23, 2009, at 11:08 PM

I find it funny that President Obama decided that one of the first orders of his presidency is to close Gitmo in the name of security for the US, but what are we going to do with those detainees? And the fact that it has now been stated that a new #2 in Al Quada was once detained at Gitmo, but due to pressure was released and now we have to worry about him again. There have been around 45 people that have been detected back on the battlefield after once being detained at Gitmo... I guess he was right, we don't need Gitmo.

Conservatism is not dead, it got infected with people claiming to be conservatives who were in fact Liberals. The best thing that we can hope for is that in 4 years people will realize their mistake and vote for an actual conservative rather than someone who claims he is one .

I wish Obama well, however I do not wish upon him success because if he has success, he will go against most everything that I believe in.

-- Posted by proudconservative on Sat, Jan 24, 2009, at 1:53 AM

I know you are conservative G5, as am I. I could be wrong, but I believe the blind sheik and some of his minions are incarcerated in Minnesota.

-- Posted by doodle bug on Sat, Jan 24, 2009, at 1:30 PM

I knew someone would bring up the supposed new terrorists that have been released from Gitmo. Our Department of Defense can't even sum up a number. It's as high as 50 as low as 2.

I think the fact that anyone released from Gitmo goes directly to Gitmo is more of an indictment on Gitmo and the Bush presidency than anything else. The fact the we tortured these men to get shaky intel and then release them because we can't charge them with any crimes and they become a terrorist is pretty high indictment on torture as a whole.

By the way, Steffanie? Love your comebacks, they bring a smile to my face everyday. Also, if you actually ever bothered to pay attention you would know that Obama hasn't released a single terrorist from Gitmo, that he has ordered it to be closed in a year. No, no all these supposed terrorists that have been released were released by your patron saint, George Walker Bush.

-- Posted by MichaelHendricks on Mon, Jan 26, 2009, at 7:50 AM

There you go again. I love it Steffanie. You crack me up. I can't even take you serious.

-- Posted by MichaelHendricks on Mon, Jan 26, 2009, at 11:33 AM

Mickel,

You want to talk about dishonesty. You didn't even mention the numerous times we had a chance to get OBL and Bush either never acted on it or sent other less qualified (Afghani soldiers) in to get him or completely turn his focus off OBL and on Iraq which had nothing what-so-ever with the 9/11 attacks.

This is what I love about the undying loyalty you have for Bush. The number one goal of the Bush presidency after 9/11 was to get OBL until the realized they had dropped the ball and didn't know where he was so Dubya went on national television and announced he was concerned with OBL. It was like magic, overnight, all the hard right conservatives suddenly went from "Osama bin Laden, dead or alive" to "We shouldn't really be concerned with Osama bin Laden".

Osama bin Laden was RESPONSIBLE for the attacks that killed over 3,000 Americans, and I am so happy that we have a President now that will actually go after him instead of a President who will make lame jokes about finding WMDs (you remember the WMDs that Bush sent thousands of our men and women to die for and he makes jokes).

Enjoy your patron of saint of ineptitude George Walker Bush, to paraphrase a line from the "Simpson" ... Worst .. President .. Ever!!

-- Posted by MichaelHendricks on Mon, Jan 26, 2009, at 11:43 AM

Mike - Getting Osama. Clinton vs. Bush. Proactive vs. reactive. Which is easier to implement and trigger? Hmmm. Take pregnancy for an example. Your complaints are noted but your Golden Adultery Boy failed and you are trying to pin it on his successor. Pitiful.

Unending loyalty for Bush? Wherever did I mention that? I disagreed with the prescription drug bill, the amnesty bill, the bailout of Fanny and Freddie and the banking industry. Those all smack of bigger government which is ultimately run by liberals. I'm against all that.

Things he did right. Keep Gore and Lurch...I mean Kerry out of office. Secured the safety of this nation in EVERY instance after the initial attacks on 9/11; including the VERY scary and dangerous video tapes that Osama issued. I see that they really shook YOU up though.

Let's be clear. Every reasonable person on the planet and Hilary, Bill, Kerry, Daschle, Gore (who are not really reasonable so I added them separately) ad infinitum believed that Hussein had WMD's. Sarin gas canisters WERE found, but obviously you put that on your sandwiches, so those don't count as WMD's. Set aside the notion that Hussein himself was one of the most serious WMD's found in the region.

Oh and I'm comforted, believe me, that Obama would willingly engage in a dialogue with radical elements from the middle east. Especially since he's not willing to have a dialogue with sitting Republicans in the House and Senate in the spirt of "bi-partisanship" he so eagerly touted.

You can criticize Mr. Bush all you want. It's your perogative. However your words and your attitude aptly show who you really are.

-- Posted by Mickel on Mon, Jan 26, 2009, at 5:16 PM

Wow you guys really don't pay attention do you. It's the Republicans who won't come to the table in the new Obama administration.

Let's not forget when OBL perputrated this horrible act. It was on Bush's watch. You can blame Clinton as much as you want to, but Bush knew it was coming and ignored it, supposedly because he was already building a case for war against Saddam. But I know, facts don't really mater much to you.

Oh and lets talk about this Sarin gas that the far right so proudly says proves Bush's case. That gas had been sitting in a bunker before the Iraq-Iran war ever ended and it was so degraded that even if used it would probably cause a slighty iritation on the skin.

I want to see if I've got this straight, you're saying Bush kept us safe from video tapes? Wow God bless Dubya.

What I love more than anything is the far right's absolute hatred for Clinton, so much in fact they impeached him for having an affair. More Americans died under Bush's careful watching eye than under Clinton's and all you STILL think about is that he had an affair. Get over it already.

-- Posted by MichaelHendricks on Tue, Jan 27, 2009, at 8:21 AM

Mike - Dude, get some oxygen. Breathe deeply of it and clear your mind of the vitriol. Following is some basic instruction. I'm going to purposely compose it to allow you to follow along.

First of all; it was YOU who made the big deal about OBL being this HUGE security threat to America; and making the case that NOW we would finally be safe from his vicious video tape attacks of late; because the Messiah, Lord Obama, the most merciful is now at the helm of the Oval Office. Do you remember that? Scroll back up and check it out. I'll wait for you to catch up. My point was and still IS...that OBL was bombed back into the stone age...and he hasn't been a REAL threat since boots hit the ground in Afghanistan. You can thank General Tommy Franks and Donald Rumsfeld for that. Oh, and the responsibility trickles up to the former administration. Sorry you don't like it. The subject of OBL still being a threat sure made nice campaign rhetoric though, and was hilarious to watch.

Now of course you have PROOF that Bush knew about OBL's attack prior to 9/11, and the Japanese attack on Pearl harbor, and who shot Kennedy and what Hollywood studio the moon landing was filmed...correct? Please say you have some proof. Because I know credibility matters SO much to you that you wouldn't dare make a fool of yourself by foisting these accusations without substantiation.

You ARE a history teacher, are you not? Do you actually believe that Clinton was impeached over tainting the Oval Office with his extramarital activity? Really? You mean it WASN'T because William Jefferson Blythe Clinton lied to a Grand Jury and tampered with witnesses? Oh man, it really COULD have been about sex? Dude....Seriously?

You may also want to brush up on your knowledge about Sarin gas. It's obvious you never heard anything about it or it's discovery in Iraq till now, precluding of course what you read on the Daily KO's. Can you say subjective news source? Sarin gas is a nerve agent, and the delivery of it through artillery shells is quite efficient if you are a "bad guy", because the compound is found in a binary configuration which maximizes the life of the agent; and makes the ordinance quite safe for handlers prior to launch and detonation. I'm SURE that YOU of course knew when these shells were manufactured and how long they were stored. No? Well neither did the tried and true highly trained military experts that were called in to handle the ordinance. You just keep going on about it though; and tell the little kids in your class that Saddam was the real victim. Certainly the citizens of Iraq DESERVED to get bombed with a nerve agent. And by the way; Sarin gas was used against US soldiers in the Iraqi theater as late as 2004.

I think it's really sad that you are guided ideologically by the likes of the Simpsons'; although I must confess that it's not really surprising. And by the way; more Americans died in ONE DAY under the watchful eye of Franklin Delano Roosevelt than under eight years of George W. Bush; but you're not a history teacher so you really couldn't be expected to know that.

-- Posted by Mickel on Tue, Jan 27, 2009, at 11:03 AM

sorry Mike, you lose on this one.

-- Posted by doodle bug on Wed, Jan 28, 2009, at 12:10 PM

Barack Obama is half black. Yeah!!!!!!!!!

Barack Obama's supporters need to get over his race because the man is making mistake after mistake.

Bill Richardson - Investigation.

Gheitner - Tax Cheat

Daschal - Tax Cheat.

Hillary "inflating her resume" - Sec of State.

Our current President needs to consider that race will get you so far then results matter.

-- Posted by wallismarsh on Sun, Feb 1, 2009, at 11:58 AM