Obama's Inaguration
 

Well guys im pretty much in the thick of this insanity at the moment. Its insane crowds starting gathering at about 5 to 6am people are stuck at the metro because the streets are just so crowded. They are calling this inauguration the largest in US history. 2 million people so far have descended on the Lincoln Memorial and the crowd is growing. Even in the suburbs the presence of the Inauguration can be felt and the excitement is growing hour by hour. The 20 degree weather is nothing compared to the excitement that people are feeling today.

I will be posting pictures as the day goes on from events and of course of Obama himself. I am going to try to get a picture of the motorcade if i can even get to the parade site which im thinking i might not be able to do.

I would like our other forum members in other countries if there is a party or some gathering going on right now post it up. I'm curious as to what is going on in other countries iv already gotten confirmation from friends in Germany and the UK that there are huge parties going on.

*This is about the Inauguration its self not a political stand point or platform of any kind try to keep it clean people*

MSNBC is streaming the event live here is the link.
msnbc.com Video Player

A couple of more pics

2 nice one's from Japan

It was quite a speech. Looking forward to seeing your pics.

Well that was nice speech and as i stand here in the freezing cold with my Iphone (so i can keep in touch with all my JF mates) i was actually very touched its been a long time since iv felt this way about a politician.

Well when i get home i will upload some of the pics i took.

Very cool. I want to hear about your experience in detail.

I watched it on TV, and was like wow! My mum was crying xD I'm glad I got to see such a significant historical event.

Pretty special moment.

I appear to have missed it >.>

as bad as it may seem I'm not bursting to see it, i will watch it, probably later tonight though

Is your mother, perhaps, a bit of cynic? :)

Scottish? :p

(to a brit; so many jokes get ingrained; although i can imagine my parents having the same reaction (too Obama) :rolleyes: )

Hmmm.....damn I missed it but I assure you I shall watch it later, :) Can't miss a historical event like this, but i bet it was Long-Winded though.

Actually it wasn't long-winded. Good all the way through. Though the Poem was painful....I watched most of it in my Government class. People at my college were standing around the tvs watching. Pretty cool to say the least.

Hmmm.....Good :) glad it wasnt too long winded, but a poem. I think this is cool because alot of people never thought they would see this, I didn't either to be honest. I think he shall be a good president.

Same here my step mother was crying..It was a good speech (a quick one) I really appreciate the Obama Touch

I'm going to say that the Inaugural speech was quite good and the enthusiasm was tangible. I especially liked the bit about fighting communism with principles.

Things are about to become quite interesting, I think I'll put some tea on the burner and watch the scene unfold.

I missed it too.

Lol don't mean any offense but.. don't you think its a bit melodramatic that she was crying?
Sure its "historical" but I dunno.. I associate tears of joy, (from women) with having a baby or getting out of a war zone alive by the skin of your teeth.
Maybe i'm a bit out of touch with the scope of peoples emotions though. :mtongue:

i woke up early to watch it and wouldnt you know, i ended up falling asleep. ill watch it later though

Maybe being optimistic about the next 4 years made her tear up, i dunno different things spark different emotions for people. My grandmother cried but i expected that after all that she has seen over the past 70 years in this country and all that she went through i would expect nothing less. I think Obama's rise to President is seen differently from the younger to older generations. I dont look at it really as him being black as much as say my grandmother.

Sometimes i feel my generation are a bunch pansies. Compared to what our predecessors went through we have it easy and only whine about the most innate things.

Oh well i will say this it was FREAKIN cold im so not getting out of DC tonight lol

lol I admit that it seems a BIT melodramatic but I can understand her feeling.I called my mum few min. after the speech and she was cryin' too. U know they both grew up with racism or segregation (my step mother is white)So I can understand the fact that they are so touched by that..Personaly I grew up with black,white,asian,etc..so it seems more "normal" for me..im just happy for him and hope he'll made a good job

Lol, my mum cries at Eastenders. I don't think she can help it xD I just think it's the strength of empathy etc that'd make you like that.

See, I absolutely understand why your grandmother would cry. I can somewhat understand why Koakus step mother would cry, even though I don't think shes African-American.
I don't understand why someone who hasn't seen that stuff, would cry though.. but its not a big deal lol.
As for what you said about your generation, I absolutely agree. Maybe there was more unity back in those days though, a kind of "lets get around the fireplace and sing" thing. I don't see that now and I don't think voting in Obama will change that.
Oh well i'm not gonna bitch.. i'll just try to be optimistic about the whole thing.

ps. Great job on the front line reporting!

I dunno i'm pretty empathic but I get what you mean. I'm a guy and am not supposed to show emotion much afterall. :D

Ok that makes sense to me then. *nods*

:marusmile: I am so honnored to have Obama as my president. I unfortunately did not get to vote for him because I will not be 18 till this March but I would have if I could have. The rest of my family are insulted because my family used to own slaves a long time ago and for that I am disgusted. I hate my family for that reason because nobody deserves to be treated like an animal. I am also getting very frustrated with all the white supremesists in my town because there all like that n***er is gonna get shot, he gonna get assasinated, watch he wont last long, and I am like shut the F*** up! He is not gonna be shot he is under the greatest security that he can be. And I know that if a fellow American saw somebody try to hurt our president that they would stop them. This is exactly what our country needs right now. I will admit that I too cried when I watched the innaguration. I cried because it gave me hope that we are ready to change. If he can become president of the United States then as long as I don't lose hope my dreams will come true. I am rele scared for the future ahead because i graduate high school in a couple of months and Im scared to live in the real world and take care of myself but I feel that nomatter what is thrown my way from here on I will never give up and I refuse to fail. Well, I have been rambling for too long. I just wanted to put in my opinion. Who ever reads all of this im amazed because I wrote a lot but ya.

GO OBAMA!!!!!!!!YAY!!!!!!!!WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!:D :marusmile:

We watched it @ my school! X_X
it was pretty Epic!

i enjoyed it and we stood up a lot lol

the poets delivery was terrible though.

but the Reverend was pretty good!

and I was hoping Bush would make a passing the torch speech.
(not that i like bush, but i was expecting it)

A LOT of people were crying. He is a moving speaker.

Lol Agreed

Eh, my school wouldn't let us watch it, which I am happy for.
Not an Obama supporter. =/

P.S I don't understand why this is "historical"?
He's not full black? He's half white, what's the big deal?

regardless of being full black or not it's ground breaking
1. because of his color
2. because he's a man with ideals that most americans agree with.

But it is indeed historical, because he is black, even if its just half. He had lots of supporters but no one thought he would win, and its well big to people who never thought they would experience this moment in time of seeing a black man become president, like I said I didnt think i would see it either. So to alot of people its quite a special day, this day would've just been a normal day if McCain won the presidency. I'am certainly glad to be able to witness a moment in time like this too. Makes me quite happy :)

agreed!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure. sry to annoy you.
but i thought he was going to be (lol)

Carly, you live in the South. How could you ask that question?

D=>
I just don't get it though.
It seems they're over-reacting just a tad.

I agree...I mean, he's still just a person. Just cus he's an African-American president shouldn't really mean anything

Though my whole 4th period laughed when he messed up at the part where he had to repeat the thingymajig.

And my 5th period teacher is protestin against him...by not watching -_- whoopdy stink

That's what I don't get.
I mean, I guess it was "cool" for some people to have
a "black" president (though he's half-white) but I mean
it's been a while now. Let's get over it now. I think
people very focusing only on THAT and weren't
focusing on his goals for the country.

But that's not the point of this thread, I think?

Really, in a way I want to see the inauguration,
but I think I would just get pissed off, and since I
don't watch the news, I don't know where I could
watch it from anyway.

Well my dads 53, he's from LA and when he was in school it was segregated, and that was just in the 60's, he was also in school when they were integrated too ^_^ so it was historic for him because he lived through, the unfair things in life, however my mom didnt she grew up in the North, its the fact that this has happened and its big to people like my family and a lot of others. Im glad this day has came where we can look past color...well alot can. :)

You guys are young, so I wouldn't expect you to understand.

If you see the speech, he says "60 years ago, my father wouldn't have been served food in a Washington DC restaurant, and now his son has been asked to serve as the country's president." The point is not the color of his skin, but the PROGRESS this country has made.

I think it's great that you don't think it's a big deal that he is black. THAT is progress, too. But for your parents and grandparents it is a HUGE deal.

I know! and my band teacher pointed out to us that most people that voted for him only see $ signs. W/ the government fundin for doctor visits and stuff...he doesn't think that they understand that means that the government chooses WHEN you go to the doctor, WHICH doctor you see, and WHAT medication you're allowed to recieve (which is why a lot of canadians come down here for medical. cus they have that and we dont...yet)

I watched what they showed in school and that was about it. I could care less about who the president is...as long as we don't go boom I'll be fine XD

But it seems as if everyone is focusing on the fact that he 'made history' That's all I hear and see on the news and websites "Obama makes history. First African-American President"