It should say - pick your favorite quote about the Inauguration now!
Here's a the "real" sampling of the media swooning over Obama before/during/after the Inauguration. -Caution -Read it, only if you can believe you can stomach it. (quotes gathered by MRC, comics gathered by me)
A Day When Even the Seagulls Were Awed"We know that wind can make a cold day feel colder, but can
national pride make a freezing day feel warmer? It seems to be the
case because regardless of the final crowd number estimates, never
have so many people shivered so long with such joy. From above, even
the seagulls must have been awed by the blanket of humanity."
-- ABC's Bill Weir on World News, January 20.
"What a day it was. It may take days or years to really absorb the
significance of what happened to America today....When he [Barack
Obama] finally emerged, he seemed, even in this throng, so solitary,
somber, perhaps already feeling the weight of the world, even before
he was transformed into the leader of the free world....The mass
flickering of cell phone cameras on the mall seemed like stars
shining back at him."
-- NBC's Andrea Mitchell on the January 20 Nightly News.
"A new day is dawning here in the nation's capital on the eve of the
inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United
States...Does it get any better, or more beautiful, or more
spectacular, than this?"
-- Co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez opening CBS's Early Show, January 19.
"America the Beautiful: The nation and the world pause to witness an
extraordinary milestone as nearly two million people come together to
hail the new chief and celebrate an era of change."
-- ABC's Terry Moran opening Nightline, January 20.
After Eight Years of Bush, Finally Some Smart People in Charge
"Brains are in the ascendancy now, absolutely. They're such a brainy Cabinet."
-- Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth during NBC's live coverage,
January 20.
A Great Day for Objectivity
NBC's Al Roker: "You know, Brian, I gotta tell ya, it was a very
emotional trip....I had tears in my eyes...."
Anchor Brian Williams: "Al, I'd love to tell you that I have no
idea what you're talking about, that everybody here kept their
emotions thoroughly in check during the ceremony, but I'd be lying to
you, my friend."
-- Exchange during NBC's live coverage January 20 following Obama's
swearing-in.
Matthews: It's an "Honor" to Cover Obama...
"This is one of the great opportunities in journalism to cover
history in the face. We're going to see history in the face and when
you get up tomorrow morning I recommend you stay tuned all day
because I don't think you're going to stop seeing history being
made....It's going to be the honor of our lifetimes to be here on the
Washington Mall."
-- MSNBC's Chris Matthews previewing his network's inauguration
coverage, January 19 Hardball.
..And We've Opened Our Hearts to Change
"I have never seen so many teeth in my life. Everybody is
smiling....It's radiant, the happiness....It sure as hell helps to be
on MSNBC, let's talk straight here. This is the network that has
opened its heart to change -- to change and its possibilities. Let's
be honest about it. These -- these people [the crowds at the
Inaugural] watch this network out here....This is the network of the
21st century, MSNBC....We're not crotchety about change -- stuffy."
-- Chris Matthews during MSNBC's live coverage of Obama's
inauguration, January 20.Cheney Exiting Like "Dr. Strangelove"
"It's unfortunate for Vice President Cheney to have had this
accident....There will be those who don't like him, who will be
writing tomorrow that he had a Dr. Strangelove appearance as he
appeared today in his wheelchair. It's not something he'll be happy about."
-- NBC's Tom Brokaw during live coverage, January 20.
Farewell to the Unpopular Dictator
"You know what it [Obama's inauguration] reminds me of? It reminds
me of the Velvet Revolution. I was in Prague when that happened. And
Vaclav Havel was a generational leader and was in the square in
Prague and the streets were filled with joy. And we're not
overthrowing a communist regime here, obviously, but an unpopular
President is leaving and people have been waiting for this moment."
-- NBC's Tom Brokaw during live coverage prior to Obama's
inauguration, January 20.
Bush In "Retreat," Like Executed Russian Czar
MSNBC's Chris Matthews: "Two or three hours from now, we'll have a
brand new President. He will really be the President. Bush will not
be President....It's going to be like the Romanovs, too, and I mean
that. There's a sense here that they are fallen from grace, that
they're not popular, that the whole family will now go into retreat.
You have a sense that the former President Bush already-"
Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson: "[It won't] happen
exactly like the Romanovs-"
Matthews: "It's not like the Romanovs in the end, but there's a
sense of retreat here."
-- Exchange on MSNBC on January 20 about an hour before Obama took
the oath of office, referring to the Russian Czar Nicholas II and his
family, who were executed after the communist revolution of 1917.
First on Obama's Agenda: Arrest the War Criminal Bush
"The most popular question on your own website is related to this. On
change.gov, it comes from Bob Fertik of New York City and he asks,
'Will you appoint a special prosecutor (ideally Patrick Fitzgerald)
to independently investigate the greatest [on-screen graphic says
"gravest"] crimes of the Bush administration, including torture and
warrantless wiretapping?'...No 9/11 commission with independent
subpoena power?....Let me just press that one more time. You're not
ruling out prosecution, but will you tell your Justice Department to
investigate these cases and follow the evidence wherever it leads?"
-- ABC's George Stephanopoulos to Obama on This Week, January 11.
"This country has never succeeded in moving forward without first
cleansing itself of its mistaken past....We compromised with slavery
in the Declaration of Independence, and, fourscore and nine years
later, we had buried 600,000 of our sons and brothers in a civil
war....What we have to focus on is getting things right in the
future, as opposed to looking at what we got wrong in the past. And
that means prosecuting all those involved in the Bush
administration's torture of prisoners, and starting at the top."
-- MSNBC's Keith Olbermann in a "Special Comment" on Countdown,
January 19.
Chris Scolds "Hermit Crab" Bush for "Not True" Belief in Freedom
"He was a rich kid driving his father's car. He got to be President
because of his father, let's face it, the same way he got into school
and everything else....The scary thing about Bush is he picked up on -
- almost in the way that a hermit crab does -- another identity in
becoming President....He became this new scholar of freedom, and he's
going to spend the rest of his life selling this stuff. This stuff
cost the lives of 100,000 Iraqis, it cost the lives of 4,000 U.S.
service people....The idea that we have some brand new neo-
conservative ideology of freedom that's going to bring peace over in
that part of the world is not true, and he's still selling it, and
that's the tragedy of the last eight years."
-- MSNBC's Chris Matthews immediately following President Bush's
farewell speech, January 15.
Press Gets Intimate with Obama
"I've been reading the pool reports that have been filed by reporters
on the train and they refer to Barack Obama as 'PEBO,' which is short
for 'President-elect Barack Obama' and there's an intimacy and a
familiarity on that train, a down-home folksiness, that belies the
tremendous hopes that not only the country, but the whole world, have
for him."
-- Newsweek's Howard Fineman during live MSNBC coverage of Obama's
January 17 arrival in Washington, D.C.
CNN Expected an Inaugural Speech "For the Ages"
"Barack Obama has some big shoes to fill, roughly the size of the
ones up on the Lincoln Memorial....Obama's inaugural address may be
more than the speech of his lifetime. Historians and speechwriters
say it could be one for the ages."
-- CNN's Jim Acosta on American Morning, January 13.
Bush's "Lavish" Inaugural Scolded, But "Go for Glitz" with Obama
"So you're attending an inaugural ball saluting the historic election
of Barack Obama in the worst economic climate in three generations.
Can you get away with glitzing it up and still be appropriate, not to
mention comfortable and financially viable? To quote the man of the
hour: Yes, you can. Veteran ballgoers say you should. And
fashionistas insist that you must....And if anyone does raise an
eyebrow at those sequins, remind them that optimism is good for times
like these. 'Just say you're doing it to help the economy,' chuckled
good manners guru Letitia Baldridge."
-- AP writer Laurie Kellman in a January 13 dispatch, "For Inaugural
Balls, Go for Glitz, Forget Economy."
vs.
"President Bush's second inauguration will cost tens of millions of
dollars -- $40 million alone in private donations for the balls,
parade and other invitation-only parties. With that kind of money,
what could you buy?
- 200 armored Humvees with the best armor for troops in Iraq.
- Vaccinations and preventive health care for 22 million children
in regions devastated by the tsunami.
- A down payment on the nation's deficit, which hit a record-
breaking $412 billion last year....
"The questions have come from Bush supporters and opponents: Do we
need to spend this money on what seems so extravagant?"
-- AP writer Will Lester in a January 13, 2005 dispatch, "Some Now
Question Cost of Inauguration."
As Obama Ascends, Horn Honking Ends
"So many of the streets are closed, those that are open are clogged.
But there were no car horns, no shouting. Instead, the San Francisco
Boys and Girls choruses practicing for their Inaugural moment on the
steps of the Capitol."
-- ABC's David Muir talking about traffic tie-ups associated with
Obama's inaugration, January 19 World News.
Take That, You Rednecks!
"I just want to say one thing. Having been in the South in the '60s
and Los Angeles, in Watts and northern urban areas, when we were
evolving as a country, I'm thinking of all the bigots and rednecks
and people I met along the way. I'm saying to them, 'Take this.' You know?"
-- NBC's Tom Brokaw talking about Obama's inauguration on MSNBC's
Morning Joe, January 20.
Slamming War Criminal Bush's "Profoundly Un-American Administration"
"It [signing a memorandum affirming that the Geneva Convention does
not apply to al-Qaeda terrorists] was his single most callous and
despicable act. It stands at the heart of the national embarrassment
that was his presidency....It would be interesting, just for the fun
and justice of it, to subject [ex-Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld
to four hours in a stress position -- standing stock still with his
arms extended, naked, in a cold room after maybe two hours' sleep.
But that's not going to happen. Indeed, it seems probable that
nothing much is going to happen to the Bush Administration officials
who perpetrated what many legal scholars consider to be war crimes."
-- Time's Joe Klein in "The Bush Administration's Most Despicable
Act," January 19 issue.
"I think this has been a profoundly un-American
administration....[But] it's going to be very hard to prosecute these
people. The Obama folks don't want to do it, because they want to
focus on the big problems we have going forward. It might happen
overseas, you know, I raised the possibility of Cheney being snatched
mid-stream while, you know, fly fishing in Norway, as Augusto
Pinochet, the dictator in Chile, was."
-- Klein on MSNBC's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, January 8, after anchor
David Shuster named him "Muckraker of the Day" for his anti-Bush
column cited above.
To Fix Problems, Let's "Dial Down" Talk Radio & Blogosphere
"We have never in my lifetime faced economic crises such as these,
and opportunities....I think this is an extraordinary moment. I guess
my passion is for something to happen to fix these problems, and for
dialing down of all of the sharp criticism that we have on cable
talk, on talk radio...the blogosphere. I just wish that we could find
something in the center that would be bipartisan and would be
productive and constructive."
-- NBC's Andrea Mitchell on PBS's Charlie Rose, January 7.
Ordinary Demonstrators vs. "Hardline" Demonstrators
"Demonstrators burn an effigy of U.S. President George W. Bush during
a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur...."
-- Reuters photo caption accompanying picture of protest against
Israel's move into Gaza, January 9.
"Hardline demonstrators burn posters of U.S. President-elect Barack
Obama, during a demonstration in support of the people of Gaza...."
-- Reuters photo caption, January 13.
Santa Claus Loves Obama
* MSNBC's Tamron Hall: "What do you think this next administration
brings to the country?"
Obama supporter: "I think they bring diversity. I think they bring
a spirit of excellence. I think they bring unity and they bring love.
Santa Claus loves them."
-- MSNBC live coverage, January 19.
After Eight Years of Hell, Celebrating Soulful, Brilliant Obama
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime situation. The last eight years have been
such hell. We're all so excited about the hope of things to come. I
really think that's part of it. People are so ready to rejoice and
celebrate what is hopefully the return of the foundation of the
United States."
-- Actress Gloria Reuben, as quoted in a January 15 USA Today article.
"I've been around him and shook his hand. He's a truly scholarly man.
I'm very excited that we have this powerful, intelligent,
constitutionally brilliant President. I find him very soulful in private."
-- Actor Josh Lucas, same article.
"I'm calm for the first time in eight years, that somebody is in
charge that has such intelligence and grace and is so thoughtful. I
feel calm that the country is falling apart, but really that he's in
charge now. There's a relief that I feel. After this past
administration, I feel really lucky."
-- Actress Maura Tierney, as quoted in a January 16 USA Today article.
"[Barack Obama's] presence is so larger-than-life. I'm so happy my
children have a real hero to look up to....For a man as intelligent
and charismatic to come along and unite this country....that's really
what America is."
-- Actress Kim Raver, as quoted in the same article.
"Nightmare" of Bush Ruined Thousands of Lives
"We've lived through a nightmare...in the past eight years....We're
going through something that we haven't gone through in my life.
Foreign policy, domestic policy รข€" driven to its breaking point.
Everything got broken. And the philosophy that was at the base of the
last administration has ruined many, many people's lives. The
deregulation, the idea of the unfettered, free market, the blind
foreign policy. This was a very radical group of people who pushed
things in a very radical direction, had great success at moving
things in that direction, and we are suffering the consequences."
-- Singer Bruce Springsteen in an interview with producer Mark Hagen
published January 18 in Britain's The Observer.
Obama's Victory is:
"A victory for the hysterical Oprah Winfrey, the mad racist preacher Jeremiah Wright, the mainstream media who abandoned any sense of objectivity long ago, Europeans who despise America largely because they depend on her, comics who claim to be dangerous and fearless, but would not dare attack genuinely powerful special interest groups.
A victory for Obama-worshippers everywhere. A victory for the cult of the cult. A man who has done little with his life but has written about his achievements as if he had found the cure for cancer in between winning a marathon and building a nuclear reactor with his teeth. Victory for style over substance, hyperbole over history, rabble-raising [sic] over reality.
A victory for Hollywood, the most dysfunctional community in the world. Victory for Streisand, Spielberg, Soros and Sarandon.
Victory for those who prefer welfare to will and interference to independence. For those who settle for group-think and herd mentality rather than those who fight for individual initiative and the right to be out of step with meager political fashion.
Victory for a man who is no friend of freedom. He and his people have already stated that media have to be controlled so as to be balanced, without realizing the extraordinary irony within that statement. Like most liberal zealots, the Obama worshippers constantly speak of Fox and Limbaugh, when the vast bulk of television stations and newspapers are extremely liberal and anti-conservative. Senior Democrat Chuck Schumer said that just as pornography should be censored, so should talk radio. In other words, one of the few free and open means of popular expression may well be cornered and beaten by bullies who even in triumph cannot tolerate any criticism and opposition.
A victory for those who believe the state is better qualified to raise children than the family, for those who prefer teachers' unions to teaching and for those who are naively convinced that if the West is sufficiently weak towards its enemies, war and terror will dissolve as quickly as the tears on the face of a leftist celebrity.
A victory for social democracy even after most of Europe has come to the painful conclusion that social democracy leads to mediocrity, failure, unemployment, inflation, higher taxes and economic stagnation. A victory for intrusive lawyers, banal sentimentalists, social extremists and urban snobs.
Congratulations, America!"
from: an editorial in London Daily Mail
Posts
