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Inauguration coverage

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Written by Mickey McLean

January 20, 2009, 9:16 AM

It’s a new year, and today we’ll have a new president, and you can stay involved in the national conversation at WORLDmag.com. Stop by our home page throughout the day to follow our coverage of the inauguration of the 44th president, Barack Obama.

Here’s a sampling of our coverage so far this morning:

LEAD STORY Final hours: Mindy Belz reports on how George W. Bush and Barack Obama are filling their pre-inaugural hours with somber tasks.

COMMENTARY Cross my heart: Andrée Seu writes about the significance of taking the oath of president of the United States.

SCHEDULE: Today’s schedule of official and unofficial activities surrounding President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration.

PODCAST: Cashing in on the inauguration: Emily Belz strolls Washington’s National Mall in search of the most unique inauguration souvenirs. Listen to vendors hawking everything from calendars to Obama-flops to inauguration-inspired rap music.

Topic: News Desk, Newsworthy

Keywords: barack-obama, george-w.-bush, inauguration

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back to top19 Comments to “Inauguration coverage”

BY Joel Mark 01.20.09 AT 10:11 AM

“Little children, keep yourself from idols.”
New Testament, 1 John 5:21.
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BY donna j 01.20.09 AT 10:22 AM

Our paper is all the way on the other side of the country but is still going all-out today. All of our reporters are fanning out to cover “viewing” parties this morning and blogging non-stop about how people are celebrating the event.

I hate to be a party-pooper, but I will be sorta glad when the hoopla is over already. I’m not much of an inauguration person in general, I guess, I watch them, they’re a great testament to America’s democratic system, but I am not particularly mesmerized by all the pageantry, even when the candidate I’ve voted for wins.

I honestly can’t really remember much about any of the past inaugurations, except Hillary’s red hat as they walked in the parade.

So this year’s obsession with the inaugural seems so overblown to me, though I realize the historic nature of it and that is exciting.

But still ……..
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BY Michael Martin 01.20.09 AT 10:45 AM

I have no interest at all in watching or listening to all this orgy of Obama worship that will infest our airwaves today.

I may listen to his acceptance speech, but as to all the other mindless slobbering over him, there are a million and one other things that are a more productive use of my time.
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BY kBells 01.20.09 AT 11:40 AM

As a compromise I will watch it on FOX.
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BY Make it Man 01.20.09 AT 11:45 AM

Here’s the opener for an article over at National Review Online:

The Bush administration formally declared a federal emergency in the District of Columbia. So what was it? An ice storm? A hurricane? No, it’s the inauguration of his successor.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZGFlMzQ2NDA2MWFmOTMwMjAxYzZhOWI4ZGU5NTAzNzU=
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BY kBells 01.20.09 AT 12:01 PM

Pastor Warren did a good job.
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BY kBells 01.20.09 AT 12:03 PM

I’m going to try to get my son to watch a little and try to get him to understand the historical significance, but I doubt he’ll get it just yet.
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BY Xion 01.20.09 AT 12:12 PM

I noticed that Biden’s oath was more like the standard military oath, “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”. Obama was not required to say this.

I am not complaining mind you, I am simply wondering why the President is not required to say this.
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BY SteveG 01.20.09 AT 12:18 PM

Xion: He and Roberts agreed to leave that part out so he can let the terrorists attack without violating an oath, which is necessary for the integrity of his secret Muslim faith.

The real answer: The Presidential Oath is in the Constitution and is always done just as written there.
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BY KevinB 01.20.09 AT 12:58 PM

It looks like the Vice-President’s oath isn’t prescribed in the Constitution like the President’s is. Anyone know where the wording came from?
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BY Michael Martin 01.20.09 AT 1:05 PM

Having just listened to Obama’s speech, I say that it was a great sounding speech, full of soaring rhetoric and delivered passionately and flawlessly.

HOWEVER, it’s true worth, whether great or abysmal, will be measured by how he brings his words to fruition. Only then will we know the true meaning of his lofty sounding words.

Ask in four years if it was a great speech. Judging by all his past performances, his past votes, his past sympathies, his past associations, his past deceitfulness, I think we have more than ample reason to suspect that any real “greatness” in this speech is as counterfeit as its author.
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BY Xion 01.20.09 AT 1:40 PM

Thanks SteveG.
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BY donna j 01.20.09 AT 2:06 PM

Here’s our (local) blog coverage so far:

http://www.insidesocal.com/southbay/2009/01/extra-extra-special-edition-da.html
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BY donna j 01.20.09 AT 2:08 PM

sorry, that link should have been:

http://www.insidesocal.com/southbay/
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BY KevinB 01.20.09 AT 2:17 PM

The oath Joe Biden took is specified in the US Code, Title 5, Subpart B, Chapter 33, Subchapter II, Paragraph 3331. If I’m reading it right, it applies to every federal government employee besides the president.

An individual, except the President, elected or appointed to an office of honor or profit in the civil service or uniformed services, shall take the following oath: “I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” This section does not affect other oaths required by law.
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BY NJLawyer 01.20.09 AT 8:02 PM

Orin Kerr at the Volokh posted the following joke as a topic: “How many former editors of the Harvard Law Review does it take to administer the Presidential oath properly?” … “More than two.”
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BY donna j 01.20.09 AT 8:13 PM

OK, I’ve never seen so much written about an inauguration in my lifetime. And I’ve written my share of it today.

(And we actually have a life-sized, cut-out cardboard figure of Obama standing now in our newsroom, I kid you not, with people posing proudly for photos with “the one.” I’ve finally entered the Twilight Zone.)
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BY RPN 01.20.09 AT 8:52 PM

Right on Donna! I want one of those cut outs of Obama. A bar in our town has one of Obama and one of Biden in their two windows. Too cool!
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BY Cheryl D. 01.20.09 AT 10:27 PM

One thing that struck me today is how hard it must be on a first family to have such young children. As Mr. and Mrs. Obama were photographed walking together, I wondered where the children were. When reporters spoke of the ten Inauguration balls and said they were expected to be out till four in the morning, I thought of those two little girls with their first night in the White House–and no parents there to tuck them in. I hope they’re at least being cared for by a beloved grandmother or someone they know well!
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