Topic: The Inauguration

[Ghandi]

Anyone watching?

I'm skipping class to watch. There amount of people that turned out is staggering. People are gathered up to two miles back. It's nuts.

[K-man]

Yeah, I tried to watch it at work but I got occupied right as he was sworn in.  I'll watch a replay on youtube tonight

[Cobra951]

Watched it.  Was impressed by the size of the crowd.  Was warmed by the cordiality between incoming and outgoing administrations.  Was pissed at Wolf Blitzer for interrupting the performance by some of the world's foremost musicians, and switched to Fox news within 6 of his ill-timed words.  Was shocked at the flub of the oath of office.  Was reassured by the tone of Obama's speech.  Was once again warmed by the embrace between Obama and Bush 43.  Am now watching the activities following.  Hail to the Chief, plays now.

Oh, and now former Vice President Potter made the inauguration, all the way from Bedford Falls. 

[sirean_syan]

I was there... sort of.

[Cobra951]

I'm jealous.  I could have recorded all this to watch after I came back from whatever part of the real thing I got to experience.  Awesome picture.

Wait, where is that?

[sirean_syan]

UC Berkeley in the main plaza.

[shock]

I was actually there!

It was a great experience.  I got down to the mall at about 7:30am and stood there until the speeches began at 11:15ish.  We were way, way far back but I am happy I was able to be there.

I'll try and get some pictures up when I can.

[beo]

yeah, watched it. his speech was pretty good - obviously we don't know how good he's actually going to be yet, but his ideals certainly seem in the right place. noticed that bush got a little bit of booing when his image appeared on the big screens, which was kind of funny.

as an aside, does it irritate any of you secular types that religion played such a part in this considering that church and state are meant to be separate? i felt like i was watching a church service half the time!

[Cobra951]

It doesn't bother me, but I did notice it.  How separate church and state are depends on the clout of the public servants, I guess.

But the traditions and origins of this country are Christian.  Let's not kid ourselves that we can isolate the two from each other completely.  One more political point:  Freedom of religion doesn't mean freedom from religion.  As long as everyone can practice their beliefs, nothing like today's ceremonies will ever bother me.

Edit:

UC Berkeley in the main plaza.

Hehe!  Yes, it took me a couple minutes to notice it looks nothing like Washington.  I wasn't paying enough attention.

[Pugnate]

OK what's so special about Berkeley?

[beo]

Let's not kid ourselves that we can isolate the two from each other completely.

most of western europe manages okay, but then we're generally more secular anyway - especially in the UK. sorry, going off topic a bit here, but it's the first time i've watched something like this in it's entirety and the religious tones both surprised and agitated me. eh, not my country and all that...

[Cobra951]

One thing that's unique about this inauguration is the Black history that comes with it.  That has a very definite Christian base.  Black preachers and pastors are prominent leaders, including Martin Luther King.  The old Black clergyman who spoke so eloquently and passionately is one of those leaders who was there through the history of the Civil Rights movement.  If I can find or recall his name, I'll update.

[Ghandi]

Was pissed at Wolf Blitzer for interrupting the performance by some of the world's foremost musicians, and switched to Fox news within 6 of his ill-timed words. 

I can't stand Blitzer. If you listen to him, 75% of what he says is just filler. He can speak at length and say absolutely nothing.

The speech was good. The poem after was an odd choice to follow the speech. I was confused. And the two senators collapsing was a little deflating.

[idolminds]

Freedom of religion doesn't mean freedom from religion.  As long as everyone can practice their beliefs, nothing like today's ceremonies will ever bother me.

If I understand you correctly, you mean freedom from religion as "you cant expect to never have to see or deal with religion", which I agree with. Other than that, freedom from religion is part of freedom of religion.

Can't have "freedom of choice" where "none" isn't an option, for example.

I did like that in his speech Obama actually acknowledged "non-believers". We're moving up in the world.

*EDIT*
Uh, I don't really want to get in a religious argument and stuff so...yeah. Just wanted to say this.

*EDIT2*

I thought this was worth tossing in here. Penn Jillette posted this on his Twitter account: "How pathetic is it that there's mentions of god all over and even a minister and prayers, and we Atheists rolling over for a mention?"

[KontrollerX]

Everything was good except the botch of the swearing in but hey this whole thing had to of been a pile of stress for the guy so we can give him a pass for that.

In anycase I like how during his speech he mentioned non believers being a part of the country.

Its better than how Bush's daddy as our former president said he didn't think atheists should even be considered citizens.

[Ghandi]

Everything was good except the botch of the swearing in but hey this whole thing had to of been a pile of stress for the guy so we can give him a pass for that.

Actually the Chief Justice said it wrong, not Obama. Obama stumbled at the beginning but he said the second part right. It's kind of funny that a Supreme Court Justice botched the swearing in -  it looked like Obama was trying not to laugh.

[Cobra951]

And the reason he stumbled in the beginning was the lousy cadence of the Chief Justice's lead.  He paused, then continued talking after Obama repeated the words before the ill-timed pause.  As I see it, if the Chief Justice had wanted to embarrass Obama on purpose, he couldn't have done a better job and gotten away with it.

[Ghandi]

Overkill?

[gpw11]

I missed everything.  I'm so feverish I think I'm dying, and I keep pushing to point where I should go to the doctor further and further back.  For the record, I'm at about 103, and I can no longer swallow.

Still, someone had it on the TV here and i could hear it.  It sounded pretty momentous.

[Ghandi]

If you're at 103 you need to go to the doctor immediately. That's pretty serious.

Why are you even delaying a visit? You live in Canada. Go see a doctor.

[beo]

I missed everything.  I'm so feverish I think I'm dying, and I keep pushing to point where I should go to the doctor further and further back.  For the record, I'm at about 103, and I can no longer swallow.

Still, someone had it on the TV here and i could hear it.  It sounded pretty momentous.

that sucks. had something like that just before christmas. phoned the doctor and they told me to gargle with soluble aspirin. that and a shit load of ibuprofen seemed to do the trick.

[gpw11]

hmmmm, i'll look into that for sure.  I've already caved on the painkillers a bit and I can sort of eat now, which is awesome.

[Quemaqua]

*sigh*

[W7RE]

I was at work all day, so I kinda missed out on the whole inauguration of Not-Bush-Not-Republican...     errr, Obama.

I guess people need a big celebration to point out the mental shift in acceptance, but I'd rather see a typical inauguration that didn't say "HEY, HE'S BLACK, JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE." People will overemphasize it, and forget who he is or what it stands for, and instead just remember that he was the first black president.

I guess the whole religion thing has to do with point of view. You guys talk about being glad that Atheists were actually mentioned. My thoughts on the current situation are more along the lines of "why won't Atheists stop preaching at me and saying I'm a horrible person because of my faith?" I would have watched and been thankful no one was taken into custody forcing religion into the ceremonies.

[beo]

I guess the whole religion thing has to do with point of view. You guys talk about being glad that Atheists were actually mentioned. My thoughts on the current situation are more along the lines of "why won't Atheists stop preaching at me and saying I'm a horrible person because of my faith?" I would have watched and been thankful no one was taken into custody forcing religion into the ceremonies.

no-one is saying you're a horrible person because of your faith here. i just think a person's religion is about as important as their favourite colour and should have absolutely nothing to do with politics.

[idolminds]

"why won't Atheists stop preaching at me and saying I'm a horrible person because of my faith?"

I don't really know how to respond to this because it seems like such a backwards statement.

[Ghandi]

i just think a person's religion is about as important as their favourite colour and should have absolutely nothing to do with politics.

Well that's fine and dandy but you'd be naive to think that religion doesn't play a role in politics. I couldn't agree more with separation of church and state but it's never been a clearly defined line.

Though I do agree with you on your original post about the religion in the ceremony. There was a prayer that was quite long before Barack's speech. I didn't expect that.

[W7RE]

I didn't say anyone here was saying I was a horrible person because of my faith. I know that. I'm speaking of the general population (or I guess the vocal minority).

You may say it's backwards, but think about this: I'm a Christian. Most of my friends are not, and they know that I am. I don't ask them to go to church with me, I don't tell them they have to switch to my religion, I just hang out with them and be friends. So then someone not in our group of friends is hanging out with us at some point and he starts going on rambling about how organized religion is for mindless sheep, and Christians are pushy and controlling, and should all be put to death. How should I feel about this? I don't act like that, but I'm a Christian. I just recieved abuse because of this overgeneralization that Christians are horrible people. How do you expect me to feel like Christianity is accepted in the world today when I hear this kind of verbal abuse all the time and never do anything to instigate it?

[idolminds]

Well, some people are just assholes. It goes both ways though. If I walked around with a shirt on declaring I'm an atheist I'd see a lot of one finger hand gestures, colorful language, death threats, and many other such nasty things. Though I suppose it depends on where you live. Kind of like wearing a christian tshirt in downtown Baghdad would be a bad idea.

People just suck.

[Ghandi]

Changing subjects briefly, I'd just like to say good riddance to Dick Cheney, one of the most evil men that has ever run this country. May he one day fully understand the consequences of his actions.

[Cobra951]

Mr Potter.  I'm telling you, perfect portrayal of the perfect rich old villain.

If I understand you correctly, you mean freedom from religion as "you cant expect to never have to see or deal with religion", which I agree with. Other than that, freedom from religion is part of freedom of religion.

Can't have "freedom of choice" where "none" isn't an option, for example.

I did like that in his speech Obama actually acknowledged "non-believers". We're moving up in the world.

Yes, the first choice is right.  That's what I meant.  And I mean that completely.  Overt religious practice by itself is not grounds for any restrictive action, anywhere.  If it offends you, you have a problem.  It in no way demeans you or forces you to participate.

[gpw11]

Okay, what the fuck?  Last i was around we were talking about me and everything is good.  And now you're arguing politics and religion.  It's not that it's a bad thing, it's just that it doesn't have much to do with me.

So, i went to the doctor and they told me i'm basically not allowed to go to school,work, or exercise for a week and a bit.  This would be awesome if I didn't have to use up some vacation days, didn't still have to catch up on the work in school and ... well, i don't really care about the exercise.  it's not like i was going to lift mad weight when i can barely get out of bed anyways.

The doctor was kind of an idiot.  This was a clinic, and it just so happened to be the same lady that burned a hole into my dick.  She took my temperature, said something about rheumatic fever in her accent (wait...it IS or ISN'T THAT?!), took some swabs of my throat and told me it was either mono or strep throat.  She then gave me a prescription for penicillin.   I'm not one of those people that are all like "Anti-biotics are the devil" because if you know when to take them and take them right i don't really think it's all that bad.  That said, what if it's mono?  Like, i've had strep before, and it's never been this bad.  Mental note: don't go to that clinic to get my Viagra prescription (don't ask).

[W7RE]

Burnt a hole in your dick? .....

[Pugnate]

I think that's street for, gave me an STD.

[gpw11]

I motherfucking wish. 

So, this topic has gotten so much more interesting, and yet no one is posting here anymore.  What is wrong with you people? We're talking about my health here!

[Pugnate]

They've got a fiery case of penis envy.

[Ghandi]

So, this topic has gotten so much more interesting, and yet no one is posting here anymore.  What is wrong with you people? We're talking about my health here!

I was mostly pissed that my toxin failed to kill you. Back to the lab...

[Pugnate]

He has developed natural resistances to most.