Inauguration

[Living-In-Clip]

Just shut up already.
That\'s my advice.
You\'re just a slightly less extreme version of Giga. Doesn\'t make you any less stupid tho\'.

Yay for more of the same! Change is just a word, nothing will change.

If that is the case - quit whining. No big changes you keep ranting about will happen. Make your fucking mind up. Either this nation is changing drastically or nothing is changing at all.

I\'m glad this is all over so now I can stop hearing about how great this is and let the man be president for fucks sake.

I was there today... very cool!  Was cold as hell, but we met tons of cool people and actually got really close to the capital.  I even spotted a celebrity walking around that nobody seemed to notice.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pV4Ij9rsSGw/SXZ5BHBYsxI/AAAAAAAAAVY/p6LsiQ_emBk/s1600-h/IMG_4926%5B1%5D

I was there today... very cool! Was cold as hell, but we met tons of cool people and actually got really close to the capital. I even spotted a celebrity walking around that nobody seemed to notice.
 
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pV4Ij9rsSGw/SXZ5BHBYsxI/AAAAAAAAAVY/p6LsiQ_emBk/s1600-h/IMG_4926%5B1%5D

Is that Samuel Jackson, or is that not the person I was supposed to be looking at?  I agree it\'s hard to tell who they are.  I have the same problem here in Hollywood.  I often have to be close enough to hear their voice in order to be certain.

yeah, it was Sam Jackson.  With the 2 horse cop escort.

It\'s sad that you are hollow already at such a young age.  If only you could believe in something greater than the cash in your wallet.
 
Obama is just a man.  His strength is not in himself, but in the power he awakens in the american public.  We all have work to do to correct the problems in our economy and the injustices suffered by those with fewer resources.  Consider sacrificing some of your time, your labor, and maybe even a little of your money to support your fellow man.  
 
On the other hand maybe you think there is no problem and you\'ll choose to do nothing.  That is up to you.

It is nice to see someone that gets it.

He has awoken a mass of people and encourage them.

My issue with that is, out of those, how many will sit and expect everything to happen on its own?

Part of the Obama popularity, is the fact that he can motivate people. Hitler was a great man in that aspect, if only the other half of his brain was in the rigth spot.

As happy as I am for Obama now, I feel very sorry for the problems he has to deal with immediately. I wonder how many will change their tune when there hasn\'t been a big difference in a years time.

I was there too, so surreal to see huge crowds on 14th st

[clips]

Whether you were against him or for him, there\'s no denying how monumental today was....especially for afri. americans, but even moreso for the country...so instead of criticizing how nothing is going to happen, sit back and reflect on how far this country has come....I think that was the overall theme of today\'s swearing in, couple that with this happening after MLK\'s holiday and this event is even more significant.

The guy inspires alot of people... not black, not white, but americans... and apparently he\'s inspiring people all over the globe. He\'s not going to solve americas problems and the economy overnight, but i\'m willing to give him a chance...that\'s all anybody can do at the moment.

I will agree, I\'ve never seen the nation with so much hope.  I think he\'s inspired a lot of people so for that I applaud him.  I just worry what this nation will turn into if he doesn\'t live up to expectations.

You guys take the glass half full approach, I\'ll take a more realistic approach.

I have nothing against Obama personally, its Obamamania I can\'t stand.

My girlfriend runs a store at an Inner Harbor shopping mall and came home venting the other day about what was apparently more than a couple racist black women mouthing to her (she\'s white) throughout the day that "she\'s in for a rude awakening now" and "now you can see what it\'s like." People were passing through Baltimore by the bus load on their way to DC. Course, then they go on to make a mess and trash the store. Gum on the wall. Half eaten food mixed with the merchandise...
 
Worse, they were acting like that in front of their kids in some cases. It\'s disgusting behavior, but it\'s this population of ignorant people that are totally missing the point here.
 
I think it\'s a mistake to make this too much about race.
 
With his speech, Obama is in part trying to motivate people to help change the country for the better. My girlfriend wouldn\'t watch the inauguration because she knew those women were in the crowd and it made the whole thing seem hypocritical to her.
 
Instead of dwelling on the divisive race issue, people should be looking for ways to unite to help improve things, which is what Obama is looking for, in part. I think that\'s a good idea so I took the time to write to my governor and senator asking them to get the word out - tell people how they can help things.
 
Instead of leaving it at a cliche and a prayer, give the people something to act on. It\'s a chance for our elected officials to actually be good leaders. Hopefully we see some of that while Obama sits down to do what he can from the oval office.

You guys take the glass half full approach, I\'ll take a more realistic approach.

Actually, at this point we\'re taking a kind of "glass is one-eighth full" approach.

My girlfriend runs a store at an Inner Harbor shopping mall and came home venting the other day about what was apparently more than a couple racist black women mouthing to her (she\'s white) throughout the day that "she\'s in for a rude awakening now" and "now you can see what it\'s like." People were passing through Baltimore by the bus load on their way to DC. Course, then they go on to make a mess and trash the store. Gum on the wall. Half eaten food mixed with the merchandise...
 
Worse, they were acting like that in front of their kids in some cases. It\'s disgusting behavior, but it\'s this population of ignorant people that are totally missing the point here.
 

That\'s just stupid people being stupid. Any black person who thinks Obama is going to try to make this country better just for black people is ignorant, stupid, and completely missing the point of what being president of the united states is.

Hes not the president of black people.


Although some are acting that way.


Maybe I can pull a Kanye West now...


"Barack Obama does not care about white people".

heh.

Eik -

I agree with everything you\'re saying about race.  I wish that we could just move past race being in issue in America, but people refuse to do this.  I think programs like affirmative action only make things worse.  Rather than create an even playing field it sets lower standards for minorities.  How is that equal?  We should be judging people on the content of their character, not the color of their skin, but in this country, if you\'re a minority you have at least a 10x better chance of getting into an elite college than a middle class white kid.  Equality?  I think not.  Seems like retribution to me.

Moreover, why can\'t we just celebrate Obama becoming president?  Why does race have to enter the picture?  Why was every single significant African American interviewed on what it meant to them?

Am I glad we overcame slavery?  You betcha!  But that happened 144 years ago.  Am I glad we granted civil rights to all citizens? Incredibly! But that happened 44 years ago.  The fact of the matter we\'ve overcome all these things already and moved forward.  It just angers me that we make such a big deal out of race these days when the whole point of civils rights was that it didn\'t matter what your skin color was.  Nowadays it seems like, it doesn\'t matter what your skin color is, unless its beneficial to you.

I just find the entire situation to be incredibly backward.  If we want unity and peace, making a big deal out of someone because of their skin color is not the answer.  I never treated any of my black/latino/asian friends any different from my white friends.  Racism has never been an issue for me because I don\'t believe in it.  Let\'s move forward America, not backward.

nothing to add to this thread.... but here\'s another pic I took



and every street leaving looked like this after wards

[clips]

My girlfriend wouldn\'t watch the inauguration because she knew those women were in the crowd and it made the whole thing seem hypocritical to her.

I think your gf still should\'ve checked out the speech....those chickenheads she ran into was not representive of how all black folks feel about obama\'s swearing in, just like how those idiots at McCain/Palin rallys were not representive of all white folks.

Why was every single significant African American interviewed on what it meant to them?

While the election of Obama is huge for the country, it doesn\'t mean racism has ended and we can all hold hands and sing "cum-by-yah"....Racism is still alive and well and you seen and heard snippets of it throughout the campaign....it means alot because of america\'s dark past and it especially hits home for those older folks that were beaten or had to ride at the back of the bus back in the 50\'s and 60\'s etc....i even had a racial profiling incident as recent as 2003.

And nobody thought that we would see a black president in this lifetime if ever....I can\'t see why you\'re puzzled by the fact that alot of black folks feel very emotional about this....i for one am glad that we are becoming a country that is more tolerant of race relations....while all races came together to help obama become elected...i think the focus is that obama really could not have gotten elected without a substantial amount of the white vote...particularily the white youth, some older white folks voted as well but the white youth really came thru in this election.

And that speaks volumes in terms of how far the country has come and to where we are headed and it\'s really a good feeling. Again those black folks that feel Obama is going to or should have a black agenda is in for a rude awakening...Obama is and never was about that. I loved watching those people of all ethnic backgrounds in the crowd tear up at his inauguration....it shows that we are all americans regardless of race...nothing more...nothing less.