INAUGURATION DAY

Share your thoughts and reactions about Barack Obama's inauguration as the United States' 44th president.

Click HERE for a transcript of the address he delivered after taking the oath of office.

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Comments

[Tomd Horton]

It is time to ignore the clowns, you know who they are Hanity, Limbaugh, Coulter and Rove and Faux news too. They get paid to toss bricks and exaggerate the facts, they are entertainers and that is their jobs. They are not helping resolve and repair the problems at hand.

We are in big trouble folks and unless we all work together on this situation that Bush has passed on to Prez Obama, life is going to get ugly for everyone. When people lose their jobs and can not pay their bills and get hungry they get very desperate.

We are all Americans and it is time we start acting like Thomas Jefferson envisioned. We have to work together on this, it is impossible for everyone to agree on everything. Let's face it we all love our country and there are plenty of other regions in the world that are talking fighting words (North Korea, Pakistan, Iran and of course the multiple terror groups that want to harm us). So unless we pull together on this man we are in deep trouble.

[Mark T]

Hey Jack,
What brought that on?---- Maybe you could advise me of a better place to live... I happen to like it in Flag City USA.

[Critical Thinker]

Big government means big spending on contracts that benefit private companies and presumably their employees and stockholders, most notably the defense contracts. This spending was controlled by Bush appointees starting with Cabinet members. President Obama would like to cut back on this spending quickly, but too quickly could cause an economic jolt into a depression. Obama was left with arguably the worst financial mess the U.S. has ever encountered because there is no clear solution. The Great Depression was ultimately resolved by federal government ensuring the soundness and safety of banking deposits. Today, many people have overspent themselves into deep debt with no easy way out. Many of the good paying jobs have been eliminated due to cheap labor overseas. Engineering, etc., have gone with those jobs. Toyota has surpassed GM because of their technical proficiency. Tax cuts don't help, they just exacerbate the govt. debt and encourage people to spend more while saving less. Taxes equate to "pay as you go" whereas the Bush administration continued to "borrow and pay later." No wonder citizens felt entitled to overspend. Obama is promoting "wise frugality" meaning that every citizen should start living within their means and save more. If they don't, the next major financial crisis will be that people who work for the smaller companies that weren't able to benefit from the retirment plans of large companies will essentially become destitute, especially if Social Security benefits are reduced in the future due to cutbacks. So, let's all get behind Obama and start working together (Republican Courier included). It will be hard work and it will take awhile, but it will be worth it for our future generations.

[Jack]

Findlay, so predictable. Sad and predictable. My old town is dying, soon to be like Lima and Fostoria and its your own fault!

[Lori]

If we stay safe for his first term and the economy is on the upswing that will be a guaranteed 2nd term. BUT, if we are attacked on our soil, especially in light of him signing the executive order yesterday limiting the way the CIA operates, plus the ensuing freefall the economy will take like it did after 9-11, he will be toast. And for all of you who get your panties in a wad everytime someone critizes him, you best get over it now. Bush is gone, now it's Obama's turn and already I see things that are worrying me. The slashing of CIA information gathering.
Pushing the legislation to end secret ballots for unions,
Picking Geithner to head the Treasury (is there not ANYONE better than someone who cheats on their taxes?)
And the increased involvement of government in our private sector. To be fair, Bush started this, but Pres Obama and his ilk are throwing fuel on the fire!
Yes, President Obama, it does matter if the government is too large!

[Mark T]

I don't give a rats rear end what color the man is. It disturbs me that color is the first thing mentioned and that of a concern in anyway. It is what is in the mans soul that will guide our country. It greatly concerns me that he would appear to have socialist/Marxist tendencies. If he rules from the far left, in my opinion, our great country is in big trouble. (remember Russia) We would be in much better shape with a government much more to the center. You could read that to mean something a little to the right of President Bush.

[LC-72]

I hope the new president doesn't go soft on national defense. The bad guys that are out to get us don't abide by our high standards. DON'T SLOUCH!!!

[Derek]

I love the people that are saying that they will vote for him again in 4 years. Hellloooooo! Kinda soon to be making promises like that don't you think? Wait and see what he does, how he does, and who runs against him. 4 years is a long time. And who cares about race?!?! Any person that mentions that he is the first black president is about as prejudice as any KKK member. Race shouldn't be an issue, not unless your a minority member that was alive in Rosa Parks day and age. THEY have the right to be happy that a black man became president. Anyone else should just shut their trap and say that they are happy that Obama is president. Continually making a big deal about his race just shows that you voted for him because he is black. He's not my candidate of choice, but I surely hope that all you folks that voted for him did so based on what you thought he could do for this country, not because he was black.

[oliver collar]

I have never saw his birth certificate. Why dont he show us one with a doctors signature.

[oliver collar]

I have never saw his birth certificate why dont he show us one with a doctors signature

[ah]

I am ashamed of what i am reading. Pres Obama, I feel, will do everthing in his power to improve this country. I watched the Inauguration with my 6yr old daughter, and was able to tell her she was watching history being made. Yes, he is black and yes many news reporters asked other blacks about thier feelings on that day, just as they will women when that day happens. Will we question it then? As far as hooplah that some feel should have been cancelled, that is ridiculous. This is the biggest (joyful)event in US history! Guess what? Balls are paid for by private funds! The Obamas pay for thier own clothes! Yes, as taxpayers,we paid to protect the leader of the free world. Seems OK to me.

[j m]

I like the response from dpd.
"I didn't vote for him, I voted for Sarah Palin."
HaHa. Don't you mean you voted for John McCain?
Sarah Palin wasn't going to be the President. Unless John fell over while in office.
And I'd highly doubt anyone would allow that to happen.

[Phil-Findlay]

I did not vote for {resident Obama. An dcollor had nothing to do with it!! I felt he had little experance. He is in office now and he is my Commander in Chief. I will follow his orders because that is what military does. I just hope that he keeps is word. All politations will tell us american voters anything and everything to get a job that pay's $400,000.00 per yr and the best medical in the word and a plane to take you where you want at any time you want.

[A.J.]

First of all for as far as The Courier getting over it's self and it's biased editorial staff let us not forget that even though it's NOW called The Courier it has been and ALWAYS will be The REPUBLICAN Courier!! Yes Mr. Obama is Bi-racial SO WHAT??? God forbid there be anyone else run this country but a WHITE MAN because if you ask some of these idiots that if it's no all white it's not right no one else of any color should be allowed to hold the highest office of this country!! I DID vote for Obama and would again in four years!! As far as the inaguration goes it's kinda funny that everyone wants to say "oh it shouldn't have been all of this hooplah" and that it should have more or less been just a little swearing in and boom thats all she wrote. Well I got new for some of you IT's THE SWEARING IN OF A NEW PRESIDENT for starters and least we forget one of the biggest things to happen in our history, and that being the first NON WHITE president of The United States Of America!! So yea lets just push it aside and go about our day I don't think so!! For those of you who are either for the left of for the right it doesn't matter if you don't believe in the president, you don't have to BUT you SHOULD believe in your goverment!! It's the same way with the troops, I personally don't agree with what we are doing overseas BUT I DO AND ALWAYS WILL SUPPORT OUR TROOPS MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT!! Last but not least give Obama a chance, because he can't do any worse than what has already been done, and by my account already today he put a pay freeze on his own peoples salaries, so thats more than the last president ever did or ever would do!!

[TS]

LW nice double post.
Bi- racial is what it is.
It is not black.
Try cracking a book once in a while yourself.
Dale that would of been nice the last eight years from the left. Why all of a sudden does the right have to toe the line the left refused to even approach?
And no I didn't vote Republican
TS

[Dale]

It is time for the Limbaughs, Coulters and the Courier Editorial Staff to forget their biased commentaries and work for unification of our nation. We are Americans first of all and the best advise for those who belittle Obama is: "Shut Up, quit your partisan politics and work to improve our nation"

[Mom of 2]

Who cares what color he is? He is still a MAN.

[LW]

TS -- He is still the very first president of color in this nation. go look at a history book once in a while.

[LW]

TS -- He is still the very first president of color in this nation. go look at a history book once in a while.

[W]

Obama had started so much planning during the transition period that, I believe, it's impossible not to trust that he will do everything he can to get our country back in order.
To those of you who are complaining about the money that was spent on the inauguration and saying Obama should have "cancelled all the hooplah"- The oath of office ceremony (which is required by law), parade, and balls are a part of every presidential inauguration. The "hooplah" was created by the media, however, for the purpose of capturing a historical moment for our country!