OBAMA II!
PRESIDENT OUTLINES LIBERAL VISION IN INAUGURAL

‘We Are Made for This Moment; We Will Seize It!’

Don’t Mistake ‘Absolutism For Principle’

 

By CEDRIC L. MOORE
Special to the Chronicle

 

WASHINGTON—The president outlined a modern liberal agenda for his second term after ceremonially taking the oath of office Monday.
President Barack Hussein Obama argued that “preserving our individual freedoms, ultimately, requires collective action,” seeming to appeal to the coalition of minorities, whites, women and gays to help him bring about the change he had called for in his first campaign four years ago.
On a day that echoed with refrains from the Civil Rights Era and tributes to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President Obama dispensed with the post-partisan appeals of four years ago to lay out a forceful vision of showing more tolerance of illegal immigrants, preserving the social welfare safety net and acting to stop climate change.
At times, he used his speech to reprise arguments from the fall campaign, rebutting the notion expressed by conservative opponents that America risks becoming “a nation of takers” and extolling the value of proactive government in society.
He challenged Republicans to step back from their staunch opposition to his agenda.
Seeming to say that Republicans have continued, even to this day, their self-declared war against the progressive steps made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Obama extolled the virtues of liberalism.
He called upon conservatives to not allow their ideological bent to keep them from acting responsibly for the good of the nation.
“Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-old debates about the role of government for all time, but it does require us to act in our time,” he said in the 18-minute address.
“For now, decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay.” 
“We cannot mistake absolutism for principle or substitute spectacle for politics or treat name-calling as reasoned debate,” President Obama declared, directing those comments to the so-called Tea Party far right-wingers.  “We must act.”
President Obama used Abraham Lincoln’s Bible, as he did four years ago, but this time, added Dr. King’s Bible, as well, to mark the holiday honoring the civil rights leader.
He became the first president ever to use the word, “gay,” in an Inaugural Address as he equated the drive for same-sex marriage to the quests for racial and gender equality.
The festivities at the U.S. Capitol came a day after President Obama officially took the oath in a quiet ceremony with his family at the White House on the date set by the Constitution.
With Inauguration Day falling on a Sunday, the swearing-in was then repeated for an energized mass audience a day later, accompanied by the pomp and parade that typically surround the quadrennial tradition.
Hundreds of thousands gathered on a brisk but bright day, a huge crowd by any measure, though far less than the record turnout four years ago.
After his first four-year term and now noticeably grayer at 51, President Obama appeared alternately upbeat and reflective.
When he reentered the Capitol at the conclusion of the ceremony, he suddenly stopped his entourage to turn back toward the cheering crowds gathered in the National Mall.
“I want to take a look, one more time,” he said.  “I’m not going to see this again.”
In his address, he barely mentioned foreign policy, recommending engagement over war.
The preponderance of the speech was to address poverty and injustice within the nation’s borders, directly confronting conservative philosophy.
“The commitments we make to each other….through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security….these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us,” he said.  “They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.”
The phrase, “nation of takers,” was a direct rebuke to Republicans like U.S. Rep. Paul D. Ryan (Rep., Wisc.), last year’s vice presidential nominee, and several opposition lawmakers took umbrage at the president’s tone.
“I would have liked to see a little more on outreach and working together,” said U.S. Sen. John McCain (Rep., Ariz.), the Republican nominee, who lost to President Obama four years ago.
Joining the president through the long day were First Lady Michelle Robinson Obama, and their daughters, Malia Obama, 14, and Sasha Obama, 11.
The two girls were playful.
At one point, the older girl sneaked up behind her father and cried out, “Boo!”  The younger daughter used a Smartphone to take a picture of her parents kissing in the reviewing stand, then made them do it again.
Both girls bounced with the martial music at the Capitol.
President Obama’s day began with a service at the St. John’s Church, across Lafayette Square from the White House, where Rev. Andy Stanley told him to “leverage that power for the benefit of other people in the room.”
At the Capitol, Myrlie Evers Williams, the civil rights leader and the widow of slain rights leader Medgar Evers, delivered the invocation and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir performed the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was sworn-in at 11:46 a.m. by Justice Sonia Sotomayor.  The singer, James Taylor, then performed “America the Beautiful.”
At 11:50 a.m., President Obama was sworn-in again by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
In his address, President Obama was more specific in discussing policy than presidents typically are in an Inaugural Address.
Particularly noticeable was his recommitment to fighting climate change.
“We will respond to the threat of climate change,” he said, “knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.”
He made no direct mention of terrorism, the issue that has so consumed the nation for the last decade, but offered a more inward-looking approach to foreign policy, saying that “enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.”
He also talked of overhauling immigration rules so that “bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our work force, rather than expelled from our country.”
The expanse between the Capitol and the Washington Monument was filled with supporters, many of them Blacks attending only the second inauguration of a Black president.
As large television screens flickered in and out and the audio often warbled, the ceremony was difficult to follow for many braving the Washington chill.
The speech was followed by song, a poem and benediction from Kelly Clarkson, Richard Blanco, Rev. Luis Leon and Beyonce.
The president and first lady got out of their motorcade twice to walk stretches along Pennsylvania Avenue, and the vice president and his wife did so, as well.
The two families then settled into the specially built bulletproof reviewing stand to watch the parade.
By evening, the Obamas were heading out to celebrate, planning to attend two official inaugural balls, which was less by two from the 10 of four years ago, before returning home to the White House.