I’ve never been as proud of being a citizen of the United States as I am today. Today is the [Jackie Robinson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson) moment for our entire country, not just the national pass time.

From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson): The nation was initially divided on whether Robinson should be allowed to play. Virtually all blacks and many whites applauded the decision as long overdue, but a large number of whites also objected. Many major league players also objected. Most newspapers supported the move. Robinson’s integration and subsequent high level of play was a major blow to segregation and caused racial barriers to fall in other areas.

The culmination of this happens today.

Here’s a bit more context for todays events:

From [The United States Declaration of Independence](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence): We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

From [Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_address): Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal…
this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

From [Martin Luther king’s I Have a Dream speach](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_have_a_dream_speech): I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’
…
Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

I’ve been a supporter of [Barack Obama](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_obama) for a long time. As such, I’m having a huge problem with conservative commentators that are hoping for his total failure. I cannot understand this. I *do* understand how you, as a conservative (as I consider myself to be), would hope for **specific** policies that he may propose to fail to pass muster (for instance, a doubling of our income tax). But to hope for him, as our President, to fail, is hoping for the failure of our country, and that is as unpatriotic as can be imagined. Dissenting against policy is patriotic. Dissenting against our President is not.

* 11:33am: The coverage on [WGBH](http://www.wgbh.org) is fantastic.
* 11:33am: **Michelle Obama** just stepped on stage.
* 11:37am: President **George W. Bush** steps on stage. He got a (basically) warm welcome. Some boos. Stop it people… show some respect. Even if you didn’t like him or his politics, he’s our President (for a few more minutes).
* 11:40am: More dignitaries step on stage
* 11:41am: **Joseph Biden** steps on stage
* 11:43am: More dignitaries
* 11:44am: **Barack H. Obama** steps on stage. A huge swell of cheers greets him
* 11:47am: **Diane Feinsten** (yawn)
* 11:47am: … peaceful transition … the power of the ballot over the bullet …
* 11:49am: **Rick Warren** steps up to make the invocation.
* 11:50am: … celebrate a hinge point of history with the election of the first African American as President of the United States …
* 11:53am: thankfully nothing controversial
* 11:54am: It’s gone on a bit long though
* 11:55am: **Aretha Franklin** sings *My Country ’tis of Thee*
* 11:56am: I don’t like the Gospelization of anthems like this. Oh well. To each his own.
* 11:57am: She better hurry. Mr. President Obama needs to take the oath before 12:00pm!
* 11:58am: Senator **Robert Bennet** of Utah
* 11:58am: **John Paul Stevens*’ administers the oath of office to ‘*Joseph Biden**.
* 11:59am: *… I Joseph Biden do solemny swear…*
* 12:00pm: Performance of John Williams piece
* 12:01pm: Yikes… we don’t have a President!!!! at Noon, President Bush officially is no longer President, and President Obama hasn’t taken the oath yet.
* 12:06pm: **John Roberts** steps up to administer the Presidential Oath of Office
* 12:07pm: *I Barack Hussein Obama do solemny swear…*
* 12:08pm: I’m a little misty… President Obama!
* 12:09pm: Hail to the Chief

Time for the address.

* Thanks to President Bush (nice touch)
* Know this America… they WILL be met. YEAH.
* … time has come to set aside childish things…
* All are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness!
* greatness must be earned
* acknowledging the sacrifice of our forebearers
* we must start TODAY! Pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work of remaking America
* a nation cannot prosper long when it only favors the prosperous
* we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals
* know that America is a friend to those who seek peace
* we will not apologize for our way of life
* the world has changed and we must change with it
* remembers the soldiers
* a return to our truths
* we have a duty to ourselves, our country, and the world
* George Washington: Let it be told to the future world

Beautiful speech.