Barack Obama takes the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States as he is sworn in by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts with his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha by his side during the inauguration ceremony in Washington on Tuesday.
REUTERS/Jim Young

Obama sworn in as 44th president; speaks of 'new era of responsibility'

Wednesday 21st January, 06:46 AM JST

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OhioDonna at 12:25 AM JST - 22nd January

Promises, promises. Too much hype. Too charismatic. The height of euphoira. A little bit scary. It was just too much. I was eating lunch while he was speaking and became a little bit nauseaous. It is too early to predict what is going to happen. Time will tell. I hope for the best.
DanManjt at 01:52 AM JST - 22nd January

YES!!!

Now we will see what a real American President is all about.

The Reagan Era is over. We have entered into a new 30 year center left coalition in American Politics.
smithinjapan at 01:54 AM JST - 22nd January

SuperLib: "That's just impossible for me to believe since the words are coming from your keyboard. It's astounding to see how the radical left is now changing their tune and telling us they were rational and compassionate to the other side and they expect the same from the Right now. Astounding."

Fine, so let yourself be astounded; but it's true. Go ahead and search for a SINGLE comment where I diss McCain prior to him running for election (or being a nominee). I visited the Hanoi Hilton twice (the second time taking a friend) and noted the man's old uniform, etc., and I use to respect him quite a bit. When the election came around he caved in to pressures that forced him to go down a road he swore he would NEVER go down (as it railroaded him against bush) and I lost pretty much all respect for the man and even became a little jaded myself (har har!). In fact, I was hoping the man would win against bush in the first run in 2000, because I thought he would have made a much better president than junior.

Anyway, once he lost fair and square and very much rightly to Obama (I say so fully after admitting his character had changed for the election) he settled down, and even in his concession speech began showing the character with which he might have had a chance in winning if he had used from the start.

That's another story, though. What I wanted to say before is that I think bush will show a side that HE too should have shown all along, and while I will never forgive the man for what he is done, or respect him very much if at all, there's perhaps a bit of room for a wee tiny bit of respect in lieu or reproach if he works towards good now that he's retired.

Not so hard to believe, my friend. I hated him for his incompetence and lack of leadership skills, and for how he played people like fools, etc. Had he acted the way he seems to with family or at home (I realize the role is different, but you can still be yourself at work), I probably could have even liked the guy a little.

Obama? He's being true to the way he ran his campaign. That may change, but I don't think he'll let the job alter him more than he wishes, or has suggested it might.
smithinjapan at 01:57 AM JST - 22nd January

Molenir: "My alternative is to slash government spending, downsize the federal government, balance the budget, and begin living within our means."

Oh my god, you've done it!! PERFECT! Start it tomorrow!! Ah, wait... you didn't in any way spell out HOW... you just listed a few ideals that every single person and his/her dog would do if they COULD. Any thoughts on HOW you would implement and succeed in your wonderful plans?

Good effort, but not really any result.
Molenir at 03:06 AM JST - 22nd January

It doesn't really matter, I have my job, they have theirs. As for living within our means, how do you balance your budget? I know how I do mine. I figure out how much money is coming in, what bills I have to pay, what bills I will have to pay, and figure out how much I need to save, how much I can spend, how much I have for luxuries etc. The US could do the same. Not easily, and certainly not without huge pain, but it is possible if the will were there. Unfortunately, we all know it isn't.
tkoind2 at 09:50 AM JST - 22nd January

One of the ironies of my life is that my values come from a very conservative Christian source. I was raised by people who were deeply religious. They taught me that it was a sin to lie, a sin to steal, a sin to kill and a sin to live with shelter and food while others went without.

They were socially conservative believing that how they live should be a reflection of their religious values. On many occassions when the home budget was tight and they had very little for themselves, I saw them give freely and compassionately to others.

It is from this experience and background that my political values today originated. And though I have rejected religion for myself, I adhere to the fundamental values they taught me. And I cannot, in good moral conscience sit by and ignore the plight of others.

So when you talk about downsizing government and living within our means, you need to be a lot more specific about what you mean. Because I look at our means and I see how much money enriches the few at the expense of the many. I see CEOs making 1,000 times the salaries of the workers who make those corporate profits possible. I see the rich escaping taxes while the ordinary working family faithfully pays. I see the lost opportunties to rebuild our country while creating jobs and new wealth and tax paying citizens. I see the degredation of our systems and our values as we give up our political and economic rights to companies.

Real tangible solutions are not political tag lines. They are programs that create jobs in local communities doing work that needs to be done. It is converting the unemployed into working, tax paying citizens through work and project programs. It is improving and better prioritizing education so that we can remain competitive. It is keeping jobs at home instead of allowing companies to benefit by sending them abroad.

Show me tangibles on your side!!

As for my position on George W. Bush. I gave him, like every president before him an equal share of "Let's see what he does." I am not a democrat. Let me say again, I am not a democrat. I adhere to no party because I follow my own values over someone else's platforms. So I gave Bush the benefit of the doubt despite his dubious position on many issues.

I had no strong opposition to him until he began to take our nation down the road to fear mongering and unnecessary war. Until I saw him trample our international legal and treaty obligations I held out hope for him. And if he had opened to the door to invite the opinions of a wide spectrum of society I would have applauded him.

But he did none of these things. Instead he attacked our constitutional freedoms and lied to us to take us to war. And he continued to disregard the will of our people until his last month in office.

I believe government should be afraid of our will and not the people afraid of government. If President Obama tramples on these values he will not keep my support either. A President must serve the constitution and the people of America not his party or personal and corporate agendas.

I give President Obama my acceptance because I see him opening the doors to many from all spectrums within the American political world. I see him opening the door and I deeply admire him for that and hope that those who embrace this new idea of cooperation will help return this country to an ethical, enlightened and optimistic path.
unklesam at 04:44 PM JST - 22nd January

Truly unfortunate that Japantoday has chosen not to include the full script of Obama's inauguration speech... some great stuff in there. For example this line:

"To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West: Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."

This sounds like a direct shout out to Japan... Stop blaming the US for your economic mess ! And instead of dsestroying business opportunities with negative ad campaigns about foreign goods or creating new and innovative ways to block access to your markets, try building more opportunities for new business ventures.

Moderator: We posted the entire speech. You'll find it in the World section.
Molenir at 07:05 PM JST - 22nd January

You know, the sad thing is, theres lots of stuff I'd do if I could afford it. I mean hell, wouldn't we all? Lets help everyone in need, lets save the world etc. Oh wait, I can barely make ends meet. Reality does not equal the dream. In the real world, fiscal responsibility comes first. Then once you've got the bills paid, you look and see how much you have left over, and where you can spend it to do the most good. Thats reality.

The US has managed to evade reality by printing money, and by ramping up the debt. Thats not a good long term policy. Not for me, not for a small company or country, and not for a larger one either. Its neither sustainable nor fair, to make your children and grandchildren pay for you.
wuzzademcrat at 08:26 PM JST - 22nd January

President Barack Obama:"We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan."

Spoken like a true pansy of the New Left. Just can't bring himself to use the word victory. Must be really encouraging to US and coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
USAFdude at 02:06 AM JST - 23rd January

Must be really encouraging to US and coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It certainly is. We finally have a CnC we can trust and who listens to military experts. You can feel free to debate semantics (peace vs. victory) all you like; I would expect no better from a bitter, defeated Republican whiner. As for us good Americans, we'll take progress and the rebuilding of America.
Taka313 at 09:00 AM JST - 23rd January

Spoken like a true pansy of the New Left.

Damn that was macho. You must be a combat vet! Certainly the type of person who would never let another man fight his battles for him.

Taka
yabits at 06:29 AM JST - 24th January

molenir writes: "It doesn't really matter, I have my job, they have theirs. As for living within our means, how do you balance your budget?"

Sure. You saved up and paid cash for your house, right?

Credit on the installment plan has been one of the foundations of the growth of capitalism. If a bank had to "balance its budget," it would have to maintain a 100% reserve requirement so as to guarantee its depositors that it would never make a loan it could not cover.

Face it: most of what drives capitalism is a faith in the future productive capacity of the people involved in the system, and their ability to pay off the debts they incur today. Those who most strongly advocate "balance budgets" are those who exhibit the least amount of faith in people or the system. It is these kinds of people who are making things far worse than they need to be.
Good_Jorb at 06:59 AM JST - 24th January

-yabits

A person can balance thier budget and still have debt. It's when a person's debt payments are greater than thier cash intake that people get into trouble and can no longer be said to have a balanced budget. It is called over leveraged or not living within your means. I think you may be misunderstanding what a balanced budget is.
yabits at 08:48 AM JST - 24th January

It is called over leveraged or not living within your means.

LOL! Talk about semantics. The whole thing depends upon the amount of "leverage" that others approve. In the case of the US, it's IOU's that Americans write against their future productive capacity.
Nessie at 01:03 PM JST - 24th January

In the case of the US, it's IOU's that Americans write against their future productive capacity.

More like I.O.-Hu's: all that lovely Chinese credit