‘WE ARE MADE FOR THIS MOMENT’ [View all]

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‘WE ARE MADE FOR THIS MOMENT’

Obama Promises To Tackle Climate Change, Calls For Equal Rights In 2nd Inaugural Address



http://talkingpointsmemo.com/


An inuaguration about diversity, democracy, equality, unity, respect for each other and the environment.

Full Text Of Obama’s Second Inaugural Address
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/full-text-of-obamas-second-inaugural-address

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For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.

We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.

We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn. We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms. The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.

We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe; and we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice.

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth.

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.

How Obama Made His Second Inaugural Address A Landmark Moment For LGBT Equality

By Zack Ford

President Obama just concluded what was arguably the most inclusive inaugural address ever delivered by any president. Of particular note was his inclusion of a direct call for marriage equality for gays and lesbians, reflecting the milestone from last May when he became the first president of the United States to ever make such an endorsement:

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As the first inaugural address to ever highlight the struggle for LGBT equality and the lives and families of gays and lesbians, this speech will no doubt be recorded in the annals of history as a pivotal moment in the long journey for social justice and freedom from oppression.

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/01/21/1475291/president-obama-lauds-lgbt-equality-in-second-inauguration-address/

Marriage equality, climate change, and a moral vision for America in Obama's second inauguration
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/21/1180841/-Marriage-equality-climate-change-and-a-moral-vision-for-America-in-Obama-s-second-inauguration

Waxman ‘Very Pleased’ With Obama’s Emphasis On Climate Change

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the top Democrat on the Energy & Commerce Committee, said he was very pleased with President Obama's emphasis on climate change during his inaugural address Monday.

"I though he gave a great speech, and I was so pleased that the first thing he mentioned was climate change," Waxman told TPM. "I think he's got a commitment on this issue and is going to make sure in the second term that is a very high priority. I'm very pleased."

Obama said in his address: "We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms."

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/waxman-very-pleased-with-obamas-emphasis-on-climate

League Of Conservation Voters: Obama Offered ‘Hope For A Cleaner, More Sustainable Planet’

Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, issued a statement Monday praising President Barack Obama for focusing on climate change during his second inaugural address.

The statement:

"The President's remarks offered great hope for a cleaner, more sustainable planet for future generations. President Obama made the link between climate change and extreme weather and called on America to lead the clean energy revolution. His continued commitment to clean technologies and protecting our planet will build on an already strong environmental legacy. We look forward to continuing to work with the Administration to ensure that clean energy jobs are built here at home while reducing harmful global warming pollution.”

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/league-of-conservation-voters-obama-offered-hope-for

Obama’s Second Inauguration Recognizes America’s ‘Disenfranchised Votes’

The second inauguration of President Obama today opened with an invocation by Myrlie Evers-Williams, the wife of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, who was assassinated by a white supremacist in 1963. Mrs. Evers-Williams was the first layperson and first woman to deliver a prayer at an inauguration, and she used the unique opportunity to carry her own civil rights message — a reminder that true equality requires fair voting.

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http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/01/21/1475191/evers-williams-disenfranchised-voters/

The inaugural poem was a perfect complement/prelude to the President's speech.

Full Text Of Blanco’s Inaugural Poem
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/full-text-of-blancos-inaugural-poem

One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores,
peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces
of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth
across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.
One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story
told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.

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The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains
mingled by one wind—our breath. Breathe. Hear it
through the day’s gorgeous din of honking cabs,
buses launching down avenues, the symphony
of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways,
the unexpected song bird on your clothes line.

Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling,
or whispers across café tables, Hear: the doors we open
for each other all day, saying: hello, shalom,
buon giorno, howdy, namaste, or buenos días
in the language my mother taught me—in every language
spoken into one wind carrying our lives
without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed
their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked
their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands:
weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report
for the boss on time, stitching another wound
or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait,
or the last floor on the Freedom Tower
jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

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