DID YOU HEAR THAT?

When I woke up this morning, I wasn't really sure how I was going to react to President Obama's inauguration speech. I had every intent on taking the high road by not letting my fears of his upcoming term cloud my impression of this historic event. If for no other reason than respect for the office. I wanted nothing more than for this day to go by without an "incident" and to maybe even see or hear something that might assuage my fears a little. As it turns out, that was not meant to be. If anything, I'm more scared for the future of this country than ever before.

Keep in mind that I experienced the inauguration via radio, inside the cab of an eighteen wheeler, as opposed to on the TV, but I don't think it would have helped if I were standing at the podium myself.

After purposely tuning out the "pre-game" shenanigans, I started listening just as Aretha Franklin started to sing "My Country Tis of The". I've been an fan of Aretha's singing since I was old enough to understand music at all. By far, this was not her best performance. I did my best to not take that as a bad omen, but to no avail.

Then President-elect Barak Hussein Obama took the stage, and it was all down hill from there. Really, is it too much to ask of a party that has spent eight years pillorying a man for his improper pronunciation of words to nominate someone who won't verbally rape the Oath of Office of the President of the United States? Would that really be asking too much? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the MSM will be questioning Obama's intellect just as they did Bush for his less than stellar mastery of the English language. I can't wait to see the parade of stand-up comedy routines and impersonations centered around Obama's gaffes. No double standard there.

After the oath came..."the speech". There were many carefully veiled themes in "the speech" that I picked up on immediately. The first part of "the speech" seemed to be an effort to remind us all how awful it is to be living in America, and how the only ones we should blame is the Bush administration. Because as we all know, the liberal Democrat Congress and past liberal policies couldn't possibly have anything to do with our current predicament.

Following that cheery and uplifting note, he went on to tell us how WE are going to have to sacrifice and hard choices to fix this country. Oh really? I thought that's why the people elected you Barak. According to what I read on my paycheck stub every two weeks and property tax assessments, I seem to be "sacrificing" quite a bit already thank you very much. And to pay for Democrat legislated taxation and liberal government spending across the board, I've had to make plenty of "hard choices" as well.

Another theme I spotted was the "we can't fix it without the government's intervention" concept. Oh really? The last time I checked, It government intervention that got us into this mess to begin with by telling banks who they could and couldn't lend to and telling auto manufacturers what kind of cars to build. Then by throwing endless stacks of the people's cash at problems that have nothing to do with lack of funds to begin with. Topping that off with the government perpetrating the man-made global warming scam on us.

In reality, the last thing we need is for the government to have yet more tentacles reach into places where they can be of no logical use.

One of my personal favorite themes was the "I'm the Messiah, so if you don't agree with me, I'm not going to listen to you" theme. In flowery Presidential language, Obama more less told us that there's no point in resisting his power, if you are going try to explain to him why his plans will not work, he will consider you a partisan obstacle to his agenda and ignore you.

I knew long ago that when this day came I could expect a platitude-a-palooza and few if any details or specifics about how to fix the problems we allegedly face. What I did not expect was to be the victim of a racial slur on behalf of my President...during his inauguration ceremony.

After what I can only describe as incoherent rambling mistakenly referred to as "a poem" by some woman whom I've never heard of...came the closing "prayer". I want my readers to think back to everything I've ever written about Pastor Jeremiah Wright. Remember back to when when I tried to tell you that when you sit in that church for that long, something is probably going to rub off.

LOWERY: "Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their neighbors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask You to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around; when yellow will be mellow; when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white would embrace what is right. Let all those who do justice and love mercy, say amen."

Just what "right" are whites as a whole not embracing? How is this not "judging by the color of one's skin". You know...what Dr. King fought and died to end? This is "change"? Does this statement even make sense as a black man is walking unchallenged into the highest office in the entire world?

What should we think about this "prayer"? Did Obama learn anything from the Wright/Fleager scandal? Does he have anyone checking out what is going to be said on his behalf at the most publicized event in the history of the world? Does he have any friends or associates that aren't involved in some sort of controversy?

The inauguration as a whole was an embarrassment. The wretched excess and expense of the event in such troubled financial times, the blatant media bias, the gawdy commercialism of a Presidential inauguration as if it were a Super Bowl game, the total over-exposure of Obama himself as if he were some sort of messianic figure, the dis-respect shown to the Bush administration by the masses as they graciously departed the White House, all gave me an urge to find a bottle of Southern Comfort and hide in the basement.