Barack Obama today called on Americans to embrace a "new era of responsibility" and work with courage and selflessness to guide the United States through the economic crisis and back to a position of global leadership.
In an inspirational inaugural address after being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, Mr Obama told the nation: "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America."
He portrayed the United States as a country built on the sacrifice and hard work of immigrants, pioneers and slaves and said that a similar sense of sacrifice was called for now.
"For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies," Mr Obama said from the steps of the Capitol as an estimated two million watched in sub-zero temperatures.
"It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours," Mr Obama added. "It is the fire-fighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.
"What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
"This is the price and the promise of citizenship. This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."
Before his speech, as he took the 35-word oath of office, Mr Obama stumbled, mixing up the words as his wife watched on, smiling broadly.
But he was soon back to his oratorical best as he delivered an inaugural speech likely to go down in history not just for the fact that it was delivered by a black man, but for its stirring call to arms in the face of economic and geopolitical crises.
Mr Obama began by saying that his 43 predecessors as president had delivered their inaugural speeches "during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace" but also, occasionally, "amidst gathering clouds and raging storms".
He said: "That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
"These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
"Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met."
Spelling out the broad lines of his recovery plan, he continued: "We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished.
"But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed.
"For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do."
Mr Obama also took care to reach out to the world beyond and promise a more inclusive foreign policy.
"We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan," he said. "With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet.
"We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
"For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. 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. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
"To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
Inauguration Day 2009 Live Streaming
Inauguration Day 2009 Streaming
Change Has Come To White House.Gov
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
Just after 12 p.m. eastern time. The White House website, www.whitehouse.gov/, quietly changed it's photos and pages to Barack Obama after 8 years of Bush.
Source: http://current.com
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