Obama sworn in for 4 more years in intimate ceremony
WASHINGTON (AP) - Stepping into his second term, President Barack Obama took the oath of office Sunday in an intimate swearing-in ceremony at the White House, the leader of a nation no longer in the throes of the recession he inherited four years ago but still deeply divided.
The president, surrounded by family in the ornate White House Blue Room, was administered the brief oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts. With Obama's hand resting on a Bible used for years by Michelle Obama's family, the president vowed "to support and defend the Constitution of the United States," echoing the same words spoken by the 43 men who held the office before him.
About a dozen family members were on hand to witness Obama's swearing in, including the first lady, daughters Malia and Sasha, the president's sister Maya Soetoro-Ng and her family. Mrs. Obama's mother Marian Robinson, and the first lady's brother, Craig Robinson and his family. A few reporters also were in the room.
The president will repeat the swearing in ritual again Monday on the west front of the Capitol, before a jubilant crowd of up to 800,000 people.
Sunday's smaller ceremony was a function of the calendar and the Constitution, which says presidents automatically begin their new terms at noon on Jan. 20. Because that date fell this year on a Sunday - a day on which inaugural ceremonies historically are not held - organizers scheduled a second, public swearing-in for Monday.
The mood in the nation's capital was more subdued during this year's inaugural festivities than it was four years ago, when Obama swept into office on a wave of national optimism, becoming the first black man to hold the nation's highest office. Since then, he has endured fiscal fights with Congress and a bruising re-election campaign - and has the gray hair and lower approval ratings to show for it.
Ahead of his swearing in Sunday, Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden, solemnly honored the nation's fallen soldiers during a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. On a crisp, sun-splashed morning, Obama and Biden placed a large wreath adorned with red, white and blue ribbon, in front of Arlington's Tomb of the Unknowns. Placing their hands over their hearts, the two leaders stood motionless as a bugler played "Taps."
From Arlington, Obama joined his family at a church service celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. The president's public swearing-in on Monday coincides with the national holiday marking the fallen civil rights leader's birthday, and Obama has invoked King's memory throughout the lead-up to the inauguration.
The Rev. Jonathan V. Newton, an assistant pastor at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, prayed for God to prepare Obama for battle, "because sometimes enemies insist on doing it the hard way."
Biden took the oath of office earlier in the morning, surrounded by family and friends for a brief ceremony at the Naval Observatory, his official residence in northwest Washington. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, appointed by Obama as the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court, administered the oath of office to Biden, who placed his hand on a Bible his family has used since 1893.
Among the 120 guests on hand to witness the vice president's second swearing-in were Attorney General Eric Holder, departing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and several Democratic lawmakers.
A crowd of up to 800,000 people is expected to gather on the National Mall to witness Obama's second swearing-in, which will take place on the Capitol's red, white and blue bunting-draped west front. Roberts, who famously flubbed the oath of office that Obama took in 2009, will administer the oath on Monday.
Once the celebrations are over, Obama will plunge into a second-term agenda still dominated by the economy, which slowly churned out of recession during his first four years in office. The president will also try to cement his legacy with sweeping domestic changes, pledging to achieve both an immigration overhaul and stricter gun laws despite opposition from a divided Congress.
But for one weekend at least, Washington was putting politics aside. Obama called the nation's inaugural traditions "a symbol of how our democracy works and how we peacefully transfer power."
"But it should also be an affirmation that we're all in this together," he said Saturday, as he opened a weekend of inaugural activities at a Washington elementary school.
Obama and Biden were to address supporters Sunday evening at an inaugural reception.
The president planned to save his most expansive remarks for Monday's inaugural address to the crowd gathered on the Mall and millions more watching across the country and the world. Obama started working on the speech in early December and was still tinkering with it into the weekend, aides said.
Local officials were busy touching up Washington for all the hundreds of thousands of guests arriving for Monday's swearing-in. Work crews were trimming overgrown grass and trash from walkways along city underpasses, erecting first aid tents and setting up traffic detours. Swarms of tourists easily roamed city streets Sunday ahead of the pedestrian gridlock sure to come with Monday's full inaugural program.
The president's address will set the stage for the policy objectives he seeks to achieve in his second term, including speeding up the economic recovery, passing comprehensive immigration and gun control measures and ending the war in Afghanistan. Aides said Obama would save the specifics of those agenda items for his Feb. 12 State of the Union address.
The president launched a weekend of inaugural activities Saturday by heading up a National Day of Service. Along with his family, Obama helped hundreds of volunteers spruce up a Washington area elementary school.
Obama wore rubber gloves, picked up a paint brush and helped volunteers stain a bookshelf.
Obama added the service event to the inaugural schedule in 2009 and is hoping it becomes a tradition followed for future presidents.
Mrs. Obama, speaking to volunteers Sunday, espoused the importance of giving back in the midst of the weekend of pomp, circumstance and celebration.
"The reason why we're here, why we're standing here, why we're able to celebrate this weekend is because a lot of people worked hard and supported us, and we've got a job to do and this is a symbol of the kind of work that we need to be doing the next four years," Michelle Obama said at Burrville Elementary.
___
Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Josh Lederman, Matthew Daly and Nancy Benac contributed to this report.
The president, surrounded by family in the ornate White House Blue Room, was administered the brief oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts. With Obama's hand resting on a Bible used for years by Michelle Obama's family, the president vowed "to support and defend the Constitution of the United States," echoing the same words spoken by the 43 men who held the office before him.
About a dozen family members were on hand to witness Obama's swearing in, including the first lady, daughters Malia and Sasha, the president's sister Maya Soetoro-Ng and her family. Mrs. Obama's mother Marian Robinson, and the first lady's brother, Craig Robinson and his family. A few reporters also were in the room.
The president will repeat the swearing in ritual again Monday on the west front of the Capitol, before a jubilant crowd of up to 800,000 people.
Sunday's smaller ceremony was a function of the calendar and the Constitution, which says presidents automatically begin their new terms at noon on Jan. 20. Because that date fell this year on a Sunday - a day on which inaugural ceremonies historically are not held - organizers scheduled a second, public swearing-in for Monday.
The mood in the nation's capital was more subdued during this year's inaugural festivities than it was four years ago, when Obama swept into office on a wave of national optimism, becoming the first black man to hold the nation's highest office. Since then, he has endured fiscal fights with Congress and a bruising re-election campaign - and has the gray hair and lower approval ratings to show for it.
Ahead of his swearing in Sunday, Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden, solemnly honored the nation's fallen soldiers during a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. On a crisp, sun-splashed morning, Obama and Biden placed a large wreath adorned with red, white and blue ribbon, in front of Arlington's Tomb of the Unknowns. Placing their hands over their hearts, the two leaders stood motionless as a bugler played "Taps."
From Arlington, Obama joined his family at a church service celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. The president's public swearing-in on Monday coincides with the national holiday marking the fallen civil rights leader's birthday, and Obama has invoked King's memory throughout the lead-up to the inauguration.
The Rev. Jonathan V. Newton, an assistant pastor at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, prayed for God to prepare Obama for battle, "because sometimes enemies insist on doing it the hard way."
Biden took the oath of office earlier in the morning, surrounded by family and friends for a brief ceremony at the Naval Observatory, his official residence in northwest Washington. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, appointed by Obama as the first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court, administered the oath of office to Biden, who placed his hand on a Bible his family has used since 1893.
Among the 120 guests on hand to witness the vice president's second swearing-in were Attorney General Eric Holder, departing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and several Democratic lawmakers.
A crowd of up to 800,000 people is expected to gather on the National Mall to witness Obama's second swearing-in, which will take place on the Capitol's red, white and blue bunting-draped west front. Roberts, who famously flubbed the oath of office that Obama took in 2009, will administer the oath on Monday.
Once the celebrations are over, Obama will plunge into a second-term agenda still dominated by the economy, which slowly churned out of recession during his first four years in office. The president will also try to cement his legacy with sweeping domestic changes, pledging to achieve both an immigration overhaul and stricter gun laws despite opposition from a divided Congress.
But for one weekend at least, Washington was putting politics aside. Obama called the nation's inaugural traditions "a symbol of how our democracy works and how we peacefully transfer power."
"But it should also be an affirmation that we're all in this together," he said Saturday, as he opened a weekend of inaugural activities at a Washington elementary school.
Obama and Biden were to address supporters Sunday evening at an inaugural reception.
The president planned to save his most expansive remarks for Monday's inaugural address to the crowd gathered on the Mall and millions more watching across the country and the world. Obama started working on the speech in early December and was still tinkering with it into the weekend, aides said.
Local officials were busy touching up Washington for all the hundreds of thousands of guests arriving for Monday's swearing-in. Work crews were trimming overgrown grass and trash from walkways along city underpasses, erecting first aid tents and setting up traffic detours. Swarms of tourists easily roamed city streets Sunday ahead of the pedestrian gridlock sure to come with Monday's full inaugural program.
The president's address will set the stage for the policy objectives he seeks to achieve in his second term, including speeding up the economic recovery, passing comprehensive immigration and gun control measures and ending the war in Afghanistan. Aides said Obama would save the specifics of those agenda items for his Feb. 12 State of the Union address.
The president launched a weekend of inaugural activities Saturday by heading up a National Day of Service. Along with his family, Obama helped hundreds of volunteers spruce up a Washington area elementary school.
Obama wore rubber gloves, picked up a paint brush and helped volunteers stain a bookshelf.
Obama added the service event to the inaugural schedule in 2009 and is hoping it becomes a tradition followed for future presidents.
Mrs. Obama, speaking to volunteers Sunday, espoused the importance of giving back in the midst of the weekend of pomp, circumstance and celebration.
"The reason why we're here, why we're standing here, why we're able to celebrate this weekend is because a lot of people worked hard and supported us, and we've got a job to do and this is a symbol of the kind of work that we need to be doing the next four years," Michelle Obama said at Burrville Elementary.
___
Associated Press writers Darlene Superville, Josh Lederman, Matthew Daly and Nancy Benac contributed to this report.
Oh yes and I can still remember his first inauguration as if it were only yesterday:
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1)."Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed"â President Obama's First Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 2009
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2). "Lay A Foundation For Growth" --Obama oversaw a net gain in jobs during his first term, but many of the jobs created during the past four years aren't the kind that "lay a foundation for new growth." Instead, about three-fifths of the jobs created during the recovery were low-wage, according to an October report from the National Employment Law Project. On election night 2012, Obama pledged to create new jobs for the middle class; we'll see if he lives up to the promise.
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3). "Infrastructure Building": Though President Obama's stimulus plan is perhaps best known for its infrastructure spending, only $100 billion of the $787 billion went to overhauling infrastructure, according to Ezra Klein. In addition, Congress punted on overhauling the nation's highway system by voting to keep funding at current levels for the next two years, the National Journal reports.
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4). "Harnessing Natural Energy Options": Conservative critics have derided Obama for his support of environmental causes, but the reality is that the president supported an expansion in oil and gas drilling during his first term. Obama has also mulled embracing natural gas drilling, a move that could threaten to increase air and water pollution and put renewable energy at risk.
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5). "Managing Public Dollars Effectively": During Obama's first term, pretty much every budget negotiation only increased distrust between the public and government. From the 2011 debt ceiling debate to the fiscal cliff battle to the current impending showdown over the debt ceiling, our leaders have proven that they can't really be trusted when it comes to managing the public's dollars.
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6). "Decreasing Income Inequality": Income inequality was worse under Obama's first term than during George W. Bush's presidency. Between 2009 and 2010, the rich took home a greater share of income growth than between 2002 and 2007, according to an April 2011 analysis from Emmanuel Saez, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
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7). "Government Helping Americans Find A Decent Wage Job": Michelle Obama may have touted Obama's first-term record on middle-class job creation, but there isn't a ton to celebrate. More than 40 percent of the jobs created during the economic recovery were in low-wage sectors like retail and food, while most of the jobs lost during the recession paid a middle-class wage, according to an August report from the National Employment Law Project.
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8). This president and the majority his party had was the single biggest opportunity to restore, to the middle class, everything that has been swindled, bilked, stolen, and removed from our way of life since the '70s and all he and his cronies did was make it worse for all of us except the rich. They are laughing their asses off at you people while you give them your wealth. So what do americans do? they re-elect this right wing POS and continue arguing with each other as everyone gets fleeced. What new promises did he have you hanging on to today? There is no class warfare in the US, class warfare is over and YOU lost!
Hang on to your wallets! (at least those of you who work for a living).
Vote R for congress, senate (fed and state), governors, mayors. butchers and candlestick makers. Shut this gun grabber from Chicago down.
 @Rick4001CS Even though I can't stand Obama, or the way he and his are fleecing our country, do you really think that by voting with someone with an "R" by their name, you're going to help anything? The "R's" and the "D's" are in bed together, and anyone who can't see that, deserves to have all of their earnings taken away, so that they can just get it over with, go on welfare and become "dependent wards of the state'"
Speeding up the recovery? Yes, exactly how does he plan on doing that? My guess is having the Government borrow more from itself and keeping the figurative printing presses going 24/7 while creating another housing bubble with government meddling in interest rates while threatening higher taxes on capital.Â
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That should do the trick quite nicely.
Now that he has nothing to lose we're in for a hell of a ride.
Woo hoo--four more years!!! Rock on.
plantfann......I hope you and all who voted for him really love this man, because he's probably in for a lot longer than 4 yrs!!
Check this out.... http://wwwtruthorfiction.com/rumors/s/Serrano-Bill-22nd-Amendment.htm
 @countrygalfm And, just in case you are interested, here's the rest of the story:
"Just in case it seems Serrano has a particular affinity for only Democratic presidents, it should be noted that he proposed similar bills in 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007 during the presidency of George W. Bush. He also attempted the bill in 1997 and 1999, during Bill Clintonâs administration. He tried again in 2009, in the second year of Obamaâs first term.
Unfortunately for Serrano, none of these attempts have ever reached a vote.
Heâs also not the first member of Congress to support a repeal of the 22nd Amendment. Representative Steny Hoyer (D-MD) proposed a repeal during Clinton and Bushâs presidencies and current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wanted a repeal in 1995."
 @countrygalfm this is not the first time an appeal of the 22nd amendment has been tried. If you had read the article on the truthorfiction page, you would have seen that it didn't get out of committee last time, and it's not expected to this time.
 @countrygalfm "Unable to connect                                                Â
Firefox can't establish a connection to the server at wwwtruthorfiction.com.
 @bkburris  @countrygalfm I'm sorry I asked - not worth the effort...
Do you REALLY think that it could even get to the floor, much less actually pass the required number of States?
Try worrying about things that are real.
 @OrcasThunder  @countrygalfm Try again to connect-put a period (.)after www.
 @plantfann No, that's spelled "Boo-hoo...".  ;-)
"....to support and protect and defend the constitution of the United States of America, Â so help me God."
Ironic he already broke his oath from 4 years ago. Â Damn shame we have to have a national crisis every few years to get get back to the values that made this country great. Â
How are the Banjo lessons going?
 @okihusker Typical, belittle someone when you have nothing to offer
 @okihusker Why, does Ned Beatty excite you?  Okay, that's one cheap shot each.  Let's keep our eye on the ball here.  This is suppose to be an exchange of ideas.  But you don't get very far by attacking the messenger.  Do you not think this president is attempting to bring this country to the same fate as Greece and other European countries that are now in economic ruin? Â
 @T_BONE_WALKER  @bkburris I checked and you were wrong.  It was Miss Scarlet in the Kitchen with the Lead Pipe.....Â
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Thanks for the laugh.Â
 @bkburris They are in ruin now due to their poor choices around investing in US Triple "A" rated securities that were bundled with US sub-prime securities and then marketed and sold as Triple "A" rated by Moodys and others. Our OTC Derivatives scam was the final nail as those started failing over there. We did to Europe what has happened in Europe with deregulated predatory capitalism (Theft, Fraud) and its illustrated clearly by the countries like Norway and Sweden who refused our offers of wealth from scam based investments. They are fine and living better then you in Europe albeit a little slow from main trade partners that were stupid enough to buy into US financial sector scams. In this case, the messenger is full of beans! Just like the US, the Euro-zone is expecting the working class to make the financial sector "whole" in terms of money lost in scams.
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Its kinda like the scam you'll feel when they kick you off SSI and medicaid because those funds set aside for you have been transferred to the wealthy after so long of you not earning a living.
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But you always have hated the entitlements haven't you?
And awayyyyy we go. The next four years should, if nothing else, be an interesting ride.