I Did It Anyway
I was one of the 2 million folks who braved the elements to attend the Inauguration. I expected cold and confusion and craziness and I got it in spades. I did it anyway.
I was one of the 2 million folks who braved the elements to attend the Inauguration. I expected cold and confusion and craziness and I got it in spades. I did it anyway.
Joy Bryant | Posted 02.27.2009 | Living
We all stood, friends and strangers, freezing and frozen, laughing and crying, booing and cheering... together. And that's how we'll get through all the mess that our country is in.
Trey Ellis | Posted 02.27.2009 | Politics
Watching the speech again after the Inauguration, and watching the world watch it, realizing that there was not a corner of the globe that wasn't listening, I think it is fair to have expected more.
Roderick Spencer | Posted 02.24.2009 | Living
On Tuesday, a lot of people in Washington, and I suspect everywhere else in the world, drank way too much. But for once our drunkenness wasn't to blot out reality, but to revel in it.
Gabrielle Burton | Posted 02.23.2009 | Politics
Miss Manners says you cannot permit a bravo for an operatic performance without also permitting a boo. Can we extrapolate to politicians on state occasions?
Ari Melber | Posted 02.23.2009 | Politics
If nothing else, this week the city of Washington was Obamafied. People went not just to celebrate, but to bear witness, to be together, to physically join the concise ritual of swearing in the president.
Simon Jenkins | Posted 02.22.2009 | Politics
Obama may yet prove a disappointment. The task asked of him may be too great. But for the moment that is of no account. American democracy has delivered, and done so spectacularly.
Sen. Barbara Boxer | Posted 02.22.2009 | Politics
I cannot help but think of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who 47 years ago stood on steps of the Lincoln Memorial and spoke of his dream. Tuesday, that long-awaited, long-fought-for dream of equality was realized.
Rajeev Goyal | Posted 02.21.2009 | Living
I marched in the inaugural parade with members of the Peace Corps, and there are three moments that will stay with me forever.
Andrew Kreig | Posted 05.03.2009 | Politics
When Obama climbed from his limo to greet crowds assembled outside the National Archives and Navy Memorial, he followed the suggestion of the Memorial's designer William Conklin.
Bob Cesca | Posted 02.21.2009 | Politics
President Obama has made it clear that America is no longer in the business of selling out the legacy of our Founders and the mandates of the Constitution for the sake of a little bit of extra security.
Judge David Young | Posted 02.21.2009 | Politics
We are all taught as children not to talk to strangers, but during those hours standing still or barely inching along during the Inauguration Day traffic, I violated that rule repeatedly.
Lee Camp | Posted 02.21.2009 | Politics
I just returned from D.C. feeling like David Blaine returning from his 58-hour entombment in a block of ice: I'm cold, I lost some friends, and I gained an impressive case of PTSD.
Michael Roth | Posted 02.21.2009 | Politics
As we start a new era, President Obama has asked us to reshape our destiny.
Robert L. Borosage | Posted 02.21.2009 | Politics
Each of us is called to "pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America." It is a challenge that we can not afford to ignore.
Joan Z. Shore | Posted 02.21.2009 | World
France opened its heart to America yesterday, and Paris opened the doors of its magnificent City Hall to a jubilant crowd of 1,300 to watch the inauguration ceremony, transmitted live by CNN.
Ted Johnson, Maegan Carberry, Teresa Valdez Klein | Posted 02.21.2009 | Politics
Two of our hosts, Ted and Maegan, were in Washington DC for the festivities and they offer their own personal perspectives from the ground.
David Weiner | Posted 02.21.2009 | Politics
Despite some very true and obvious comparisons between the two, I feel it's my duty to nip the coming onslaught of Washington/Obama comparisons in the bud.
Craig Newmark | Posted 02.21.2009 | Living
Over the last forty eight hours, well, might be my imagination, but seems like people have gotten a lot nicer.
Jamal Dajani | Posted 02.21.2009 | World
In Amman, demonstrators took to the streets Tuesday to celebrate Bush's departure by tossing shoes at a banner with his picture on it. They did not, however, celebrate Obama's inauguration.
Daniel Menaker | Posted 02.21.2009 | Politics
There is no need to applaud Mr. Bush, but no need to boo him, either. He was our own doing, after all, and anyway, we are, perversely, in his debt.
Benjamin R. Barber | Posted 02.21.2009 | Politics
If America's investors lift their eyes from their virtual ticker tapes long enough to notice that America is transforming itself, maybe they can give the economy a chance to recover
Patt Morrison | Posted 02.21.2009 | Politics
Roberts posed, "So help you God?'' as if he were interrogating Obama about whether he does believe in God.
Greg Mitchell | Posted 02.21.2009 | Media
Obama did not start surging until Colbert suddenly pulled out of the race for the White House -- or was booted out. Maybe if he'd stay in it would be Vice President Colbert today.
Scott Kurashige | Posted 02.21.2009 | Politics
Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement leaders defined their mission: "to save the soul of America." Obama's address can serve as a reminder of that incomplete mission.
Beth Broderick | Posted 02.27.2009 | Politics