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There I was, watching all the regalia of the presidential inauguration. The crowds, the dignataries...(snip) Of course, I was also waiting to see just what kind of prayer Rick Warren had co-opted to pray for the new incoming President and his administration.

Did anyone get a picture of the Mall in DC after everyone left or was leaving? I would love to compare the grounds after "our people" left with the ground after "their BHO worshipers" left. On the Freeper March on DC we picked up after ourselves and even helped the crews clean up their equipment.

After the 2 million strong conservative freedom rally on 9-12: And, here is the filth left for someone else to clean up after the Inauguration of Barack Obama: Via Prisca

How many people were in DC for the Tea Party?This is when Obama was inaugurated. How does it compare to today? That was 2 million.

Quote Of The Day- DC Official: "1,765,000 People Attended Barack Obama's Inauguration - 14 Missed Work" :)

The American Thinker points out today there's a bunch of Obama collectible crap out there that no one wants. Just type "Obama" into ebay and you'll get a long list of crap that people recognize is worthless. I take that back...there was at least one bid for this item...

The King of Pop was begged to perform by President-elect Obama. The list of celebrities invited to the Obama inauguration is growing by leaps and bounds, but one name will be conspicuously missing from the line up. Reps for the Obama camp claim Michael Jackson was personally invited by Obama, but turned down the invitation. Sources tell us that Obama “almost begged Michael” to attend but was unable to convince him. The refusal to attend the inaugaration lead many Obama organizers to speculate that Jackson is indeed ill, and his medical condition won’t allow him to perform to his high...

(WXYZ) - The hat that dazzled millions of people during the inauguration of President Barack Obama, is now being offered as a Christmas ornament.

Mr. Song Millinery on Woodward Avenue in Detroit has struck a sour note with Aretha Franklin. It was her inaugural hat that caused a flood of orders from around the world. And now, the Queen of Soul wants royal treatment from store owner Luke Song for wearing it. "I think that I should be getting big time royalties from him. That's what I think," said Franklin in an interview with WWJ's Vickie Thomas at Sunday's NAACP Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner.

Melissa Harris Lacewell penned "Why blacks are more optimistic about race" for Friday's Philadelphia Inquirer. As might be expected, the associate professor of politics and African American studies at Princeton University and author of the breathlessly anticipated "Sister Citizen: A Text for Colored Girls Who've Considered Politics When Being Strong Isn't Enough," is very, very happy with Barack Obama. But readers may be at least mildly surprised at what she considers the highlight of his inauguration: But the best part of Jan. 20 was that Barack and Michelle got out of the bulletproof black Cadillac and walked the streets -...

Mad Magazine presents The First 100 Minutes of the Obama Presidency. (Click photo for a larger image)

President Barack Obama's prolific fundraising carried on through Inauguration Day: His inaugural committee raised at least $53 million from donors for his swearing-in festivities. That's about $11 million more than President George W. Bush raised for each of his two Inauguration Days. Obama's inaugural committee filed a report Monday with the Federal Election Commission listing donors who gave $200 or more. The FEC requires inaugural committees to identify those contributors, but doesn't make them detail other fundraising or their spending. Obama had already voluntarily disclosed his biggest donors on the inaugural committee's Web site. The committee accepted donations of up...

"I, Barack Hussein Obama do solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States,...and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, So help me God".

"I grew up in a military family — and my role models in life were my Mom and Dad, Lt. Colonel Earl Woods. My dad was a Special Forces operator and many nights friends would visit our home. They represented every branch of service, and every rank. In my Dad, and in those guests, I saw first hand the dedication and commitment of those who serve. They come from every walk of life. From every part of our country. Time and again, across generations, they have defended our safety in the dark of night and far from home. Each day...

Barak Obama's older brother Abongo "Roy" Obama is a Luo activist and a militant Muslim who argues that the black man must "liberate himself from the poisoning influences of European culture." Recently, Barack Obama welcomed his militant Muslim brother Roy Obama to the White House. Proud family: US President Barack Obama greets members of his British and African-based family at the White House following his inauguration, including half-brother Abongo, far left, and stepmother Kezia, in yellow (Daily Mail) The Daily Mail reported: These are the first pictures of Barack Obama inside the White House with his British stepmother. Taken the...

From Bracknell (and Kenya) to Washington: First picture of Obama and his British stepmother inside the White House These are the first pictures of Barack Obama inside the White House with his British stepmother. Taken the day he was sworn in as President, they show him giving Kezia Obama and the rest of his extended family a tour of his new home. Embraced by Mrs Obama, who travelled to Washington DC from her council house in Bracknell, the President proudly posed in an official reception for the family. Proud family: US President Barack Obama greets members of his British and...

Proud family: US President Barack Obama greets members of his British and African-based family at the White House following his inauguration, including half-brother Abongo, far left, and stepmother Kezia, in yellow These are the first pictures of Barack Obama inside the White House with his British stepmother. Taken the day he was sworn in as President, they show him giving Kezia Obama and the rest of his extended family a tour of his new home. Embraced by Mrs Obama, who travelled to Washington DC from her council house in Bracknell, the President proudly posed in an official reception for the...

As people crowded into the capital for Barack Obama's inaugural celebration, senior counterterrorism officials huddled in the White House situation room, frantically trying to unravel intelligence about a possible attack on Washington. By Tuesday afternoon, as Obama took the oath of office, the threat of a terror plot by the Somalia-based al-Shabab organization had been debunked, but the flurry of activity underscored growing worries about this Islamic militant group. "I think they are a serious problem, and I don't think that we should be glib and take it lightly," said Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for African Affairs....

City still owed $1.7M for Obama rally February 20, 2009 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- The cost of President Barack Obama's Election Day celebration in Grant Park totaled more than $1.7 million, and the city has yet to be paid. The Office of Budget and Management says the city is reaching out to the Democratic National Committee to get the money. A DNC spokesperson said the party is still looking at various costs and bills. In October, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said the cash-flush Obama campaign would reimburse the city for the total cost of the rally.

Let me first say that I am no judge of poetry. I have little knowledge of the stuff and have even less interest in it. So, for all I knew the poem that Elizabeth Alexander read during Obama's inaugural was a great one. It seemed a bit pedestrian to me, but, like I said, what do I know? As the days rolled onward after the inaugural ended more and more people in the know about poetry came out to say that Alexander's poem was a bad one. Well, apparently the poem buying public agrees with those in the know because...

WASHINGTON - D.C. officials say they plan to ask the federal government to help them recover costs related to President Barack Obama inauguration. City Administrator Dan Tangherlini says D.C. spent $48.5 million on security and other expenses for the event. The federal government gave the city $15 million to offset costs, and now, Tangherlini says D.C. faces an estimated $33.5 million shortfall. -snip-

On January 20, on the Capital Mall, before a reputed 1.8 million fans, Barack Obama had something of a Milli Vanilli moment. Although the faithful were as oblivious or indifferent to the breakdown as were Fab and Rob’s on that awful day twenty years prior when the pair’s record skipped, the more astute observers--even the friendly ones--winced. By all rational accounts, the gap between what an inaugural audience expected and what the president delivered has never been wider. To be fair, the proverbial “expectations” had been a shade high. As British literary heavyweight Jonathan Raban noted, “No recent inaugural has...

If you were wondering why Beyoncé and not Etta James was asked to serenade the president and first lady with "At Last" during their first dance at an inauguration ball on Jan. 20, you're not alone. Etta, 71, whom Beyoncé went blonde to portray in last year's "Cadillac Records," is wondering the same thing, and she candidly expressed her displeasure during a concert stop in Seattle last week. "You guys know your president, right?" she asked the crowd amid cheers (listen to it here. "You know the one with the big ears? Wait a minute, he ain't my president, he...

There's something scrappy in Hollywood's water -- mere days after the very unexpected Faye Dunaway/Hilary Duff feud was ignited, another old guard/new guard battle is blazing. This time around Etta James is kicking it old school -- and threatening to kick Beyonce's teeth in. Now, I was under the impression that these ladies got on like gangbusters -- not only did Beyonce play Etta in 2008's "Cadillac Records," but Etta acted as a mentor to B and attended the December premiere. Well, that's all in the past because Etta is furious that Beyonce dared to sing her iconic "At Last"...

Basking in the adulatory afterglow, our new president savored a cigarette and crossed his Nike high-tops on the Resolute Desk, while crews in coveralls stabbed 130 tons of trash into black plastic bags. Two weeks downstream of the Obamagasm on the Mall, Barack has decided to cut the White House staff some slack: He relaxed the dress code, for starters. According to The New York Times’ Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Obama shows up for work around 9 a.m. — two hours later than Bush — and the Oval Office coat-and-tie rule is history. Who slips into a suit after shooting hoops?...

Springsteen's Homage to Pete Seeger By Tom Moon World Cafe, April 25, 2006 - On the new collection We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, Bruce Springsteen honors the folk music tradition that has inspired many of his own compositions over the years. All the tracks on the new album are standards closely associated with folk icon Pete Seeger. Springsteen assembled large ensemble of acoustic musicians to flavor the proceedings with everything from accordion to tuba. Rock critic Tom Moon talks with host David Dye about why he reacted so strongly and positively towards this latest offering by The Boss. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5360791...

The girls' final encounter for now with A-list stars came on the night of Barack Obama's inauguration. The Jonas Brothers boy band made a surprise appearance in the White House as Malia, 10, and Sasha, seven, explored their new home and their parents danced at the inauguration balls. But family friends told Us Weekly that Mrs Obama is "trying to keep them grounded" and insisting on no special treatment as they begin their new lives in Washington. That means an end to hanging out with celebrities such as Beyonce, whom the girls were thrilled to meet during the campaign, according...

Any Mathmaniacs out there looking for a good time on a Friday night? I suspect that you might have to have better than average skill to do this, but math is math. It's free from opinion and sometimes the truths that are revealed are more powerful than punditry. I floated this question a couple of days ago, but it was during a slow traffic hour and to a separate thread. It was also before this particular item was yanked from the Stimulus Shakedown. Anyway, I was curious if anyone might have the math skill to breakdown the cost of resodding...

21 January 2009 Michelle Obama's Inaugural Gown by 26YO Gay Designer Jason Wu The American fashion industry is obviously impressed with our new First Lady and her focus on bright, young designers. The chic inaugural ensemble chosen by Michelle Obama was designed by Cuban American designer Isabel Toledo. That was blown away by last night's inaugural gown designed by Jason Wu, the 26-year-old openly gay Taiwanese-born fashion designer and the über-hottie who created the RuPaul Doll. Booth Moore at the Los Angeles Times: The gown is an unusual choice. Obama is wearing white in the winter and white at night....

Michelle Obama’s now-famous Jason Wu gown isn’t the only piece of Inaugural fashion that is headed for the Smithsonian. The museum is also requesting the now-iconic hat that Aretha Franklin wore while singing at the swearing-in. Aretha, however, is still undecided about parting with her Luke Song-designed hat. “I am considering it. It would be hard to part with my chapeau since it was such a crowning moment in history,” says the Queen of Soul. “I would like to smile every time I look back at it and remember what a great moment it was in American and African-American history....

MONTREAL - A survey of media reports around the world says the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama received more coverage than the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Montreal media company Influence Communication says the inauguration and associated events took up 60.54 per cent of all news coverage in 160 countries during a 24-hour period from Jan. 20 to Jan. 21. Not surprisingly, the U.S. media gave the inauguration the most prominence - 71.12 per cent of all coverage. Canada comes in at 61.45 per cent. In all, Influence Communication says if a person were to try to take...

Editor's note: Nafees A. Syed, a junior at Harvard University majoring in government, is an editorial editor at The Harvard Crimson as well as a senior editor and columnist for the Harvard-MIT journal on Islam and society, Ascent. She is chairwoman of the Harvard Institute of Politics Policy Group on Racial Profiling. Nafees Syed says President Obama's early words and actions send a powerful, positive signal to Muslims. CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- President Obama has given the Muslim community around the world the message we have been waiting for. He reassured Muslims in America that "We are a nation of...

Mr. Barack Obama presented a fine picture at his inauguration. He exhibited the degree of gravitas appropriate to the office of President of the United States. It is a pity then that his inaugural speech contained at least one significant historical error, one on which he seems to have justified his first executive decision. It was in the part of the speech in which he sought to distinguish himself from his predecessor over Guantanamo Bay. He followed this by his first executive decision, which is to suspend action on the prosecutions at Guantanamo. His difficulty is that it is not...

MediaTakeOut.com just got a hold of this week's Enquirer. And in it they have a report claiming that Michelle Obama had to set Beyonce straight. Here's an excerpt: "Beyonce has spent months gushing over President Obama, and when she was in the same room with him, she couldn't tear her eyes away from him," revealed the source. "Before things got out of hand, Michelle got word to Beyonce to tone things down or risk being banned from the White House in the future." Michelle was also appauled when she found out that Beyonce had pulled strings to get the Secret...

(CNN) -- An Ohio man who was suspended as the drum major of a band for giving President Obama a nod during last week's inaugural parade is calling it quits. John Coleman resigned from the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Pipes & Drums a week after the parade in Washington. Publicity about his suspension had gotten to be too much, he told CNN affiliate WEWS. "It's come to a point where I don't want embarrassment anymore between the pipe band and myself," Coleman, who is a firefighter, told WEWS on Tuesday. Coleman was seen during the nationally televised January 20 parade nodding...

Biden Apologizes to Roberts for Oath Joke @ 10:14 am by Walter Alarkon Vice President Biden called Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to apologize for joking about his flub of the presidential oath of office, reports The Christian Science Monitor. Biden last week made fun of Roberts' halting performance on Inauguration Day just before he had to administer the oath to new White House staffers. "My memory's not as good as Justice Roberts’," Biden said, making a reference to Roberts' attempt to recite the oath from memory. The remark prompted some laughs, but not from President Obama, who stood...

CHICAGO (AFP) - A drum major who waved at President Barack Obama was brought to tears Tuesday over his six-month suspension from an Ohio marching band. "Six months is pretty harsh, I think," firefighter John Coleman told Newsnet 5. But the Cleveland Firefighter's Memorial Pipes & Drums band leader said even a glance is out of bounds for marching bands in a parade marking the inauguration of a president.

Reports indicate that Vice-President Joe Biden called U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to apologize for his remark last week making fun of Roberts after his infamous flub of the Oath of Office when swearing-in President Barack Obama. Here is video of the remark Biden made last week, followed by news of the apology . . . . . I chided Biden last week for making the classless joke at Roberts' expense, so now I also praise Biden for doing the right thing and apologizing for it. No doubt, Chief Justice Roberts feels terrible about the mistake he made,...

Last week I enjoyed the honor of having my essay on "Bush and the Bush Haters" featured on both Democratic Underground and Daily Kos. Glancing over the comments (along with those in a similar vein on RealClearPolitics) I saw that with few exceptions, they were the standard run of viciousness, nastiness, and obscenity that we've grown used to from the left in recent years. But there was another quality too, one that took me a little while to identify. What struck me at last was this: the left are not acting like winners. People basking in a long-sought victory -- a...

It's going to be a long four years. The first six days have lasted about that long already.I've shaken my head so many times since last Tuesday, I'm getting threatening mail from my cerebrum. Coupled with the already lib-heavy tone set forth by The One over the first week of his reign will apparently be the obligatory need to inject race into every nook and cranny of the Obama experience. It's already been a great big melanin-level lovefest in less than a week of Obama-Nation - from the Reverend Joseph Lowery's rainbow-flavored mumblings to the economic mighty-mo Robert Reich's condemnation...

“What a day it was. It may take days or years to really absorb the significance of what happened to America today....When he [Barack Obama] finally emerged, he seemed, even in this throng, so solitary, somber, perhaps already feeling the weight of the world, even before he was transformed into the leader of the free world....The mass flickering of cell phone cameras on the mall seemed like stars shining back at him.” — NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on the January 20 Nightly News. After Eight Years of Bush, Finally Some Smart People in Charge “Brains are in the ascendancy now, absolutely....

In 2009, thanks to cultural implosion and media bias, his primary deficiency has been reclassified into a transcendent trait. Nowadays indecisive fellows like Obama — should they be Democrats — qualify as symbols of astuteness. After all, anyone can have strong beliefs, but only a New Age hero has the wattage to be uncertain about so many things. It’s nuance! No doubt that the clowns on MSLSD will soon refer to him as the realization of Plato’s concept of the philosopher king...

Here are few discrepancies worth noting: 1. Obama's presidential campaign was supported by corporate lobbyists and investment banks tied to the market speculation of oil prices. What did they see in him? 2. Obama's economic advisers come from the University of Chicago, where the Milton Friedman/Alan Greenspan model of free markets run amuck is paving the way for an age of neo-feudalism. 3. Obama has interviewed two Republicans to serve as secretary of defense and secretary of state in his administration, if elected. 4. Obama has been linked to war profiteering. 5. Obama has promised to expand Bush's controversial "faith-based...

The estimated 1.8 million people who attended Tuesday's inauguration reduced the Mall to a barren wasteland, and it will likely require some major work from the National Park Service. associated press This photograph by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, captures the scope of the historic inauguration, which attracted an estimated 1.8 million people. Much of the grassy part of the Mall is now off-limits to the public for several months, giving the grass a chance to regrow. The National Park Service, which is in charge of maintaining the area, already has a maintenance team and a natural-resources staff inspecting...

In addition to all of the other hypocrisies practiced by liberals during the B.O. inauguration, here's another one to add to the list...

Hilarious video http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=263123

Since its inception in 1953, every new president has attended The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball – until now. The ball was created for President Dwight Eisenhower's inauguration to honor recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award. The event is sponsored by the American Legion and co-sponsored by 13 other veteran's service organizations, including the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Military Order of the Purple Heart. And while 48 of the nation's 99 living recipients of the Medal of Honor attended the event, reports the Cleveland Leader and various self-attested attendees of the ball, newly...

  In theory, at least, we already knew that the Gigapan Imager was capable of some amazing things. This, friends, is proof. David Bergman strapped the device and his Canon G10 onto a rail at Barack Obama's inauguration and snapped 220 images. After giving his MacBook Pro 6.5 hours to compile a two gigabyte image, he hosted it up on his website for people to zoom around on. We'll caution you -- you can easy kill a few hours checking out faces and such if you end up visiting the read link, but it's totally worth it. [Via Gadling]

I have watched and listened for the past week to the musing of the inauguration, and here is what I have gleaned. This is obviously the first inauguration of a U.S. president ever, as far as many people in this country are concerned. In fact, there have been several before this; these people chose not to notice. The honorable Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is famous for his statement, "Judge me not for the color of my skin, but for the content of my character." This is a great philosophy, I agree with and try to abide by. Yet nowhere...

These foolish drops do something drown my manly spirit. – Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice” I had neither planned nor expected to cry. If it’s true, as some maintain, that men who cry are pantywaists, then I stand condemned. Not being one of those whose tear-production is either quick or voluminous, I was amazed at how many times, watching the all-day spectacle, I lost it. And it wasn’t just at the easy times like, say, during a sudden close-up of a tear-streaked elderly black face in the crowd, but also at moments that were just plain “for the country.” “Historic”...