Free Republic

Willie Brown correctly predicted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's landslide win to the chagrin of his own party, and now the Democratic icon will emcee the Republican governor's swearing-in ceremony in January. The governor's inaugural committee announced Tuesday that it had recruited Brown to serve as master of ceremonies during Schwarzenegger's Jan. 5 invitation-only ceremony at the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento. "I think that Mayor Brown's choice shows the governor's commitment to bipartisanship," said Reed Galen, executive director of the inaugural committee.

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: The President, First Lady and the dogs are spending the weekend at the White House, and had no public appearances scheduled. The new German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit with President Bush in Washington on Friday. She hopes to improve relations between the two countries strained by predecessor Gerhard Schroeder's opposition to the war in Iraq. If that is the case, however, she is off to a poor start by condemning the U.S. for our terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "An institution such as Guantanamo cannot and should not continue to exist like that...

What happened? Hello? Hello? Anybody home? "MESSAGE TO DISABLED FLORIDIANS" December 1998, Florida By Governor-elect Jeb Bush "Talking with a variety of Floridians with disabilities and their families has helped understand a lot more about the lives, challenges and dreams of those with disabilities. However, I know that my education continues with everyone new I meet. People with disabilities are no different than anyone else. They want to work, have families, and live independently. As Governor, I would work hard to create an environment that gives people with disabilities every opportunity to be independent and play an active role in...

This past inauguration day, the cold weather was the least of the problem. The bigger problem was the realization that America is slowly falling apart. The second inauguration attracted the worst undergrowth of American society, and they all descended on the nation's Capitol. God gave us the great gift of humanity. Why would some humans choose to devolve to the insect class? After eight hours of rubbing shoulders with the repugnant, foul protestors, I had to take two showers to purge myself of the contamination. It was like entering a well-used Port-a-Potty but never exiting. There was no fresh air...

DollyCali Inauguration 2005 Thoughts n PixWednesday PMWashington Plaza HotelFReeper Social Being late is not anyone’s favorite role. But we were late. Travel companion Vicki from Oklahoma & I (from Ohio) had driven in (thru sleet & snow In ohio & across the turnpike with much of same) to arrive in DC area to see the small fall had about paralyzed the city. I was pretty fatigued as I drove into the DC area after 10 hours of awful-weather driving. My travel pal slept the whole way as she had just driven 18 hours to get to our meeting place....

A slide show featuring the guests and events from W2 Free Republic Ball is being developed from contributing attendees. The contributors page will show your screen name unless you want to remain anonymous or want to give your real name. I think I have most of them but in case you have already posted your images and have not contacted me, reply here and I will copy to the W2 Slide Show collection. Also let me know if you will be posting in the future so you are not left out.

Finally got my inaugeration pics up. I'll post them when I have time to write the whole story. This was my intro to FR. Was walking around, getting the taunts of the great unwashed, when I saw these fellows holding up very arge and very supportive signs. So I HAD to go over to them and say hi.

Jones with Tony Orlando at the Bush inaugural photo: Diane Jenkins Wait, I can't resist some more '70s-related mania: I recently wrote that the original cowboy from the VILLAGE PEOPLE, openly gay RANDY JONES, had agreed to perform at the Bush inaugural festivities, and some people were angrier than I was when disco died. Well, here's Randy's post-show reply: "I was able to stand in front of more than 1,000 Republicans, speak of my husband of almost 21 years, WILL GREGA, and still have them waving their arms and forming the letters of YMCA just like little kids. It...

I attended the W2 Ball and unfortunately left my camera. I was wondering if anyone found a Minolta "box" camera. I don't really care about the camera, but I had some really adorable photos of my one year old daughter in it. If you found a camera, or even if you sympathize, please post here. Thank you!!!

WASHINGTON -- It may have taken place 10 days ago, but the presidential inauguration with its pageantry and dignity jostling the protests, excesses and overkill is and will remain fresh in the memory of everyone who was there. But those among us, some veterans of nine inaugurals, were shocked and disgusted by a new phenomenon: the Sore Losers Club. There was no doubt that Al Gore, the former vice president and former presidential contender, is the club's leader. He found a black hole in which to again hide from the reality of voter rejection. Another card-carrying member of the club...

Dear President Bush: If as you stated in your inaugural address, “the policy of the United Sates is to seek and support the growth of the democratic movements and institutions in each nation and culture”, it should be more so in each state and territory under the American flag. But, how can you be joyous that the Congress and the Executive are committed to the expansion of democratic participation of the American citizens that happen to be Puerto Rican by origin or ethnicity [in the mainland], while at the same time half of us, four million that live on the...

HILLARY LEANS IN TO HER husband, teeth clenched in a polite smile: "Bill! I swear, you are so predictable. Stop ogling that woman in the black beret! It's Karl's wife, for heaven's sake."The Inaugural Luncheon is underway in the Capitol's Statuary Hall, and the table assignments are offering a world-class opportunity for my favorite pastime, which is to make up dialogue for people I can see but not hear. Fifty of the highest-ranking government officials are assembled with 200 of their nearest and dearest for a post-speech nosh. The press has been offered access to the Statuary Hall balcony, overlooking...

Krauthammer Consulted on Inaugural, Then Praised It By Dave Astor Published: January 26, 2005 12:05 PM ET NEW YORK Liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America says columnist Charles Krauthammer praised President Bush's Jan. 20 inauguration speech on TV without disclosing his role consulting on the speech. Krauthammer's syndicate responded this morning. When Krauthammer was among a group of people invited to the White House Jan. 10, "he did not get the sense that this was an exercise in speech preparation," Alan Shearer, editorial director/general manager of the Washington Post Writers Group, told E&P. "If he had, he would very...

Where Woodrow Wilson was going to make the world safe for democracy, George W. Bush is going him one better. President Bush is going to make the whole world democratic. As he declared in his Inaugural Address, our "great objective" is "ending tyranny" on earth. And how does the president propose to achieve it? So, it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world. The president is here asserting a unilateral American right to interfere...

Many are saying that the administration is pulling back on the president's inaugural address, in which George W. Bush declared his "ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." Don't believe it. Bush may adjust his tactics, but his strategy is still to go straight ahead. Of course, much of the commentary in the usual-suspect mainstream media was hostile. Of course, the foreign reaction was even more hostile. But what took the White House by surprise was a blast from a strong supporter, Peggy Noonan. Her Wall Street Journal piece, entitled "Way Too Much God," took Bush to task for...

If you haven't heard the president's second inaugural speech, or at least read the transcribed version of it by now, chances are you're not very interested in American politics. Either that or you have a very short attention span, and just haven't managed to get through its roughly 2,300 words without being distracted by something else.

Need all prayers recited on Inauguration Day for an ill friend who missed telecast.

wasn't supposed to be here. I was supposed to be at a ball, a genuine inaugural ball with tuxedos and presidential-seal-emblazoned square napkins and succulent miniature crab cakes. Regrettably, we're a liberal magazine and, consequently, many of us are less than perfectly organized (although, at TNR, some of us prefer to think of ourselves as neo-disorganized)--and, well, I failed to honor certain press-credentialing deadlines. Now, instead, I would be covering "counter-inaugural events." As a result, last night I was sitting in a low-budget church on G Street in downtown Washington listening to speakers at an International Socialist Organization-sponsored gathering...

Intermediate Draft, seeking FReeper input. South Boston Phoenix Special Report “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke) GW Bush dared to invoke the 'G' word, 'God', three times in his 2005 Inaugural Speech. The most talked-about reaction came from Peggy Noonan. The irony is how low the Bush Administration has sunk in order to not look 'overly'-Christian: 1. In his speech, the President, OUR President, spoke well of the Koran, the religion with scriptures that demand the killing of any infidels too weak to retaliate and too 'proud' to submit...

In the hands of a world-class rhetorician — Lincoln, FDR, Reagan — George Bush's soaring Second Inaugural would be vividly understood as the world-class dissertation that it was. Subsequent readings (for the speech reads far better than his delivery of it) verify that rarely has a President — has anyone — expatiated with profounder eloquence on the ennobling cause of liberty. The President termed liberty "the honorable achievement of our Fathers" and now "the calling of our time." He postulated that "no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave." And so: It...

GEORGE W. BUSH IS a strong, clear-minded president--one of the strongest and clearest-minded we have ever had. Why can't a great president give a great speech?The president's second inaugural address was fine and generous, a big speech with sweeping views in all directions, a speech Americans can be proud of. But the language did not always rise to the level of the ideas. There were many good phrases, a few superb ones, and a brilliant ending. There were also weak phrases, a few unclear ones, and one absolute stinker. On the whole it was very good. It should have been...

The President, First Lady and their parents relaxed at the White House today. Former President GHW Bush visited the press corps on duty in the WH press briefing room. QUOTE OF THE DAY: This week, Washington has been marked by pomp and circumstance. In a free nation, these ceremonies are more than pageantry. They underscore that public office is a public trust. America's elected leaders derive their authority from the consent of the American people, whom we serve. This is a high privilege, and that privilege carries a serious responsibility: to confront problems now, instead of passing them on to...

This inauguration marks the seventh out of the past 10 in which a Republican president parades down Pennsylvania Avenue. At the Capitol, the procession's starting point, Republicans hold a 10-seat majority in the Senate and a solid grasp, for the 10th year in a row, on the House. The majority of governors, including those of the four largest states, are Republican, and the GOP controls most state legislatures. Most significantly, Americans, by a 3-to-2 margin, identify themselves as conservatives rather than liberals. Over the past quarter-century, U.S. politics has changed dramatically. Republicans, conservatives and free-market advocates have moved from the fringes to center...

Inaugural Viewers Flock to Fox By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/21/2005 4:59:00 PM Fox News Channel won the coverage of George Bush raising his hand hands-down. According to Nielsen ratings figures supplied by Fox, FNC's coverage of the inaugural ceremonies (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) on Thursday averaged 705,000 viewers in the key 25-54 news demo, over four times that of CNN, which averaged 168,000 during the same time. CNBC averaged 141,000. Fox's coverage was up 30% over the 2001 Bush inaugural, while CNN was down 63% and MSNBC down 68%. In total viewers, the numbers were FNC,...

Which Way for Freedom? By: Deacon Keith A. Fournier © Third Millennium, LLC “There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom…. Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will...

Troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan were treated here last night to a once-in-a-lifetime experience: an inaugural ball in their honor, with a big lineup of celebrities, entertainers and defense brass thanking them for their sacrifices. The guests of honor at the first Heroes Red, White and Blue Inaugural Ball were about 150 patients from Walter Reed Army Medical Center here and the National Naval Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, Md., and their guests. Most came in dress uniforms they hadn't worn since before their deployments to Southwest Asia, some wore borrowed or rented tuxedos, but all came ready to...

At about 10:40am EST, Rather wondered: "Having studied every American president in some detail, has there been any American president in a time of war who has asked for as little sacrifice as President Bush has done? Or is that a misreading of history?" Professor Joseph Ellis, a CBS News analyst, a historian and an author, most recently of a new biography of George Washington, confirmed: "No, I think you're right, Dan. I think what's unusual about President Bush is that he's perhaps the only President that took us to war at the same time as he cut our taxes....

FAITH AND CULTURE More Reflections on the Inaugural Address: Freedom is not Muscular By: Deacon Keith Fournier © Third Millennium, LLC This morning I received a letter from a brilliant young woman lawyer who has, for the most part, been a consistent supporter of the President. We have therefore disagreed on some issues. She is also, as am I, a great admirer of Peggy Noonan, the gifted Catholic political speech writer for President Ronald Reagan and current columnist for the Wall Street Journal. She wrote in her E-Mail to me: ________________________________________________________ “For the first time in as long as I...

Like the pairing of lobster and quail on the menu, the inaugural luncheon in the Capitol after President Bush's swearing-in brought together people who typically wouldn't sit together. Former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), joined by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and his wife, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, shared a table with Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser. Former President Jimmy Carter, an outspoken critic of Bush's Iraq policy, was seated with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, while the president's 23-year-old daughter Jenna was able to chat with 70-year-old Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and 84-year-old Supreme Court Justice...

After a marathon viewing of yesterday's presidential inauguration and parade, I have three questions. 1. What was served at the luncheon that cameras were prohibited from filming? 2. Does anyone else think Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen could play the Bush daughters? 3. Didn't it seem like the cameras always found Hilary Clinton? Those questions may sound trivial -- or at least two of them do. But, like the various networks and cable channels that spent most of the morning and afternoon covering events in Washington, I had a lot of time to kill between President Bush's swearing-in at noon, and...

The day after what virutally everyone is hailing as an historic inaugural address, you would have thought that the morning shows would have devoted their entire first half-hours to a thorough exegisis. But perhaps exactly because the speech was so important, the MSM shows chose to give it short shrift. At the Today Show, after a perfunctory segment with relative lightweights Dee Dee Myers and Joe Scarborough, it was quickly on to a discussion of beer sales at athletic events. At Good Morning America, after Stephie Stephanopolous was given a few words, ABC shifted to the controversy over whether Squarepants...

The lights in the White House clicked on well before dawn on Inauguration Day.     President Bush rose at 5:30 a.m., refreshed from getting to bed earlier than scheduled after making the rounds to several evening balls, Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. said yesterday.     After breakfast with his father, former President George Bush, and other family and friends, "He was in the Oval Office before 7," Mr. Card said. [snip]The commander in chief also told Mr. Card exactly what passage he would have the Bible open to when he took the oath of office: Isaiah 40:31 — "But...

He proposes another "Battle for Men's Minds," similar to that fought in the long Cold War, though this time fought in a way that combines America's highest ideals with a foreign policy that no longer has to be amoral in the traditions of foreign policy traditions dating back to Napoleon, characterized by nations states whose foreign service proceeded from the belief that nations were not Moral Agents, and, thus, were not required to answer like individuals, for sins committed to advance their national interests.

"I'm here to represent California, and I'm here for a historic event," Schwarzenegger said in an interview. "I've always enjoyed coming to inaugurations. It's always a celebration, a new beginning. It's going to be a great next four years. Terrific. I'm excited to be a part of it." After the swearing in, Schwarzenegger and other governors went to the White House and waited in the Treaty Room for the parade to begin. Schwarzenegger spoke to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former President George H.W. Bush, but did not get a chance to talk directly to the president. He also was...

Evangelist Billy Graham will lead the opening prayer at a service Friday honoring the second inauguration of President Bush. "I have known the Bush family for many years, and have seen how their faith in God has sustained them through some very trying times," Graham said in a statement. "I pray for them daily, and it is a great honor to pray publicly for our president, his family, and our nation as he begins his second term." The service is scheduled for Friday morning at the National Cathedral. Bush credits Graham with inspiring him to reaffirm his faith at age...

A HERO SALUTES Casey Owens, a wounded Marine, salutes as his mother Janna Owens cries during the inaugural speech by President Bush. The president pledged to work to heal a country divided by the Iraq war. "We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes, and I will strive in good faith to heal them."      

When President Bush raises his right hand and places the other one on the Bible today, more than usual attention will fall on the man administering the oath of office. Except for a quick sighting this week, U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist hasn't been seen in public since last fall when he underwent treatment for thyroid cancer. The rumor mill has since been working overtime, with Supreme Court watchers speculating on when the Chief, who is 80, might decide to retire. The theory du jour is that he is determined to stay through the end of the Court's term in...

US prepares for Bush inauguration ... Security measures for the inauguration are intense. ... About 6,000 police and 7,000 military personnel are on duty for the inauguration, alongside an undisclosed number of secret service personnel. ...

Brit just said FR and Protestwarrior.com are going to "protest the protests" of the inaugural parade!! yee haw!

The Peter Principles: The second inaugural By Peter Roff UPI Senior Political Analyst WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Shortly after noon on Jan. 20, 2005, George W. Bush joins a select group of U.S. chief executives. The 43rd president of the United States, Bush is the 16th to have won the opportunity to deliver a second inaugural address. It is an eclectic group, made up of great and near great presidents like Washington, Lincoln, FDR and Reagan as well as a few whom historians view ignominiously. And, for good measure, it also includes Grover Cleveland, who is primarily remembered for...

WASHINGTON - Relishing history as he awaited his second oath-taking, George W. Bush paused amid celebratory galas Wednesday to contemplate America's most treasured historical documents, including George Washington's inaugural speech. Asked whether he was feeling the history of the moment, Bush said "Absolutely." He and Laura Bush studied original versions of the Declaration of Independence so faded that most signatures were illegible; the Constitution; the Bill of Rights; and Washington's address and Bible. The sense of history was palpable in the dimly lit, dome-shaped room. A portrait of the Founding Fathers gazed down on the president, his wife and their...

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) will spend 17 minutes sketching overarching goals for his second term Thursday even as debate still swirls over how he fulfilled promises made in his first inaugural address. Former President George H.W. Bush gave his son an "A" for the Inauguration Day speech he delivered in a bone-chilling drizzle four years ago. The president's critics, however, still are challenging the first-term actions that grew out of that address. Seasoned by two wars and a terror attack that ravaged symbols of American power, the Texas governor who catapulted to power after a hair's-breadth...

Clinton Judge Emasculates Law Enforcement Agencies as Communist and Anarchist groups Plan Disruptions of Inaugural; Colombian Terrorists Target Bush for Death By Special Reports | January 18, 2005 Rulings by a Clinton-appointed federal judge, Gladys Kessler, have given unprecedented access to protesters to the inaugural parade route so that their "civil rights" may be protected. While the Washington Post and other Bush-bashing media are focusing on the cost of the January 20 Inauguration, a much more serious issue has emerged. Communist and anarchist groups may be planning to disrupt the inaugural and possibly commit violence. One organization sympathetic to a...

Even as plans to celebrate President George W. Bush's inauguration were taking final shape, the capital on Tuesday appeared more like a city under siege.

The following email is being spread around the internet. I recieved it this afternoon. I am planning to respond to this trash, but I wanted to get some input from other FR members. Maybe you have some good info for the rebuttle that I am not considering. Here is the email... What do you do when the war in Iraq looks worse than ever and you've just finished asking Americans to give money for tsunami victims? You throw a party. A $40 million dollar party. As Bush and Company prepare for his second-term inauguration on Thursday, his supporters plan to...

Dean uses inaugural to rail against Bush WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is using Thursday's inaugural festivities as another chance to rail against George W. Bush, the Boston Globe said. Dean, who is now running for chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is eschewing the bi-partisan unity traditionally in evidence on inauguration day to serve as host of "un-inauguration" house party fundraisers thrown by angry Democrats nationwide. The money collected will be used, the Globe said Tuesday, to oppose Bush's policies. "The Democratic Party will not win elections or build a lasting majority solely by...

THE WORLD CHANGED ON SEPTEMBER 11, and with it the Bush presidency--but not as much as you may think. True, its priorities shifted dramatically, with the war on terrorism taking precedence over all else. But much of what this presidency has become was there in the beginning--indeed, when George W. Bush, just sworn in as the 43rd president, delivered his inaugural address.The speech assumed a presidency that would center on domestic issues. Its big theme concerned "our democratic faith," rooted in freedom, and how we need to live up to it. "While many of our citizens prosper," Bush said, "others...

Roughly 2,000 out-of-town police officers begin arriving in Washington today to aid authorities at Thursday's inauguration, the largest group of reinforcements ever brought in for the swearing-in. The officers are coming from 85 law enforcement agencies, large and small, including volunteers from Los Angeles; Seattle; Charleston, W.Va.; and Burleson County, Tex. Most will be stationed Thursday on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, protecting the inaugural parade, or at other high-profile events.

Roughly 2,000 out-of-town police officers begin arriving in Washington today to aid authorities at Thursday's inauguration, the largest group of reinforcements ever brought in for the swearing-in. The officers are coming from 85 law enforcement agencies, large and small, including volunteers from Los Angeles; Seattle; Charleston, W.Va.; and Burleson County, Tex. Most will be stationed Thursday on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, protecting the inaugural parade, or at other high-profile events.

LANHAM, Md. - It's not easy to find a stuffed buffalo. For his first inaugural parade four years ago, Vice President Dick Cheney wanted a float to represent his home state of Wyoming. So float maker Hargrove Inc. designed a 45-foot-long mock-up of the Grand Teton mountains on wheels, with a real bubbling spring and a cowboy clinging to a bucking bronco. But it took weeks of searching to track down the buffalo. ``I talked to every taxidermist west of the Mississippi River to find him. They're pretty rare,'' said Hargrove marketing manager Marvin Bond, who finally got a Wyoming...