Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: In honor of civility

  1. #1
    Join Date
    10-22-01
    Location
    All Over
    Posts
    38,198

    In honor of civility

    ....a term Kevin introduced to me here many years ago is the term that I will use to describe my thoughts of the events of yesterday. I didn't get to see much since I was "Zooming" most of the day, but catching glimpses last night and from what I have read it seems to have gone very well and with a refreshingly more modest tone.

    I read that Chris Wallace at Fox said the acceptance speech was the best he has ever heard.

    Possibly the greatest benefit that our new President Biden can bring to this country is a renewed level of civility---I would regard that as a valuable step toward success.

    Added in edit:

    As I try to catch up I read this regarding the acceptance speech---I think it worthwhile to add to this tread:

    Near the end of his inaugural address yesterday, President Biden named six crises that the U.S. faces: the virus, climate change, growing inequality, racism, America’s global standing and an attack on truth and democracy.

    “Any one of these will be enough to challenge us in profound ways. But the fact is, we face them all at once,” Biden said. “We will be judged — you and I — by how we resolve these cascading crises of our era.”
    I know many will argue some of those points but I firmly believe we cannot gain true success as a country unless we gain our mutual goals together.
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
    "Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." ---John W. Gardner
    “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ---C. S. Lewis

  2. #2
    Join Date
    10-23-01
    Posts
    17,114
    If you missed the doings, you missed two things I was particularly moved by:

    1) The singing of the National Anthem by Lady Gaga. Sure, sometimes she shows up in a meat dress, but man, she sure has some pipes. She nailed it. Hard not to get a little misty when someone does that great a job, on a song with such meaning in that place just two weeks after an attempted coup.

    2) That poem, that poem, that poem!! Amanda Gorman said what needed to be said better than any other speaker apart from Biden. Biden gets points because HE needed to say it, given who he is. Gorman gets all the rest of the points available. I've never been fond of poetry but wow! And she is only 22 years old.

    The Marine Band is up for some serious plaudits as well. Keeping your instrument in tune in that cold weather, accompanying perfectly each singer, providing the background tone for each part of the ceremony. They did their jobs so well, you don't even notice them doing it. I was in awe when I realized just how important music is to these occasions and just how good they were.

    Biden said what needed to be said. He didn't mince words about what was facing us, he didn't shy away from some ugly truths, such as the rise of white supremacy and the violence of January 6, but I give him lots of credit for trying to move us past that and bring an end to an uncivil war.

    Which, by the way, people like Limbaugh are perpetuating today by claiming the election was stolen.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    10-22-01
    Location
    All Over
    Posts
    38,198
    I did see Lady Gaga yesterday---not being a fan I was moved. I thought she did a remarkable job---kudos to her. Not to be negative but the poor Marine(?) that walked her down the steps and had to avoid stepping on that "development" around her had to have been horrified about stepping on the darn thing and tripping them both up

    I saw part of the poem last night and then today I found the written words of the entire poem and as an added bonus the video from yesterday---tremendous. My to that young lady

    I still haven't gotten to the entire speech from the President--likely tonight.
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
    "Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." ---John W. Gardner
    “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ---C. S. Lewis

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •