Hail to the Chief: Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States !

Congratulations Barack ! 

You have filled us with hope

And made us exceedingly proud.

Good luck

And God bless you …

Mr President !

Meanwhile,  Obama gave so many soaring speeches during his election campaign that, like Icarus, he was fated to soar no more. 

Nonetheless, it is ironic, if not disappointing,  that it was today – on the occasion of greatest expectations in this respect – when this fate befell him.

Because, even though brilliantly crafted and well-delivered (with all of the now-familiar themes), his inaugural address lacked the inspirational punch that the two million people on the Mall longed to feel.  No doubt this inconsistency is due to the fact that the speech was fused with the yeoman input of far too many professional speech writers.

That said, given the stereotype of black Americans (as lazy, etc), nothing was more ironic than having this black president scold (white) Americans for their slothful, greedy and irresponsible behavior, which precipitated the still-worsening global financial crisis. Frankly, Obama never seemed more presidential than when he was lecturing his fellow Americans, in part, as follows:

[T]he time has come to put aside childish things…  What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility… Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

At any rate, the most interesting and entertaining moment in the ceremony came at the end when Rev Joseph Lowery delivered the Benediction, which he ended with this memorable flourish:

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when yellow can be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen !

NOTE: This article was published originally on Tuesday, January 20 at 2:15 pm.  It was updated this morning.

UPDATE

7:45 pm:  The New York Times is reporting that, because Chief Justice Roberts misled him into flubbing his oath of office at the inauguration, Obama had him re-administer it at the White House moments ago to preclude any right-wing speculation about the legitimacy of his presidency.

For the record, however, Obama executed this redo merely “out of an abundance of caution” – since the consensus amongst constitutional scholars is that it was not required.  In fact, according to the US Constitution, Obama became president at 12 noon on Tuesday – even before he took the flubbed oath.