Well, the day has finally arrived, believe it or not. This day delivers that ultra potent one-two of disposing of my least favorite president and replacing him with the only politician I’ve ever personally cared about. It feels like a party, except everything is a mess and there’s too much to do. So instead of the celebratory mix I was planning, here is something more fitting the first day of what has to be a takin-care-of-business presidency - an ultra high density motivational speech, courtesy of overthinkingit.com

Update:

So, it’s over now. In case you missed it, here’s his speech:

I respect that he resisted the temptation to turn the event into the orgiastic celebration of newness that most of those in attendance seemed to want. Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times thought the speech was an anti-climax, but I think he’s just placing himself in the sad tradition of political commentators who devalue Obama’s restraint.

IMO restraint defined the speech in message and execution, nowhere better shown than in its steady, subtle rebukes of Bush. It’s difficult to condemn nearly everything your predecessor stands for while he’s sitting just a few meters away from you, but the Prez pulled it off.

It reminded me of another inspiring Bush-side performance, Stephen Colbert’s inverted tribute to W at the 2006 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. The Bush administration provoked a lot of good satire over the years, but that routine is for me the pinnacle. Now that we’ve officially sent them off and are hopefully on to better things, it’s seems fair that we enjoy the last laugh. Here it is:

Part 1:

Part 2:

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