The Media Coverage of The Inauguration Of Barack Obama

The mainstream media's love affair with Barack Obama continued with the celebrity style coverage of his inauguration during the last week.

To illustrate the level of positive and fawning media coverage, consider these facts as reported today by Reuters:

"President Barack Obama's inauguration generated an unprecedented 35,000 stories in the world's major newspapers, television and radio broadcasts over the past day -- about 35 times more than the last presidential swearing-in -- a monitoring group said on Wednesday.

The Texas-based Global Language Monitor said there had also been 6 million new Obama-related mentions on the Internet since December 31. By comparison, the last U.S. presidential inauguration, of George W. Bush in January 2005, resulted in about 1,000 stories in major media worldwide, Paul JJ Payack, president of Global Language Monitor said. "

The media's role in a free society is as a government watchdog. The fear is that the media is fast turning into a politically biased lapdog. It will be important in the coming months for the media to become more objective in the coverage of the 44th President.

Here is a link to Juan Williams excellent article on 1/20/2009 about the media's responsibility to hold Barack Obama accountible in the future. It is well written and timely.

Judge Obama on Performance Alone - Juan Williams - Wall Street Journal

Also please read todays Daily Vu on the problems in Mexico: A Threat Of Chaos South of The Border

The Inauguration Left A Not So Green Mall

Thousands of people were said to have volunteered to lend a hand in what was touted as the "greenest inauguration in history".

The green inauguration meant picking up trash, recyclables and even horse manure along the Mall in Washington after Barack Obama took the oath of office.

"Just as we are committed to making this the most open and accessible inauguration in history, we are also committed to making it the most environmentally sensitive," Inauguration Committee spokeswoman Linda Douglass told Fox News.

Well, the day after all those parties and Inaugural Balls, the Washington Mall was covered in trash and not a very green place after all.

In addition to the tons of trash left on the Washington Mall, The Institute for Liberty, estimated that the millions of people coming to the inauguration generated a half-billion pounds of carbon dioxide — 260 million pounds from the 600 private jets that came to Washington, and another 260 million pounds from personal vehicles.

The Institute says the pollution amounts to more than 575 million pounds of CO2, which would take the average U.S. household 57,598 years to produce.

Tons of trash left on the mall and one half billion pounds of carbon dioxide generated from planes and automobiles. The greenest inauguration of them all was not very green after all.

Today's Daily Vu : The Quiet Sun May Mean Another Dalton Minimum

Inauguration Day - 2009

Inaugration Day - 2009

The United States Constitution mandates that the President take the following oath before he or she can "enter on the Execution" of the office of the presidency:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) 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, newly elected President Barack Obama will add "so help me God" at noon today, to the constitutionally mandated oath. He will become the 44th President of the United States of America.

Polls

Barack Obama takes office with the highest approval rating of any incoming president in history. Most Americans are optimistic about the next four years but their optimism may be somewhat unrealistic.

As an example of true optimism, in one survey, (Associated Press-Gfk) , 71 per cent of Americans believe the economy will improve during the first year of the Obama presidency and 65 per cent said they think unemployment will drop. Meanwhile, 72 per cent said they thought the stock market would recover and 63 per cent were confident that their personal financial situation would improve.

The Presidential administration of Barack Obama starts at noon today. Its when reality meets campaign promise and the tough and sometimes unpopular decisions of national governing begin.

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