Every week on Monday, the WoW! Magazine community and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher’s Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week’s question: What Did You Think Of Trumps’ Inauguration?
Don Surber: The speech was the best inauguration speech in my life — unless Ike’s 1957 speech was better (I was 3 at the time). Never thought anyone would top JFK’s, which outlines conservative values well. No doubt there was more polish in Reagan’s two inaugurals and JFK’s, but Trump’s speech had heart, as he must bring a divided nation together.
But the rest of the inauguration is a celebration for the winners. I am the opposite of a party animal. This is a drug-free, smoke-free, alcohol-free White House that enjoys parties.
Trump and his family looked good, especially the women. Melania went with Reem Acra the first night, and Ralph Lauren for Inauguration Day. Ivanka and her mini-me, Tiffany, are also models, as were their respective mothers.
Lee Greenwood’s rendition of “God Bless The USA” still resonates in West Virginia 35 years later. The rest of the entertainers were of little interest to me.
Trump was Bill Clinton’s age when JFK became president. He inspired both. But in different ways. Clinton saw the perks. Trump heard the words: Ask not what your country can do for you…
The Razor :I usually don’t watch these things but I did this time.
Here’s what I noticed:
1. He used the pronouns “we” and “you” much more than “I”. This is classic Dale Carnegie How to Win Friends and Influence People. Politicians have become so self-absorbed that it’s almost impossible to grasp the importance of these relatively simple rhetorical tactics. I haven’t seen them applied at this level in years.
2. He spoke to his base – the voters in rural America and former steel towns who have been completely ignored by politicians since the 1980s. They put him in office and he’s girding to be their champion. For their sake I hope he will be, and so far I don’t have any reason to doubt his intent.
3. His speech was short and succinct – more Carnegie. He’s at heart a salesman who knows the best pitch is always the shortest.
4. He’s an alpha male. That podium must have reeked of testosterone after he spoke because he made it clear that he’s #1. If he had been a chimp he’d have pounded on the podium with his hands and feet and panthooted. Anyone who thinks he’s going to kiss Putin’s ass including maybe Putin himself underestimate him.
5. The Rabbi’s benediction was full of references to Jerusalem. I hope his words burned in Obama’s heart but that narcissist probably wasn’t even listening.
Rob Miller, JoshuaPundit: I pretty much said what I had to say about President Trump’s speech here. It was, for the most part, the kind of speech I expected, simply because our 45th president is no fool. He understands this is not a typical inauguration, not a typical presidency. Yes, he reached out for unity, but he knows the Left has declared war on him and everyone who supports him. This is a revolution, and Trump’s speech was in essence, a declaration of independence. The Left and the Elites understand that. Let no one think the war’s over and this, our second American revolution is a done deal. It’s our part to support this revolution and help where we can, something else the speech called for if you read between the lines.
How wonderful the actual speech was can be judged by the Left’s reaction. One thing I’ve always liked about President Trump’s speeches is that they (censoring myself here!)drive all the right people insane. This one did that in spades. I particularly loved how Trump first complimented President Obama for his gracious help in the transition (one of the biggest lies the Donald has likely ever told) and then ripped apart, without naming names, the inept and corrupt policies that have brought America to its current state.
One other special thing Trump did in his speech was to acknowledge that that the protection and prosperity of the United States of America depends not just on the actions of men, but on the divine providence of G-d. If you consider our history, our very founding,as far as I’m concerned truer words were never spoken. And that brought to mind another, long ago inaugural and an unlikely president who acknowledged exactly the same thing.
We have a chance to redeem our Beloved Republic and by G-d’s grace, a real leader. Let us all do what we can to bring that about.
Mike McDanie, Stately McDaniel Manor :It’s coincidental, but on Inauguration Day, I was teaching my 11th grade classes Patrick Henry’s historic Speech in the Virginia Convention. Among the points I made was Henry’s speech was brief, around seven minutes, but changed the world. So too–brief–was the Gettysburg Address, lasting only a fraction of the time of Henry’s speech.
It’s little known Lincoln wasn’t the featured speaker at Gettysburg. Instead, a man known at the time as the finest speaker in America* headlined–Mr. Lincoln was included only as a matter of decorum–and he spoke for more than two hours. No one remembers his name, or a word he said. But the beautiful and deeply heartfelt words written by Honest Abe, a simple, honorable and eloquent man, will live as long as humanity lives.
Am I saying President Trump’s speech was akin to these masterworks? No, but it was more than good enough, and it was the right speech at the right time. Of course, the Left hated and reviled it and him. They’ve had a long, running head start on that. Interestingly, it lasted less than 20 minutes, and Mr. Trump, as I observed in Man At Work did his ceremonial duties and then went right to work. Actually, the speech was his work, and it was exactly what America elected him to say:
“Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another, or from one party to another — but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.”
That’s why we elected him.
“For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished — but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered — but the jobs left, and the factories closed.
The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
That all changes — starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.”
That’s what we’ve been waiting for eight long years to hear. These are not eloquent words, nor are they the utterly empty, “soaring” rhetoric of Barack Obama, platitudes which, once actually read and considered, said little and meant less.
Extraordinary too is the fact Mr. Trump’s speech was not at all self-referential. Gone was Mr. Obama’s convention of referring to himself in virtually every sentence. These are the only instances of “I” evident in the speech:
“The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans.”
And:
“I will fight for you with every breath in my body — and I will never, ever let you down.”
Perhaps we can allow him those, on this particular occasion.
The speech appealed to racial unity and national unity. It truly left no one behind, and if Mr. Trump is able to deliver, even somewhat, on improvement in the inner cities–the Dems that control them will do all they can to sabotage him, even though so doing will plunge their constituents into more misery–he will have done more for poor, urban black Americans than Democrats have done in a century. As Mr. Trump said near the end of the speech:
“So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words:
You will never be ignored again.
Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.”
I believe him.
*(The headliner at Gettysburg was Edward Everett.)
Dave Schuler, The Glittering Eye: I didn’t listen to the speech but I did read it. I thought it was a non-partisan broadside against the political establishment. As such reactions to it are a pretty good barometer of how committed to the political establishment and the status quo you are.
Bookworm Room:I didn’t watch the festivities at all, although I did enjoy the picture of the lovely Ivanka in a dazzling ballgown:
Instead, I limited myself to watching the moment that Trump and Pence were sworn in and I listened to Trump’s speech. Both made me happy.
I thought the speech was masterful. It represented a return to founding principles contained in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Lincoln summarized the core principle in his Gettysburg Address: Unlike all other nations, now or in the past, America is “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Trump opened by reminding the people that government has become a self-serving entity that has no regard for the people’s needs — and their needs are great. Trump promised to return government to the people: to make it smaller and more user-friendly, rather than a vast behemoth that serves a narrow Blue segment in Washington, D.C., and America’s more expensive enclaves.
The speech also put America first in a way that we should all understand. “America First” does not mean nationalistic world conquest. In fact, when America is coming first, it means the opposite.
Since WWII, America has born the responsibility for caring for the rest of the world. It willingly shouldered that burden, both because it was the last intact First World country standing after WWII and because it saw its responsibilities as part of its own battle against communism in the Cold War.
Sadly, in exchange for America’s blood and money, the rest of the world has responded with insults and attacks. Moreover, now that the Cold War has officially ended and America is engaged in a hot war with radical Islam, the rest of the world — except for Israel — is not only insulting America, it’s routinely aiding and abetting this existential enemy. Even worse, for the last eight years, our own president provided aid and succor to anti-American forces through the world.
It is time, therefore, for America, at least temporarily, to stop being the world’s banker, policeman, and nanny. America has exhausted its financial resources and good will on a singularly ungrateful world. America needs to see to its own needs. That is, it really must put itself first if it is to survive. Once America has regrouped — strengthened its economy, secured its borders, and increased its national security, including helping its few stalwart allies around the world — then, and only then, can it see whether its future wealth and security will benefit from venturing forth once again into the greater world.
One last thing: For all the accessible vocabulary and sentence structure — that is, this was not an academically complex and erudite speech — it’s worth noting that Trump managed to pack an amazing number of important principles into those 20 minutes. As I learned long ago reading Supreme Court opinions, the best ideas, principles, laws, and facts are the ones that can be expressed in the most straightforward terms. When a writer or speaker gets very complicated and starts spinning vast webs of words, that person is outright lying to you or at least hoping you’ll miss various sins of omission.
Puma By Design: The sweetest words ever spoken (or that I’ve heard in decades):
We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.
Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come.
We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done…
What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.
January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.
The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer…”–President Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States Inaugural Speech.
Every time I hear or read these words, I exhale:
“The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans.”
Beautiful. Finally, Communism is forced to the back of the bus and hopefully in time eliminated, at least on our American shores.
I refuse to listen to media propagandists because no matter what our President says or what he does will satisfy them and their globalist masters.
Upon scanning my twitter and personal Facebook feed, fascist illiterate voters have declared war on the nation. Racists are levying allegations of racism while spewing hateful, curse-ridden rants, repeating propaganda full of historical inaccuracies.
Example: A family member (college age) shared a rant on Facebook from a classmate attacking white people this morning.
Little Miss Snowflake was lambasting Caucasians for alleged double standards (I kid you not) in complaining about violent anti-tests which little miss snowflake likened to, i.e., white people throwing tea overboard in protest of a tyrannical ruling government while at the same time enslaving Black people?
It is at this point that I stopped reading little miss Black Lives Matter snowflake’s rant which besides its historical inaccuracies was laced with expletives, spelling and grammatical errors. Did I mention that this snowflake is in her second semester of college?
I have decided to pass up a niece’s wedding this spring because family or not, I do not want to be around wannabe Black Lives Matter idiots.
That being said, I hope that President Trump stands his ground when it comes to dealing with these domestic terrorists. Arrest. Detain. Convict. Sentence. Lock them up! Oh yes and protect our borders.
Laura Rambeau Lee, Right Reason : The inauguration of our 45th president of the United States was simultaneously a rewarding culmination of the work we conservatives have done for years attempting to return our government to the people, but also a reminder of the massive job ahead for President Trump. His inaugural address was spot on and well received by the people who supported him. He promised to return our government to the people. We must make sure he keeps his promise.
The entire Trump family looked elegant and composed and I marveled at the energy maintained throughout a very long day. The powder blue coat our new first lady wore during the inauguration and the white gown she wore for the balls were exquisite and tasteful, a welcome change after eight years of what I can only describe as Michelle Obama’s “odd” fashion sense. It will be interesting to see how the media reacts to her fashion selections over the next four to eight years.
Many in the main stream media said Trump’s inaugural address was dark. I disagree. What was dark was President Obama promising the “fundamental transformation of America.” What was dark was these past eight years when he nearly succeeded. With a collective sigh of relief we can hope our country, under the leadership of President Trump, will be restored to a position of strength and respect in the world.
One disappointment was Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s hastily called press conference on Saturday. We know the press will be attacking and picking apart everything President Trump says or does. If he is going to pick fights with the media he better make sure his facts are correct. His response to the media’s comments about the size of the attendance at the inaugural ceremony seemed petty and inconsequential. It would be wise to be selective about what attacks from the media he chooses to respond to and save such responses for more important matters.
Hopefully the cabinet positions will be filled quickly and President Trump can begin to work through the many challenges facing him domestically and internationally.
Well, there you have it!
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