Our Opinion

Barack Obama was sworn in Tuesday as the nation's first African-American president, summoning a country riven by war abroad and a battered economy at home to "begin again the work of remaking America."
The youthful embodiment of the diversity that now defines U.S. politics, Obama — the 47-year-old son of a black Kenyan and a white Kansan — promised bold action by Washington to repair the nation's deepening ills. Its effectiveness, however, hinges on unity, he said.
"Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans," said Obama.
"Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage."
Obama said: "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly. This is the price and the promise of citizenship."
Public-opinion polls show that about 80 percent of Americans have good feelings toward Obama and confidence that he can set the country on the right economic course. The polls have shown that normally impatient Americans also understand that improvement won't come overnight, that everything won't be fixed by the end of winter.
This optimism likely arises from Obama's masterful handling of the transition period that started late on election night, Nov. 4, 2008. His transition team had been hard at work for weeks, and there was little delay in announcing the main players on Obama's financial, national-security and domestic-policy teams. That kind of decisive action was just what the country needed to see.
On the night of his victory, Obama began to build confidence with the broader American electorate. He told those who had not voted for him that he would be their president, too, and that he would work to win their support.
He followed by picking advisers who represent a broad spectrum of thought on the many areas of public policy. He hired Democrats, Republicans, moderates, conservatives and liberals. Even his inauguration parties and faith services include a cross section of Americans.
Obama has promised to end the especially bitter partisanship that has stagnated Washington for more than 10 years. To this point, he has lived up to his campaign words: "There is no blue state of America, there is no red state of America, there is just the United States of America."
Obama's inauguration as the 44th president — on the West Front of a Capitol built, in part, by slaves — was rich in symbolism, most notably as a measure of black achievement. But the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a veteran of the civil-rights struggle that was roiling before Obama was born, said in the ceremony's benediction that the new president is a measure of the nation's shared progress.
Invoking an image synonymous with the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday — a national holiday — was observed on the eve of Obama's swearing-in, Lowery said in a quavering voice, "As we leave this mountaintop, help us to hold onto this fellowship."

Obama's remarks, which ran 19 minutes and were interrupted by applause at least six times, also dealt with America's security and diplomatic challenges: Bush-initiated wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, possible nuclear armament by Iran and associated tensions with the Muslim world.
Obama said America emerged stronger from the divisions of yore — "the bitter swill of civil war and segregation," he called them — and from that history could address, by engaging U.S. adversaries, hatreds sweeping the globe.
"We cannot help but believe . . . that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace," he said.
On this historic day, America can be very proud. We are an optimistic people, and we have a new, young, energetic, intelligent and optimistic president.
Happy days might not be here yet - but we have hope they may be just around the corner.

who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.
"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."
Hoping to close the cultural and ideological fissures that in recent years have shaped American politics, Obama — citing Scripture — said, "The time has come to set aside childish things."

Obama said America emerged stronger from the divisions of yore — "the bitter swill of civil war and segregation," he called them — and from that history could address, by engaging U.S. adversaries, hatreds sweeping the globe.
"We cannot help but believe . . . that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace," said Obama.