I missed the actual swearing-in, because I thought it was at noon, so I didn't turn the TV on until a little before.

"Barack H. Obama" sounds like 'Jesus H. Christ'-- it is making me laugh.

I feel like using "Barack H. Obama!" in place of "Jesus H. Christ!" now.

t edit Wow. BIG gay shoutout. Well done, Barack H. Obama!

Unrelatedly, Jamaican...ingenuity? [link]

How????

That was a damn good speech.

boo, missed speech, missed everything, stupid work.

It was! So glad I didn't miss the speech - because I totally missed the swearing in.

Okay, I disliked Kelly Clarkson's version "Country Tis of Thee" - what did you guys think?

Work is stupid.

I did notice Joe B. swearing in with his middle initial only, and it turns out his middle name is Robinette.

And also speaking of names, Bishop Gene Robinson was on Fresh Air recently, and it turns out his first name is Vicky. He wasn't expected to live, and his parents were expecting a girl, so they just changed the spelling of the name they were going to give her. And back home, I guess they still call him Vicky Gene.

It feels weirdly sappy, but I find this inaugural almost more significant than the last one. Yeah, first black elected president, hugely important. But anything can happen once. No, we RE-ELECTED a black as president. Granted, his competition was so terrifying that it was a fairly done deal, but my country re-elected a man that 10 years ago would have seemed ludicrous.

There was a TV movie several years ago called "The Man", about how the black Speaker of the House (I think), became President and all the drama around that. But it happened the direct, legitimate, no-doubt-about-it way. One advantage of getting older is seeing history deliver wonderful things.

So his name is Vicky Gene? That's...odd.

It's a good Southern name. you can holler it.

So his name is Vicky Gene? That's...odd.

It is!

I had to pause to listen to a little of "My President is Black," but I guess that's not quite right for the Inaug.