Inauguration of Obama Marks New Era in History

Protests were few during this Presidential Inauguration; but numerous when the same occasion was marked for George W. Bush.

Today's Presidential Inauguration Courtesy: whitehouse.gov

(SALEM, Ore.) - The whole world took a step forward today with the Inauguration of the new President of the United States, Barack Obama. The 44th President of the United States is as radically progressive as the last President was militaristic.

There were a few scattered protestors at the Inaugural event, but as the New York Times reported, "It appeared there were far more vendors looking to make a buck selling Inaugural Chocolate Bars and Obama Incense than protesters seeking to make a statement."

In fact their reporter surmised that those who raised their voices were most likely expressing gratitude that former President George W. Bush was leaving office, rather than showing displeasure that Mr. Obama was replacing him.

Sportsmanship was apparently lacking as boos could be heard from the crowd when Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush were introduced for Mr. Obama’s swearing-in.

When the helicopter with the former President flew away from the White House for the final time, a chant of “na na na na, hey hey, goodbye” could be heard among the lively crowd.

Bush’s Marine helicopter flew him to Andrews Air Force Base, and then to his retirement home in Texas.

Shortly after taking office today, Obama ordered prosecutors to freeze all the cases currently pending at Guantanamo Bay for 120 days. They are expected to approve the request; that includes a list of several people that the Bush Administration says were part of the 911 conspiracy against the United States.

The request would also halt proceedings in 21 pending cases, including the death penalty case against five Guantaname prosoners accused of plotting the September 11th attacks.

Rather than resisting the move, prosecutors said in their written request that the halt was "in the interests of justice."

President Obama said during his Inaugural Address, that the era of economic "greed and irresponsibility" is over as he pledged swift and bold action to kick start the world's biggest economy.

He will have his hands full but that is no surprise.

Tomorrow he is expected to hold discussions over troop withdrawls in Iraq.

Interestingly, Israel halted its violent attack largely against civilians on the Gaza Strip, just hours before Obama took office.

We have included several video clips on the Inauguration of President Barack Obama:

Presidential Inauguration 2009 [LIVE] Barack Obama Acceptance Apeech presidential inauguration 2009 live AP inauguration coverage:

Video

Presidential Inauguration 2009 - President Obama's Full Inaugural Address Part 1 of 3 - Full Address in 3 parts.

Presidential Inauguration 2009 - President Obama's Full Inaugural Address - Part 2 of 3

Part 3 of 3 - Full Address in 3 parts.

January 20th, 2009 - Barack Obama becomes our 44th president, and this video commemorates the journey and the man at the face of it all. This video is set to Enya's "Now We are Free", with a Yanni prelude.