President George W. Bush's
transcript of his inaugural address on January 21, 2001,
which clocked
in at just under 15 minutes
urged high spirits and a warm sense of civic duty amid biting gusts of wind and a persistent, bitterly
cold drizzle. He called for a new
sense of unity after years of poison-pen politics and challenged Americans to become more deeply engaged
in the nation's civic life.
He urged them to extend a helping hand to their neighbors and meet long-overdue reforms to broaden social
service programs with
discussion, rather than derision. In short he invited them the join the platform of which he is chief
in charge, that of the United
States of America, to defend needed reforms against easy attacks; to serve it, beginning with your neighbor,
to be citizens -- citizens,
not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens, building communities of service and a
nation of character.
His call for a new spirit of volunteerism echoed the one issued by his father,
former President
George Herbert Walker Bush,
during his 1989-93 term, when he urged Americans to create a society characterized
by "a thousand points of light." Which as we
know came literally true in the Gulf War for all to see on CNN...I even saw it in a plane
flying along
the Nile!
He, father of George W. Bush saw to it that his first act as President
was a prayer.
He prayed, "Heavenly Father, we bow our heads
and thank You for Your love. Accept our thanks for the peace that yields this day and the shared faith
that makes its continuance
likely. Make us strong to do Your work, willing to heed and hear Your will, and write on our hearts
these words: 'Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in
the world, nor a name. There is
but one just use of power and it is to serve people. Help us remember, Lord. Amen."
The present President's father called for an abandonment of materialism and a return to
spiritual values. "Are we enthralled
with material things, less appreciative of the nobility of work and sacrifice?" he asked. "My
friends, we are not the sum of our
possessions.
They are not the measure of our lives.
In our hearts we know what matters. We cannot hope only to leave our
children a bigger car, a bigger bank account. We must hope to give them a sense of what it means to
be a loyal friend, a loving
parent, a citizen who leaves his home, his neighborhood and town better than he found it."
He insisted, "America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle.
We as a people have such a purpose
today. It is to make kinder the face of the nation, and gentler the face of the world."
George Herbert Walker Bush touched on the abortion issue in his inaugural address, noting the plight
of "young women... who are
about to become mothers of children they can't care for and might not love. They need our care, our
guidance and our
education, though we bless them for choosing life." He confidently noted, "I
do not fear what is ahead. For our problems are
large, but our heart is larger. Our challenges are great, but our will is greater. And if our flaws
are endless, God's love is truly
boundless."
Here
the remarkable inauguration speech of his son George W. Bush Jr. is used
as a concise example of
an existential expression of a human being
in a state of seeming access to a lifefulfilling platform;
the highest c3>Km>%>Om-office on Earth!
The departing President Bill
Clinton said on the same day to his crew: "You sure gave me the best ride of my life!"
To gain that office, after the Supreme Court decided with 5:4 for his case, George W. Bush had to be
sworn in with: "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." and he added
"God help me".
George W. Bush made 4 incredible statements
which were hardly commented - they point to the basic §1-3 and §0 lifefulfilling platforms have to
be embedded in operationally to allow YOU to assume your
highest office on Earth:
§1
> Everyone deserves a chance, no insignificant
person was ever born.
§2
> I ask you to be citizens: citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible
citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character.
§3
> When this spirit of citizenship is missing, no government program can replace
it.
Our unity, our union, is the serious work of leaders and citizens
in every generation.
§0
> When this spirit is present, no wrong can stand against it.
"We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be
citizens. Every child must be taught these principles. Every citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant,
by embracing these
ideals, makes our country more, not less, American." Bush said.
The questions
we are going to ask and answer are:
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Which underlying principles made George W. Bush give his inaugural speech and what comes out of it?
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What does that mean for you and me in terms of our respective Highest Office on Earth, lifefulfillment?
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The point
we are going to make
on this site is:
For YOUR lifefulfillment at least the same basics apply as for the highest office in this
world. When they are fully met, then as
Bush said about Americans, nobody is a strangers
to their fellow men and women and we are citizens, not problems, but priorities.
And all of us are diminished when any is hopeless.
back to the TOP
NEXT Lesson: American History
This
site was last edited on 04.07.07; it might make you reconsider human systems and your own
MOS=mental operating system; unlike most
papers, it is not meant to acknowledge any prejudice or create a new trend; it
relates to §1-3 in view of §0 in view of lifefulfilling platforms for
the Highest Office on Earth - for YOU...
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