Inaugural Address
GOPBloggers.org has an interesting mini-liveblog from the Inaugural address.
I think that the most interesting thing in President Bush's Inaugural address was a call to service for the youth of America.
Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens:
From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America, which you have granted in good measure. Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill, and would be dishonorable to abandon. Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.
A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy ... the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments ... the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives - and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice.
All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time. I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself - and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character.
He essentially asks for your support incontinuing to execute the vision from his 2001 inaugural. In that address, he said:
The enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake, America remains engaged in the world, by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom. We will defend our allies and our interests. We will show purpose without arrogance. We will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength. And to all nations, we will speak for the values that gave our nation birth.
I think there is no more important cause than this. In the service of that cause, here are some pointers for all you "youths" out there:
- Accelerate your life at Navy Recruiting
- Be one of the few and the proud at Marine Corps Recruiting
- Be an Army of One at Army Recruiting
- The Air Force has been waiting for you
- Defend the homeland in the Coast Guard
- Join the Foreign Service and be a diplomat like these guys
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