The president's speech

President Obama's Second Inaugural Speech was not a stem-winder, not crafted to bring people out of their seats cheering.  It was quiet, but forceful -- more a speech to be re-read and digested.   And when you do, you realize the broad, quiet power it contains.

He outlined his understanding of who we are as a people and what our government should be and do.   And it is broad in its recognition of and commitment to our diversity and equal rights for all, just as the choices of speakers was today.

The invocation was given by an African-American woman, widow of a slain civil rights leader.  The Vice President's oath was given by the first Latina Supreme Court Justice.  The inaugural poem was written and read by a Hispanic, gay poet.  The benediction was given by a Hispanic, Episcopal priest.

Here are some excerpts from the president's speech:

"What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago [that all men are created equal . . . life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, etc.]:

"Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing. . . .

"For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. . . .

"The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great. . . .

"We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. . . .  [W]e are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.

"We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall [references to women's rights, racial civil rights, gay rights]. . . .

"It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.  Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity . . .

"You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course.

"You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals."