Obama 2013 Inaugural Speech: Transcript

The White House's official transcript of President Obama's inaugural address, Jan. 21, 2013, timed at 15 minutes:

Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional -- what makes us American -- is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,

Theocracy On The Rise?

Suddenly, North Africans are so in love with their West African brethren, they'll go about killing innocent people for them. Algerian militants cite France's involvement in Mali as the reason for their kidnapping and harming westerners in their country. Truth is, they have always looked down on people from the western and other parts of the continent who don't look very much like them. They don't really enjoy being called Africans. They prefer to be referred to as Arabs and some of them even feel they should have been part of Europe or some other continent rather than Africa. It's a good thing for Africa to unite, but never for the purpose of offering Al Qaeda a safe haven on our beautiful land or to help terrorism thrive on our soil. (JUST ME AND MY MOUTH).

NOTE: The title for this note is culled from the response of a friend when I first shared it on another platform.

President Obama's Response to Patreaus' Resignation

 

David Petraeus has provided extraordinary service to the United States for decades. By any measure, he was one of the outstanding General officers of his generation, helping our military adapt to new challenges, and leading our men and women in uniform through a remarkable period of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he helped our nation put those wars on a path to a responsible end. As Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he has continued to serve with characteristic intellectual rigor, dedication, and patriotism. By any measure, through his lifetime of service David Petraeus has made our country safer and stronger.

Today, I accepted his resignation as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. I am completely confident that the CIA will continue to thrive and carry out its essential mission, and I have the utmost confidence in Acting Director Michael Morell and the men and women of the CIA who work every day to keep our nation safe. Going forward, my thoughts and prayers are with Dave and Holly Petraeus, who has done so much to help military families through her own work. I wish them the very best at this difficult time.

Source: the White House