memeorandum: Two lines that sum up Obama's presidency (Philip Klein/Washington Examiner)

10:50 PM ET, January 21, 2013

Top Items:

Obama's Startling Second Inaugural — This was the most sustainedly “progressive” statement Barack Obama has made in his decade on the national stage. — I was expecting an anodyne tone-poem about healing national wounds, surmounting partisanship, and so on.

Discussion: Wonkblog, The Fix, ProfessorBainbridge.com, The New Republic, Addicting Info, Daily Kos, The Democratic Daily, Hullabaloo, The Hinterland Gazette, No More Mister Nice Blog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

New York Times:

Obama's Second Inaugural Speech — The following is a transcript of President Obama's second inaugural speech: — MR. OBAMA: 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 …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Esquire, Power Line, White House.gov Blog, Daniel W. Drezner, The Huffington Post, Weekly Standard, Little Green Footballs and Gawker

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

First inaugural use of the word ‘gay’ — President Barack Obama on Monday became the first president to use the word “gay” in an inaugural address in reference to sexual orientation, making two references to gay rights as he began his second term. — “Our journey is not complete until …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Weasel Zippers, The Atlantic Online, Truthdig, ABCNEWS, The Fix, Reuters, Associated Press and CNN

Washington Post:

President Obama's second inaugural address (Transcript) — That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Today we continue a never ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time.

Discussion: PostPartisan, Mother Jones, The Fix, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Washington Monthly, Right Turn, News Desk, The Hinterland Gazette and National Review

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
Obama's Second Inaugural

Discussion: Guardian

Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:
How Obama Made His Second Inaugural Address A Landmark Moment For LGBT Equality

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, Addicting Info and The Agonist

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:

Virginia Senate Sneaks Through Gerrymandering Bill While Country Watches Inauguration — While the eyes of the nation were turned toward President Barack Obama's second inauguration on Monday, the Virginia State Senate managed to hurriedly pass a bill that would redistrict the state's senate seats.

Discussion: Blue Virginia, Balloon Juice and The PJ Tatler

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:

Virginia GOP Pulls ‘Dirty Trick’ On Inauguration Day — Democrats in Virginia are accusing state Republicans of taking advantage of a prominent civil rights leader's trip to Washington for the presidential inauguration to pull a “dirty trick” in order to take control of the state Senate in the 2015 elections.

Discussion: Associated Press and Discourse.net

Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Va. Republicans push through rewrite of Senate districts — Senate Republicans this afternoon pushed through a surprise rewrite of the 2011 redistricting plan that erases a Democratic seat in western Virginia and creates a sixth majority black district that would be located between Petersburg and Danville.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and Taegan Goddard's …

U.S. News:

Where's Mitt? In warm, sunny California — It's chilly on the Capitol steps today, but that's no problem for Mitt Romney. — The former Republican presidential contender is spending Inauguration Day at his home in La Jolla, Calif., where it's sunny with a forecasted high of 73 degrees.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Addicting Info and National Review

Aliyah Frumin / msnbc.com:
Where in the world is Mitt Romney? (Hint: Not in D.C.)

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Mediaite

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

Obama Becomes A “Great” President — And Republicans start looking for ways to embrace him. Liberals should be prepared to lose him. — Image by Pool / Reuters — This time about 12 years from now, President Tagg Romney will, with a mixture of exasperation and amusement …

Discussion: Gawker, Washington Examiner, nation.foxnews.com and The Daily Dish

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Live-Blogging The Second Inauguration Of Barack Obama — 12 pm. Well either Kelly Clarkson was way off or her mike was. But the speech instantly removed any awkwardness that lingered. If you have long believed, as I have, that this man could easily become the liberal Reagan by the end …

Discussion: CNN

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
Obama's second inauguration: Is the thrill gone?

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, Reuters, The Hill and This Just In

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Lays Out Liberal Vision at Inauguration

Discussion: Guardian, CNN, American Power, Los Angeles Times, Outside the Beltway and Reuters

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

Two lines that sum up Obama's presidency … President Obama's Second Inaugural Address was devoid of memorable lines, but for me, two of them jumped out: “We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief …

Discussion: Business Insider, The National Memo and Hot Air

Daily Mail:

Wanted: ‘Adventurous woman’ to give birth to Neanderthal man - Harvard professor seeks mother for cloned cave baby — His ambitious plan requires a human volunteer willing to allow the DNA to be put into stem cells, then a human embryo — They're usually thought of as a brutish, primitive species.

Discussion: Maggie's Farm, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Althouse, Addicting Info, Forbes and Mediaite

Bloomberg:

Obama's Bogus Journey — By Ramesh Ponnuru 2013-01-21T22:26:38Z — The world will little note nor long remember anything President Barack Obama said in his second inaugural address; still less will it remember any of the gushing encomiums his admirers in the press reliably produce …

Discussion: Brad DeLong

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

An expansive case for progressive governance, grounded in language of Founding Fathers — Halfway through President Obama's inaugural address, James Fallows tweeted: “I believe this is the most ‘progressive’ speech he's ever given.” — I would take that a step further.

Discussion: Eschaton, American Power, PostPartisan and Angry Bear

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
Obama Prepares To Govern From The Left

Discussion: Politico and Right Turn

StartUp RockOn / HyperVocal:

Lupe Fiasco: Official Statement From StartUp Rock On Organizers — StartUp RockOn is all about startups helping startups. At Sunday night's Inauguration Celebration at the Hamilton Live, organizers set out to honor innovative visionaries with grants, accolades and a party worthy of the success …

Jade Walker / The Huffington Post:
Lupe Fiasco, Rapper, Thrown Off Stage At Inaugural Concert (VIDEO)

Discussion: Infowars, The Hinterland Gazette, Alan Colmes' and Truthdig

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:

Republicans: Obama should have reached out more in address — Republicans lawmakers criticized President Obama's inaugural address Monday, saying he failed to reach out to their party. — “I would have liked to have seen some outreach,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who lost to Obama in the 2008 presidential race.

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, The Maddow Blog and Daily Kos

Talking Points Memo:

Obama Takes One Last Look At Inauguration Crowd: 'I'll Never See This Again' — Departing the West Front of the U.S. Capitol after delivering his second inaugural address on Monday, President Obama wanted to take one last glance of the hundreds of thousands of Americans gathered to celebrate his second term.

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Business Insider and Connecting.the.Dots

Wall Street Journal:

Support Grows for Roe v. Wade — Seven in 10 Americans believe Roe v. Wade should stand, according to new data from a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, as the landmark Supreme Court abortion-rights ruling turns 40 on Tuesday. — That is the highest level of support for the decision …

Discussion: American Power

Manu Raju / Politico:

Lunching with frienemies: A taste of bipartisanship — Maybe it was the lobster tails — or the sparkling wine. — But for a few brief moments on Monday, President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans actually seemed to enjoy each other's company over an elaborate three-course lunch …

Discussion: CNN

Aviva Shen / ThinkProgress:

Teenager Accidentally Kills Brother While Playing With Mother's Gun — A 14-year-old in Henry County, Georgia unintentionally shot and killed his 15-year-old brother early Saturday morning while playing with his mother's gun, according to police. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Atlanta Journal-Constitution