Inaugural has worldwide audience

CSM provides a sampling of some foreign media reactions to Bush's inaugural speech. Excerpts:

"Critics who were hoping that he would get mired in detail about Iraq were mistaken. Instead he went back to basics, reaching out to the belief of most Americans in the fundamental importance of freedom and using that to explain his policies at home and abroad. At times it sounded more like a sermon than a speech. Mr. Bush may not be much of a speaker. But sometimes the message is more important than eloquence and what he had to say yesterday had the power of real conviction." – Irish Independent

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Offering a decidedly different and longer view of history, China's official newspaper, People's Daily warned against American historical intent:

"No banquet under the sun will last forever. After the firework fades away Washington is still under a dark sky. The sole superpower sends a sense of inauspiciousness to the world when it's president is inaugurated under wartime security standards: America, where [are] you heading?

... Judging from Bush's inauguration theme in 2005, being morally conceited and militarily aggressive are two major elements of American nationalism."

In related news, Giblets addresses the nation in Freedom is Like a Woman. While you're there, be sure to scope the comments for poems by Revs. Blotho Udge and Blutho Odge.