President Bush’s Inauguration Day

How sad that so many religious, non-Christian Americans were excluded from President Bush’s inauguration on Saturday because their prayers are not offered in the name of Jesus Christ. From the invocation to the benediction, all of the lofty statements about inclusion were nothing but platitudes, since it was clear that the inauguration was intended to be a Christian event.

If our new president truly wants a nation that excludes no one, it is time for him to practice what he preaches. He should have selected clergy willing to offer prayers that were ecumenical and nondenominational.

KAREN GRINFELD

Fullerton

* Bush for the most part stuck to general themes reminiscent of past inaugural addresses. That would be fine, except that words like “fairness” and “civility” rang hollow, considering the means by which he came to office. The emptiness of his words was underscored by the crowd of his supporters, who cheered most enthusiastically not for high-minded ideals but at the mention of a tax cut. Just as during the campaign, to them Bush’s high-minded talk was just a device for achieving their true, selfish goals.

MARK S. SHELDON

Huntington Beach

* I really enjoyed watching the TV news on Saturday night. I’ll bet almost everyone in Washington is totally “bushed” by now. Hail to the chief!

RAY KEESLER

La Crescenta

* A dark and dampened Inauguration Day for many of us who watched Dubya “reign” on Al Gore’s parade.

HEIDI WINN

Bakersfield

* In response to Rick Moranis’ “To-Do List for Surviving the Dubya Years,” Commentary, Jan. 22: I guess the liberals could not even give our new president one day without ridicule. I thought liberals had a monopoly on cultural tolerance. I guess it is a good thing that President Bush is a white male from Texas and not a minority from California or New York, because then this ridicule would be considered hateful and wrong.

PRISCILLA LOFTON

La Crescenta

* To-do list for Moranis: Shut up and go back to Canada!

SUSAN CAMPBELL

Los Angeles

* Re “L.A. Protest of Bush Inauguration Draws Thousands,” Jan. 21:

Did your writer attend the same inaugural protest rally at Pershing Square that my husband and I did? All the article mentioned were “the elderly shouting their disdain for Bush,” “youthful supporters of Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader” and “others clamoring for the release of Mumia Abdul Jamal.” What my husband and I saw was an amazing mixture of all sorts of people of all ages, a wide range of Angelenos who considered the Rehnquist elevation of Bush to the presidency to be the scandal and refutation of democracy that it, in fact, is.

LAUREL HALL

La Habra

* Imagine if Dubya were to say, “I know most of you did not want me to be president. I ran on the promise of bipartisan government. I told you I trusted the people. I am going to prove I meant those promises by making this a truly inclusive, cohesive government.”

Instead, the first items on the agenda are drilling in Alaska, reversal of environmental and abortion policies, limits on unions. The Cabinet is stacked with representatives of the far right. One would think he had won legitimately and by a landslide.

LISA FAY MATTHIESSEN

Pasadena

* Re “Verbally Executing the Oaf of Office,” by Mike Downey, Jan. 19: Suffice it to say that Bush “outsmarted” Gore in his own Tennessee backyard, to say nothing of the New Hampshire and Arkansas upsets, to be elected the 43rd U.S. president. Bush is a graduate of Yale. Where was Downey educated? Hopefully, we will not be subjected to Downey’s future writings on the following possible Bush accomplishments: meaningful education reforms and tax cuts, Supreme Court appointments, a missile defense system, military preparedness, realistic energy and foreign policies and the opposite of the most corrupt and immoral administration in American history.

WARREN HAWLEY

Anaheim