This Inauguration Isn’t a Time for Celebrating

The coronation -- excuse me, inauguration -- of George Bush reminded me of the “let them eat cake” days of the French monarchy. Forget mounting casualties in Iraq, tsunami victims and thousands facing starvation in Africa, let’s party! After all, it cost only $40 million; that’s less that a buck apiece for American families living below the poverty line or without health insurance.

So what if we have to turn the nation’s capital into an armed camp. Fortress America. At least it will ensure that Bush isn’t bothered by unseemly demonstrators who dare to balk at his heavenly ordained mission to return the U.S. to the bad old days of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Ken Fermoyle

Woodland Hills

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Jan. 20 was a national and international day of mourning for Americans and people around the world who want an administration that tells the truth about the Iraq war, the fluttering economy and the increasing disparity between the haves and have-nots and that not only talks about a moral high ground but that actually walks the moral high ground.

America may be blessed in so many ways, but we are foolish to think this president will change and help this country and its people or the Middle East conflict.

Thomas Kingsley

Los Angeles

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While I suppose some sort of ceremony is in order for the beginning of Bush’s second term, it seems unconscionable that such a celebratory mood exists in Washington today. Young kids in their 20s continue to die daily in Iraq, tsunami victims try to reassemble their lives, heavy storm victims in California do the same and dysfunction throughout the world seems at an all-time extreme.

The road ahead seems bleak to so many and it remains a crucial question as to how and what we as a country can continue to do in the cause of democratic principles. What a price so many are enduring.

These are not celebratory days, despite Bush and his seriously misguided followers, prayers or no prayers.

Ronald L. Wallace

Sherman Oaks

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As of Inauguration Day, we face four years of Bush’s ownership society -- but who is going to own it? If the president wants us to own our society, he will exempt the first $10,000 of our income from taxes and roll back the tax cuts to the billionaires.

He will not even think of privatizing Social Security and paying his Wall Street friends huge management fees for the investment accounts created. He will rethink his No Child Left Behind plan, so that it will encourage smaller classes, better trained teachers and a well-rounded education for all.

He will stop his policy of borrowing money for endless wars and useless “defense” projects, so that we will not pass a horrendous indebtedness to our descendants.

He will do his best to enforce all existing environmental regulations and promote protection of our planet. And he will make healthcare available and affordable to everyone.

If he does none of these things, we shall know that his plan is for the wealthy to own our society.

Burt Hines

Los Angeles

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Am I the only one who’s thinking, given the weather in Washington and our current political situation, that hell has finally frozen over?

Alison Carey

Los Angeles

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George Bush now embarks on his second term. I and many millions vociferously disagree with Bush’s policies. We did all we could to prevent this man and his handlers from continuing their xenophobic, nearsighted march toward a scary future. And we have failed.

As we could not decapitate this Medusa, we must now find a new approach to create a world that lives up to the American ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Not the deceptive platitudes the Bush administration has tried to force on Iraqis, but the real fruits of a vibrant, open democracy.

Rather than start at the top, we must build from the bottom up. We must build a strong foundation of opposition in our communities. We must reach out to others and start a dialogue: how to create a better future than the one being rammed down our throats.

We need to reach out to like-minded people. Once there’s organization, we can make real our hopes and desires for a better world. Change starts one conversation at a time.

Jon O’Neill

San Rafael