Thoughts on Obama’s speech

Re “Obama calls for hope in face of cold reality,” Jan. 21

Inauguration Day is over and so, hopefully, are the hangovers from the partying afterward. And when I ask the question, “What did President Obama tell us in his inaugural address?” I find myself at a loss.

Certainly there was none of the fiery rhetoric of his campaign speeches; and though an inaugural address should be inspirational, no inspiration was to be had.

One pundit said that although Obama’s inaugural address may not have sounded strong, reading it is much more inspiring. Both my wife and I read the transcript three times. What made an impression on us was both the dullness of the address and the poor quality of writing. It is much like that of a student who, on Sunday night, remembers that he needs a speech for class on Monday morning and throws one together in haste.

Is it that President Obama no longer feels the need to orate as candidate Obama did? Let us hope that his administration is not as vapid as his inaugural address.

Kenneth G. Krul

Long Beach

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To anyone who thought that Obama’s speech was not remarkable, please allow me to point out just a few words I remember: “We have chosen hope over fear.”

If that is not remarkable, after the last eight years, I don’t know what is.

Selene Soler

Los Angeles

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On the 28th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s announcement at his inaugural in 1981 that the American hostages in Tehran had been released to freedom, Obama told the Muslim world in general that he wanted a “new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”

Without mentioning Iran, he could not have described better the need for a determined policy to build the basis for an American relationship with that Islamic republic.

Bruce Laingen

Bethesda, Md.

The writer is a former charge d’affaires for the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and was held hostage in Iran from 1979-1981.

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Am I the only one to notice the glaring irony when you mention Obama’s call for “the traditional American virtue” of “sacrifice,” and then in the next paragraph refer to our founding documents?

If there is one thing our founding documents are not about, it is sacrifice. When the founding fathers wrote about the right to pursue happiness, they meant individual happiness, selfishly pursued and not at anybody else’s cost.

No one would confuse the lives of Washington or Jefferson with Mother Teresa’s.

The founding of America was a rebellion against centuries when individual rights were not recognized and the individual was seen to exist only for the benefit of God, king, country or community.

Sacrifice is the clarion call of collectivism, and that has never led to anything but poverty, famine and death. Let’s reject sacrifice and embrace individualism and prosperity.

Jaco van der Colff

Woodland Hills