Four More Years

Today, President Obama celebrated his second inauguration.

Inauguration

As we learned that NYC's own Shaun Donovan would remain in his post as the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for another four years and listened to Republican Congressman Pete King call his Republican colleagues "disgraceful," we saw NYC's own Chuck Schumer lead the inauguration ceremony while giving it a decidedly New York flavor.

"I am using it as an opportunity to highlight the best of New York," said Schumer.

Benediction

The choice for the benediction at the inauguration changed in order to address anti-gay remarks made by the original choice for the benediction.

UPDATE:
President Obama's 2013 Inauguration Speech

The entire inauguration address is available to be read online, and it includes some striking thoughts:

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm. 

Also:

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.