President Bush was sworn into office Thursday morning in an
inauguration that was widely watched around the nation ““
including here at UCLA.
Four minutes before 9 a.m. PST, Bush took the oath of office in
Washington D.C. and afterward gave a short address to a world
anxious about war and terrorism, saying the United States would not
shrink from new confrontations across the globe with “the
great objective of ending tyranny.”
With 150,000 American troops deployed in Iraq at a cost of $1
billion a week and more than 1,360 killed, Bush also beseeched
Americans for patience.
“Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult
to fulfill and would be dishonorable to abandon,” the
president declared in the first wartime inauguration in more than
three decades.
At UCLA, even though the inauguration came amid classes and
morning routines, some students, staff and faculty still found the
time to watch the ceremony and Bush’s speech on
television.
Chris Adams, a third-year philosophy student, watched the
inauguration on television Thursday morning while using an exercise
bike in the Wooden Center. A self-described Libertarian, he was
generally supportive of the president.
“I wasn’t happy about everything he did … But
I’m optimistic about the next four years,” he said.
“He’s very sincere, and I think he’s been a good
president.”
At the School of Law many students took the time to listen to
the inauguration coverage in the student lounge.
Seated on a sofa in the lounge, Billy DeClerq, a third-year law
student, listened as Bush made his inaugural speech. DeClerq said
he was not impressed by Bush’s comments and he would be
protesting at the inauguration if he did not have to attend
school.
Many students and faculty who listened said Bush’s speech
was similar to previous speeches he has made.
“It’s the usual rhetoric. … I didn’t expect
anything deep and meaningful,” said Raffaella Giacomini, an
economics professor.
Giacomini, who listened to the speech on the radio, said Bush
emphasized points he had made in his first inaugural speech four
years ago, including the role of the United States as a world
power.
It was the first inauguration since the terrorist attacks of
Sept. 11, 2001, and the Capitol was enveloped in a security blanket
of thousands of police and miles of metal barricades.
The inauguration festivities were financed by $40 million in
private donations and tens of millions of dollars in related
costs.
Bush rode in an armored limousine, behind police on motorcycles
in a V formation, to lead the inaugural parade 1.7 miles down
Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.
Democrats attended the inauguration but didn’t hide their
unhappiness.
“Personally, I don’t feel much like
celebrating,” said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of
California. “So I’m going to mark the occasion by
pledging to do everything in my power to fight the extremist
Republican’s destructive agenda.”
Back at UCLA, the Bruin Democrats set up a table and posters on
Bruin Walk on Thursday as part of what they called “Blue
Thursday,” an event geared toward generating support for the
Democratic Party on a day when attention was largely focused on the
president.
Members of Bruin Democrats handed out blue wristbands in
exchange for $1 donations. By 2 p.m. Thursday, they had sold 500
wristbands over the course of two days. Three-hundred dollars of
the funds would go to the Red Cross to support tsunami victims,
said Scott Nenni, a fourth-year political science student and the
issues director for Bruin Democrats.
The group also had an inflatable “Bop-a-Bush” doll
in front of their table. Students travelling up and down Bruin Walk
would occasionally stop to punch or kick the representation of the
nation’s 43rd president.
Entering his second term with one of the lowest approval ratings
of any recent two-term president, Bush was unapologetic in his
speech about the course he had set over four tumultuous years.
The president did not mention the war in Iraq in his address,
but he said the United States had helped tens of millions of people
““ in Afghanistan and Iraq ““ achieve freedom.
With reports from Bruin wire services.