Five Years

It was a different era:

In his brief inaugural address, which clocked in at just under 15 minutes, Bush called for a new sense of unity after years of poison-pen politics and challenged Americans to become more deeply engaged in the nation's civic life. He urged them to extend a helping hand to their neighbors and meet long-overdue reforms to broaden social service programs with discussion, rather than derision.

"I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort; to defend needed reforms against easy attacks; to serve your nation, beginning with your neighbor," Bush said minutes after taking the oath of office at noon Saturday.

"I ask you to be citizens -- citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens, building communities of service and a nation of character"....

And he promised that his administration would embody "a new commitment to live out our nation's promise through civility, courage, compassion and character."

"Civility is not a tactic or a sentiment," Bush said. "It is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos. And this commitment, if we keep it, is a way to shared accomplishment"....

Bush urged Americans to "show courage in a time of blessing, by confronting problems instead of passing them on to future generations."

Sometimes the irony is just too painful for comment.

[That's all, folks]