Obama calls for greater equality, emphasizes liberal themes

President Barack Obama was sworn in for a second term this morning, using his inaugural address to cast modern-day priorities—fighting climate change, welcoming immigrants and ensuring gay rights—as the extension of a long struggle to live up to the Founders’ ideals, The Washington Post reports. “Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life. It does not mean we all define liberty in exactly the same way or follow the same precise path to happiness,” Obama said. “But,” he continued, “it does require us to act in our time.” The 51-year-old president took his oath at 11:50 a.m., on a gray and chilly day in Washington. Obama’s address seemed more optimistic than his address of four years ago, when he warned a recession-wracked country about a trying winter ahead. It also revealed a president who doesn’t have to face another election: Obama’s words on gay rights, and on climate change, revealed a more emphatically liberal tone than he showed in parts of his first term. After his oath, Obama gave a 19-minute address that, at times, had the itemized, agenda-setting feel of a State of the Union speech. It did not soar; it hurried—reflecting a president with a long agenda, and a short window left to make it happen. Obama mentioned tax reform, Medicare, Social Security, and Newtown, Conn., where December’s shooting rampage spurred the president’s current push for stronger gun laws. Read the full story here.