President Barack Obama announced his nominee to the US Supreme Court to replace Justice David Souter who announced at the start of this month that he is retiring from the Supreme Court. There was much speculation as to who Obama would select to join the court in Souter’s place and today that announcement was made. Federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor is Obama’s pick and if approved by the US Senate, she would be the Supreme Court’s first Hispanic Justice and the the third female Justice (after Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg). Here are a couple pics from the President’s announcement in the East Room of the White House earlier today:

President Obama on Tuesday nominated federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic and third female U.S. Supreme Court justice if confirmed. Obama announced the nomination Tuesday morning in the East Room of the White House. “Thank you, Mr. President, for the most humbling honor of my life,” Sotomayor said. “My heart is bursting with gratitude,” she said. She gave special recognition to her mother, who was sitting in the audience. “I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences,” Sotomayor said. Obama called Sotomayor “an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice.” She “has worked at almost every level of our judicial system, providing her with a depth of experience and a breath of perspective that will be invaluable as a Supreme Court justice,” he added. Obama said Sotomayor “would bring more experience on the bench and more varied experience on the bench than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court had when they were appointed.” The president met with Sotomayor at the White House for an hour on Thursday, according to senior administration officials. He was impressed with Sotomayor’s personal story and professional qualifications after meeting her, but he did not immediately offer her the job, two senior administration sources added. Obama made his final decision Monday, the sources said.

It was pretty much assumed by all that Obama would be selecting a woman as his nominee but there was much speculation about which woman he would pick. As a Hispanic myself, it thrills me that there is a strong possibility that Sotomayor will join the US Supreme Court. I cannot for the life of me imagine what it must be like to get the call from the President informing you that you have been selected to join the Supreme Court. I am not familiar at all with Sotomayor’s record as a judge so I had to do some reading up on her credentials. If you, too, would like more information on Sotomayor’s legal experience you can read more about it after the jump …

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Even tho Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was sworn in and has been on the job for about 2 weeks now, she participated in another swearing in ceremony — officiated by Vice President Joe Biden — yesterday with her husband President Bill Clinton, her daughter Chelsea and her mother Dorothy Rodham (not pictured) in attendance. Here is a photo of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton taking the oath of office in Washington DC yesterday afternoon:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been on the job for nearly two weeks, but there’s always an excuse for a lavish celebration. [Yesterday] afternoon, in the gilded Benjamin Franklin room on State’s top floor, close friends and lawmakers watched her get publicly sworn in by Vice President Biden. The guests who nibbled on treats and drank wine and beer to the strains of violin music included Chevy Chase, the actor; former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, James A. Baker III, Lawrence Eagleburger and Madeleine Albright; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.); and Governors John Corzine of new Jersey and Martin O’Malley of Maryland. Washington power player Vernon Jordan and Obama foreign policy aide Samantha Power — who had a very public spat with Clinton during the presidential campaign — also mingled among the several hundred guests. A cheer went up when Clinton walked into the room with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, her daughter Chelsea and her mother Dorothy Rodham. Before Biden began to administer the oath, some members of the crowd started chanting, “Get it right, get it right,” in reference to the botched oath originally administered to President Obama. “Never did I think, Madame Secretary, that I’d swear you in as secretary of state,” Biden said to laughter. “Never did I think I’d be sworn in as vice president.” Both Biden and Clinton had challenged Obama for the Democratic nomination, and Clinton also noted the irony. “As Joe laughingly referenced, neither one of us thought we’d be here,” she said. “Life has a funny way of unfolding, and politics is even stranger.” Clinton earned the biggest laugh and applause when she thanked her husband, resplendent in a red tie, after acknowledging her mother and daughter. “I am so grateful to him,” the former first lady said of the former president, “for a lifetime of [pause] all kinds of experiences — which have given me an extraordinary richness that I am absolutely beholden to and grateful for.” Clinton will begin her first day of public diplomacy Tuesday when she meets separately with the foreign ministers of Great Britain and Germany. The administration’s evolving policy on Iran will be high on the agenda because political directors of the six countries seeking to negotiate with Tehran will meet on Wednesday to consider their next steps. Clinton also must decide when and where she will make her first trip, a symbolically important mission. Diplomats in Asia say she is considering traveling to Japan, South Korea and China, and possibly Southeast Asia — an unusual itinerary for the top diplomat’s maiden voyage. The planning is still in the early stages, however, and the State Department has declined to comment on her plans.

I guess just because President Barack Obama had two swearing in ceremonies, Hillary had to have two of her own ;) I was able to watch this swearing in ceremony live on CNN and thought it was a fun, light-hearted affair. I cannot believe Hillary was so free with the jokes … her zinger on President Clinton was pretty funny. After the jump, if you so desire, you can check out video of Hillary’s swearing in ceremony yesterday afternoon …

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MSNBC is generously providing video of the swearing in ceremonies of now President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for your viewing pleasure. At first, I thought that Obama nervously messed up the words of the oath of office but it turns out that it was Supreme Court Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. who messed up the oath and confused Obama who had memorized the words properly. Here is video of President Obama’s swearing in followed by his full 20-minute Inauguration Address:

Here is video of Vice President Joe Biden’s swearing in:

What a thrilling, thrilling day. All the ceremony, all the patriotism … today is a day that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Here are a couple screencaps of President & First Lady Obama with Vice President and Dr. Biden waving goodbye to the outgoing president and his wife:


What a scene! The New York Times reports that as GWB flew away the crowd below chanted, “Na Na Na Na/Na Na Na Na/Hey Hey Hey/Good-bye.” LOL!

And here is a shot of President Obama signing his first presidential act:


Just amazing how quickly everything happens. We’ve got a new President, y’all. How are YOU feeling today? What did you think of today’s Inauguration Events?

Joe Biden has just been sworn in as the new Vice President …

… Woot! Next up, our new President takes his oath!

Vice President-elect Joe Biden is about a half hour away from taking his oath of office and is, I’m sure, feeling fine … but he was lookin’ much chagrined yesterday when he and his wife appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show which taped live from Washington DC. During the interview with the Bidens, Jill inadvertently spilled the beans that then presidential candidate Barack Obama offered Joe Biden his choice to be either Vice President or Secretary of State last Summer. Once she let this bit of info slip out, Joe Biden gave her the look of death as he shushed her … and then everyone laughed to try and smooth things over. You can imagine the hell she caught after the show was over:

Joseph Biden’s wife Jill on Monday appeared to let slip a piece of choice political gossip, suggesting her husband was given a choice by Barack Obama to be vice president or secretary of state. Biden will be sworn into office on Tuesday as Obama’s second-in-command, and appeared to try to hush his wife as she made the comment on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show. His office later put out a statement denying he had a choice of job. “Joe had a choice to be secretary of state or vice president,” Jill Biden said, prompting her husband to whisper “shhh” before her words were drowned out by cheers and applause. She went on to explain that she had worried about the impact of her husband being secretary of state on their family life. “I said, Joe, if you’re secretary of state, you’ll be away. (I’ll) see you at a state dinner once in a while. I said if you’re vice president, the entire family, because they worked so hard for the election, can be involved. They can come to our home. They can go to events. They can be with us all the time. And that’s what’s important to us.” Joseph Biden, trying to smooth over the awkward moment, then said he told Obama he would serve as vice president only if he was being selected for his judgement. “I know it’s going to sound corny. I could best serve there. The bottom line, Barack’s my friend. This is a partnership,” he said … Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander put out a statement trying to play down Jill Biden’s comments. “To be clear, president-elect Obama offered vice President-elect Biden one job only — to be his running mate and the vice president-elect was thrilled to accept the offer,” she said. “Like anyone who followed the presidential campaign this summer, Dr Jill Biden knew there was a chance that president-elect Obama might ask her husband to serve in some capacity and that, given his background, the positions of vice president and secretary of state were possibilities,” Alexander said. “Dr Biden’s point to Oprah today was that being vice president would be a better fit for their family because they would get to see him more and get to participate in serving more.”

LOL! I love Jill Biden! And I love that in the excitement of being in the presence of the great Oprah Winfrey the poor dear got flustered enough to let this bit of previously unsubstantiated information get out. No matter what the press release says about the incident, you know what Jill spilled was the way it went down ;)

In any event, Joe Biden is just about to take his oath of office … and then, soon after, it’s Barack Obama’s turn!

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Whew … what a week it’s been. Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States of America just 5 days ago and I know that so many people are still rejoicing at the news. I happily posted the pics sent in by Pink readers of their celebrations around Election Day and today we get to check out a few intimate, behind-the-scenes photos of the Obama family waiting for the election results on Election Night. President-elect Obama had a bunch of private photos posted to his official Flickr photo album to share his family’s Election Night activities with the world. Here are a few of my faves:

Click HERE to see a whole slew of Election Night photos of the Obama family. I’m pretty sure that Tuesday November 4, 2008 is a day that millions of people will remember for the rest of their lives. Obvs it was a big night for the Obamas and I think it’s very cool that they are sharing their intimate (and prolly jittery) moments with the world. I suspect that the new First Family is going to be very open about their lives and will do everything they can to share their experiences with all of us. The site Change.gov has already launched and I understand there will be an official blog of the new President when he takes office. Leadership in this country looks like it’s about to take a giant leap forward of inclusion with the people. I can’t wait to see what’s in store in the coming months and years.

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