WASHINGTON -- Words spoken at inaugurations are cast directly
into history, and at President Barack Obama's second
inauguration Monday, the Newtown tragedy was prominent in those
words. Obama, who cried when he went on live television to tell
the country about Newtown, and later would tell Connecticut Gov.
Dannel P. Malloy that the day of the shootings was the most
difficult day of his presidency, showed in his inaugural remarks
that the tragedy remained strongly in his thoughts. And the way
he referred to Newtown transcended the gun-control debate
spawned by the mass shooting, casting the tragedy as a sign that
the country must do more for its children. He did not use the
word "gun" -- that will certainly follow in the battle with
Congress to come on the gun-control issue -- simply saying
instead that America's journey will not be 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