One British Opinion on the Inaugural Address

Not all Europeans would agree with this from The Times:

"By contrast, George Washington offered the shortest inaugural address to his fellow countrymen. ... Yet, if inclined, George W. Bush could comfortably beat that record in Washington on Thursday. He might legitimately stand up and state in five blunt words: "I own this town now" and then sit down again. And for the next 18 months or so he indeed will.

"...Mr Bush's personal authority, at least until 2007, may be really exceptional. Only Franklin D. Roosevelt has been equivalently placed in the past 100 years. This might oblige his many vocal critics, who have habitually mocked him, to deliver their own five-word speech this Thursday. It should read: "He is not an idiot."