Jerry Brown Sworn In as California's 39th Governor

Everything old is new again today in Sacramento, as California officially has a new Governor, the 34th re-inaugurated as the 39th, as Jerry Brown took the oath of office in front of a cheering crowd of dignitaries and supporters.

"It's a sacred and special ritual," said Brown of his inauguration during his post-oath speech. Brown noted that the occasion was made more special as he was following in not only his father's footsteps, but also his own, taking the Governor's office again 36 years after he was first installed in the post.

Humor and smiles was plentiful during the ceremony and speech-giving, even present during the oath itself, as administered by the just-inaugurated Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court Tani Cantil-Sakauye. She began with instructions to repeat "I, state your name," which prompted brief mugging from Brown as he filled in his name. When Cantil-Sakauye reached the part about entering office "with no mental reservation" Brown laughed as he read back the line, quipping, "really...no mental reservation!"

"The budget I present next week will be painful, but it will be an honest budget," remarked Brown on a serious note about the leadership upon which he is set to embark. "It's a tough budget for tough times," he added.

"My goal is to achieve greater accountability and to reduce the historic shifting of responsibility back and forth from one level of government to another," he said before an audience that included exiting Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "Choices have to be made, and difficult decisions taken [...] I have not come here to embrace delay and denial."