9:00 am This morning I saw the sun rising above the Capital, bathing the area in bright yellow hues. It was absolutely breathtaking (made more so by new HDTV of course) and I couldn’t help but want to think about the dawning of a brand new day.The crowds, dear God, the crowds were already unimaginable at just 8 am. Even the hard core journalists are overwhelmed by the masses gathering, especially realizing that most of the “spectators” will not see anything but the backs and heads of the people around them. The
potential, though, for disaster hits you for as they closely pack in the people you worry as to how they could leave the area if they had to. And you realize they couldn’t so you pray that there are no disasters, no problems and that it all goes smoothly.I am flipping between CNN and Fox to get varying points of view. I was surprised, then, when everyone seems to be in agreement. They both talk of Obama being a “blank slate” on which people projected what they wanted him to be. The pundits believed that Obama’s winning campaign of “hope and change” was free from specifics so voters believed that his changes were the ones they wanted. No one quite put it this way but he basically bluffed his way into office without ever showing his hand. Now that he has to show his cards it is starting to seem as if he is more centrist than anyone, left or right, realized. There is much talk of potential problems he might have down the road with the far left Pelosi and Reid. But everyone also agrees that today is not the day to talk of that.
Today is a day to celebrate America. Yes you get tired of hearing about it but still…. This country elected an African American when less than 50 years ago blacks couldn’t eat in a restaurant with whites or drink from the same water fountain or sit in the same theater seats as whites. And yet today we peacefully elected a black to be our 44th President of the United States. Huh. Only 44 men have lived in the White House. That truly is not very many and now this next one is half black. And his name is Barack Hussein Obama. The enormity of what is happening perhaps explains why hundreds of thousands are willing to stand for hours in the cold without seeing much of anything. They simply want to be a part of history.
There will be a lot of talk of unity and coming together as one. The cynic in me wants to ask why was diversity good during a Republican Presidency but now we are told we have to be one people; that we are even un-American for disagreeing when the country has so many problems. Although that whole concept scares me, perhaps just for one day maybe even I can put aside partisan politics. And it is almost impossible not to be affected by the optimistic mood seen by the crowds who apparently don’t mind standing and waiting in the cold.
Oh, I just saw my first glimpse of Obama as he goes to church (and running 15 minutes behind). As he gets into that fancy new presidential car you could see him and no surprise that Obama has a huge grin on his face. And that says it all for now.
Swearing In – Power. That’s my first thought as the dignitaries are being seated. There are the current powerful men and women in the form of the Supreme Court Justices plus Senate and House leaders and members. There are faces which are just starting to be familiar such as Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s Chief of Staff. Then there are the men who use to rule this country, former Vice Presidents and Presidents; Carter, Bush 41 who is looking very frail, Clinton, and soon one more man is about to join the ranks of former Presidents, Bush 43. You can’t help but be proud of America and wonder in what other country could there be a peaceful gathering of so many powerful men and women? Some were bitter rivals, other are friends but all were savvy political operatives who at one point were elected to our highest office and know what it is like to be President of the United States. Shortly one more will join their ranks. For most of all, there is the man himself, Barack Obama, the President Elect who is about to be sworn in as our 44th President.Joe Biden was sworn in. As I watched him I just realized that I have not seen an inauguration before as I was always at work. The actual swearing in was quite short and simple and over in a moment. I doubt if it will be much different for Obama. Yet I think there should also be a swearing out ceremony; a brief thank you and goodbye to the outgoing President and VP. But I guess not although I wonder at the relief he must feel as the burden of the office is lifted off of his shoulders now. By the way I love the musical interlude between Biden’s swearing in and Obama’s.
Barack Obama is officially our President. His nerves are getting to him as he messed up one of
the lines. But he got through it and is President Obama now. As the crowds are cheering I can’t help but wonder what have we done?Now his speech… The crowds are quiet. In fact I just realized that they rarely applaud for most of the speech. This speech is not what they were expecting. There was no gloating or even quiet exultation. No promising of easy things or immediate relief. Instead Obama is lecturing us on how bad things are, how we are in the dark winter of time. He speaks of us having to work to meet the challenges with hope and virtue. He reminded us of old values of hard work and we need to do this to remake America. Remake America, that line scares me. He said we shouldn’t argue if government is too big or too small but rather if it works. And if it didn’t work then we should end that program. He said we need to watch over the market and mentioned being accountable for what is spent. As for other nations, he said he will help them but we will still protect our way of life. He clearly alluded to obeying the laws and not allowing torture. But he wraps up his speech by again lecturing us to go back to the old values of “honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism” and who can argue with that?
I think President Obama’s speech surprised the hundreds of thousands listening to him. I’m sure they remember his more sweeping, dramatic speeches such as the first major one he did four years ago at the Democratic National Convention. Instead they got a more stringent, almost harsh speech. I heard a pundit describe this speech as being hard edged. Another said it was masculine. That’s a good way to put it for there was nothing soft, comforting or maternal about this speech. Instead it was more of a tough, roll up your sleeve and get to work kind of speech.
George W. Bush is getting on the helicopter to leave. Like the man, it is done quietly, with no pomp and circumstance. Much will be written over the years about this man and his presidency. But I think all will agree that he is a nice guy. His common courtesy, a trait which is rapidly disappearing in our nation today, was most evident in the recent transition. Bush went out of his way to help Obama and his team step into their new roles and begin to lead the nation today. Compare that to the abominable treatment of Clinton’s team who literally wrecked offices in the White House when they left. But most of all we should thank President Bush for keeping us safe. Let us hope Obama will now.
The Parades – After the luncheon there was the parade. It seemed as if President Obama’s limo was creeping down the parade route for hours leaving the poor announcers trying to fill the time by wondering when the President was going to get out of the limo and walk. At some point during this titillating discussion I fell asleep. Oops. Then I had to scramble to get ready and leave for a 6:00pm meeting. By now the actual parade was happening and unlike the fake parades on Thanksgiving Day this was an honest to God old fashioned parade. I was sorry to miss it. But my last look showed poor Obama glancing at his watch and wondering how much longer would he be stuck standing in the cold and sure to be even colder as the sun sets. Michelle probably wasn’t too happy either as I am sure she would much rather have a few minutes rest before donning her evening ball gown and attending God knows how many balls tonight. They may now be the first couple but I bet they envy me my nap!All in all it has been a good day. No problems other than a slight misspeaking of the oath and Teddy Kennedy's episode at the luncheon but he is supposedly during better. Amazing that all those people gathering on the mall were orderly and peaceful. Hopefully they will be so again tonight although the bitter cold is probably keeping people indoors.
So now we have our new President, our first African American President, the man with the funny name, President Barack Obama. I wish him luck. I truly do. And I may not always agree with him but I think he will try to govern responsibly. With a few exceptions, his speech gives
me hope that maybe he will. For he is not a stupid man. It may be absurd to think of this now but he probably is already thinking of a second term. And if he wants his eight years then he must appeal to more than just the far left if he wishes to be re-elected. Plus if he has a disasterous presidency then he knows we will not elect another African American for a long long time. A lot has fallen on his shoulders tonight. At some point after the last dance has been danced, when he is at his new home, the White House, perhaps the first time he sits alone in the Oval Office, it will hit him - he is our new President. And that is when his Presidency will truly begin.
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