Inauguration Day Joys and Woes

by Damozel | Well, it was a joyous occasion for me.  After reading at FDL Gregg Levine's bitter portrayal of his experiences at the real site  (which, rather solipsitically, he seems to read as a reflection on the incoming administration),  I'm glad I watched the inauguration on the giant flat-screen TV at Gainesville Florida's Gator Dockside and not out in the DC cold.   It was a wonderful virtual celebration.  Or rather, a wonderful real celebration of our virtual participation.  

I loved the speech, LOVED Aretha, loved seeing Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman together with the glorious young flautist McGill and the fingerless-glove wearing Montero, loved the little Obama girls, loved the Reverend Lowry --- yeah, especially him --- and even loved trying to sing the high parts of "The Star Spangled Banner."   I loved it when Roberts and Obama biffed on the oath.   Hell, I even sort of loved Michelle's Inauguration Day dress, though---to be candid--- it evoked Ladybird more than Jackie. 

My favorite part was when the crowd started singing "Na na na hey hey goodbye"when the Bushies stalked in at the beginning.  Otherwise, they were quietly respectful, even when Obama righteously (though back-handedly) bitch-slapped the Bush administration in his speech for its dismissal of the constitution as ---in W's actual words --- "just a goddamned piece of paper."

So let me just say....it was a glorious, historic occasion for those of us who didn't get to be present to bear witness...which:  yeah, there are a lot of horror stories circulating.  I feel bad for anyone who didn't get to enjoy it. 

As to the oath I might have liked that best of all. Adam Liptak wrote:

For a couple of smooth-talking constitutional experts, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and President Obama had a hard time getting through the constitutional oath of office.

There was a false start by Mr. Obama, who started to respond before Chief Justice Roberts had completed the first phrase. Mr. Obama ended up saying the first two words — “I, Barack” — twice.

Then there was an awkward pause after Chief Justice Roberts prompted Mr. Obama with these words: “That I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully.” The chief justice seemed to say “to” rather than “of,” but that was not the main problem. The main problem was that the word “faithfully” had floated upstream in the constitutional text, which actually says this: “That I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States.”

Mr. Obama seemed to realize this, pausing quizzically after saying, “that I will execute.”

Chief Justice Roberts gave it another try, getting closer but still not quite right with this: “Faithfully the office of president of the United States.” He omitted the word “execute."  (NYT)

The accompanying photo of an irrepressibly smiling Obama says it all:  he's a man with a sense of humor and a sense of proportion.  He knows what matters and what doesn't.  The spirit --- as the contrast between Lowry's benediction to Warren's invocation illustrated for me--- giveth life; the letter just vanishes into air.

Memeorandum has more.... 

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Comments

[flowerplough]

And my favorite part was Preacher Man Lowery's "We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right.”

My Asian wife and daughters, they're such strivers, you know what I'm sayin'? Sometimes I wish they'd just Goddam chill.

[Mel Steffor]

I watched the Inauguration the other day on TV and the news caster made a comment about dark smoke over the white house. He said what you are seeing is not smoke from a fire.
Then I thought about it. What I saw and what other people were seeing was a dark cloud hanging over the White House on Inauguration Day.

If you recorded this event on your VCR or DVD you can see it for yourself. I am not kidding there was a small dark cloud right over the White House. It was so close it was touching the roof.