Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Inauguration
Once we got over Rick Warren's invocation, which felt longer than Obama's speech, the ceremony went well. If 400,000 were at the Lincoln Memorial concert, the numbers in the National Mall had to top 2 million. Chief Justice Roberts flubbed President Obama's oath of office, luckily constitutional scholar Obama corrected his wording. Aretha Franklin was glorious in her green crown. Obama's speech was eloquent and spoken with an authoritative voice. There were some memorable rifts in it and a bravura conclusion. Since I am still warming up,I'll deal with the text later. Once the balls are finished tonight, we can get Ben's Chili Bowl back and the out-of-towners will let Washington revert to its parochial Southern nature.
Barack Obama has come in the nick of time. He is the first breath of fresh air this town has had in twenty years. You would have to have a heart of stone not to wish him well and alot of good luck. On the cusp of Lincoln's 200th anniversary, it's remarkable a black man gets to be President. It's late but lamentable it took so long.
Barack Obama has already made history and he has in the bank a suitable number of memorable speeches that can be read for a long time. If there is alot to celebrate today, there is the awareness that he actually has to succeed. We have maybe one more time to set the rules of the game before someone else might.
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The Associated Press asked a number of poets to write a poem "to mark Barak Obama's ascension to the presidency." One who declined was Andrei Codrescu, who said, "I voted for Obama, but I grew up under Ceausescu. The idea of writing poems for people in power gives me the creeps."
ReplyDeleteThe Associated Press asked a number of poets to write a poem "to mark Barak Obama's ascension to the presidency." One who declined was Andrei Codrescu, who said, "I voted for Obama, but I grew up under Ceausescu. The idea of writing poems for people in power gives me the creeps."
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