The Moment Has Come

Thoughts on an amazing, historic day.

The weather in DC was beautiful-- cold as all get out, but clear and sunny. The crowds, which are IMMENSE, are good humored and well-behaved. I understand the pull. It’s one of those events that in years to come, it would be fun to say, “I was there!” But personally, I enjoyed watching CNN’s telecast on the flat screen TV in the Newly Redecorated Lunch Room at our office, sipping coffee and comfortably seated. Apparently a woman fell onto the Metro tracks, but her injuries are, and I quote, not life-threatening.

The views of the Mall were just unbelievable: Solid people from the Capitol building all the way back and around the Washington Monument. There were even people sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial!

Aretha Franklin's hat was... amazing.

The John Williams air on Simple Gifts was amazing (shout out to Karen D!). Of course, it's hard to go wrong with Itzhak Perlman and Yo Yo Ma.

How sad that the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court messed up the oath of office. I guess he didn’t want to split the infinitive, but, Mr. Strict Constructionist, one should not edit the Constitution, even for sound grammatical reasons. :-) Obama hesitated, and you could almost see his dilemma: Do I repeat what he just said, or do I say the oath the correct way? I actually feel sorry for Chief Justice Roberts: What a way to blow your moment in the spotlight!

Great speech, not surprisingly. I especially enjoyed when President Obama (love typing that!) got to the part in his speech about how we will not succeed by our power alone, and the cameras cut to Former President Shrub. If a camera cut can be pointed, that one was!

Malia and Sasha were adorable. Michelle's chartreuse outfit was fabulous, and I was amused to see Malia recording her dad's speech on her digital camera. It appeared to be a Flip!.

How much fun to watch!

Fun in politics

On today's "Talk of the Nation" on NPR they are discussing the most corrupt states. They haven't revealed #1 or 2 yet, but Florida and Texas have to be up there. It's true that other states have governor's resigning in sex scandals, but Florida and Texas have a certain style about them. An air of circus folk. Being from Virginia, I've always been a little dismayed at how dignified our government tends to be-- it's admirable, but it lacks something in entertainment value. The late, great Molly Ivins once observed: "If you can't drink their whiskey, screw their women, take their money and vote against 'em anyway, you don't belong in Texas politics." The same is true in Virginia, but they tend to maintain that Jeffersonian air of dignity, despite the best attempts of some individual members, like the extended session where every time a certain delegate rose to speak, the entire Assembly would make various barnyard noises, honoring the fact that this delegate was a veterinarian.

Florida, though, has it all: Convicted felons being voted into office, occasionally while still in jail; dead people voting (Miami); legislators hiring hit men to take out members of another family; corruption; vote rigging; you name it.

Today the talk is about the soon-to-be-ex-Governor of Illinois who has been arrested and charged with trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder. What elevates this story to the stratosphere of stupidity is that he was already being investigated at the time FOR CORRUPTION. And he KNEW IT. What was the train of thought that lead him to say, "You know, I know that they're looking hard at me for corruption charges, so I think I'll make a phone call from my office phone and discuss the fact that the person Obama wants to succeed him in his Senate seat hasn't yet coughed up a big enough bribe." As BikerDude aptly pointed out: When you start taking bids for a public office, you have to know that the person who places the second-place bid is going to report you!

I agree with Molly that politics is the greatest form of entertainment that our country has ever come up with, and that we're going to have to pay for it anyway, so we might as well enjoy the show. Here's to Governor Blagojevich for providing this week's stunning entertainment.