I feel like I should say something profound, but I really can't come up with the words. Instead, I'll just give you my random thoughts, as usual...
I had a really good time watching the twitter feed (which you can find here) this morning before the inauguration. I heard about the person who got hit by a train on the red line of the metro and the disturbance at the purple gate before the media reported either. All of this technology has truly changed our world, and it's interesting to have a president who blogs, twitters, and uses social media... like me.
It is also interesting to have a First Dad, a parent of two girls... like me.
I thought that the invocation was well done, in spite of the uproar from the gay community about the choice of minister. Aretha has sounded better, but it's hard to sing when it's 20 degrees. Loved her hat. I loved the benediction. I didn't love the poem. I loved the music - especially Perlman and Ma, talk about an orchestral dream team! I loved that Mr. and Mrs. Obama walked much of the parade route. I would've loved to have been there, to have seen it in person.
On NPR I heard someone mention all the different hats that Hillary Clinton was wearing today... She was there as a former First Lady, as a former candidate, as a former Senator, and as the incoming Secretary of State. Wow. That's a lot of hats. I thought she and Bill looked good.
What do you think John McCain did today? I'll bet he's relieved, honestly, that the burdens of the economy and the war on terror and all of the other problems facing our country aren't his to bear. I can't imagine why anyone would want to be the president. It sounds like a big load of stress, to me. I can barely handle the pressure of my little bookkeeping job. Yikes.
At one point, I had CNN on the TV, another CNN feed on the computer, Twitter and Facebook up all at once. I really need to dial back my inner tech geek.
Mainly, I am impressed by many of my republican friends, and my independent husband, who say, "I may not have voted for him, but I will pray for him and support him. He's our president, now."
I hope that he is as beloved on his last day of office as he is today. I hope that he can do what he promises. I hope that this is the dawn of a new era for all of us.
And I hope that tomorrow, when the parties are over, that he gets to work. He's going to need every hour of the next four years to do half of what he says he'll do. Good luck, Mr. President.
6 comments:
Nicely put. I was in awe and inspired, though just a bit weirded out by how much church was involved. If we are ever to genuinely be open to all religious choices, we need to be more inclusive during the biggest governmental day of the year. Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but could easily see how exclusionary it was to recite the Lord's Prayer.
I talked to my class today about Barack Obama and why today was such an important day in America. One little girl, with a huffy breath, said he is the bad President. I told her that as you treat your parents and your teachers with respect, you will treat your new president as well.
Some people in this household think that I am inhibiting her freedom of speech. What do you think?
I had a lot of similar feelings (though I only caught snippets here and there through the day). In general I was impressed. But the walking outside the car was freaky! I guess because I never thought that the powers that be (not that I'm much of a conspiracist, but still I think that there are people behind the scenes in the gov who make decisions about what happens) would let Obama win, and now I'm really worried that the rug is going to be pulled out from under us, and I'm worried something is going to happen to Obama. So, even though later I read that he was wearing bullet proof clothing (but no hat! Bare head!) I was really worried. Does that make me sound x-filesy? I don't know. Oh, and then when I read that Obama had bullet proof clothing, I was like, what about Michelle? Was her designer dress bullet proof? Or did Obama just risk her anyway, taking her hand and making her walk on the road? No, I'm a little bit joking too. :)
I think spending $140 million plus on this inauguration was ridiculous. I think Obama made a lot of promises during the campaign that he can not fulfill. I think he pulled the rug over a lot of eyes and too much has been made of his race. Though it seems that a lot of people have forgotten that his mother was a white woman. I chose to not watch the inauguration because too much was being made of it. And now time will tell where Obama will take us...
Hey Anonymus -- I don't think Enough of a deal has been made of his mother being white -- it's awesome that not only is he the first president of color, of any race, but he is the first biracial president. As the mother of biracial daughters, this is a big deal to me, BETTER than him just being a black man; I believe it shows even MORE tolerance on the part of the American people. SO don't discount him because he's biracial, because his mother was white -- it COUNTS, it's a big deal, it's even better.
I'm not discounting his biracialism, I am simply stating that it is being over looked by many that his mother was a white woman--making him a bi-racial president, not a black president!!!
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