What can I say? I have lived to see many presidential inaugurations, and none have inspired as much hope as this one. I am very proud that Barack Obama is now President of the United States.
As stated before, we didn’t really plan to be out of the country during inauguration, but it has put an interesting perspective on things. We went to breakfast in the market across the street from the hotel. As we walked between the shops a Bahamian woman walked past chanting “Obama-Bahama-Obama-Bahama” in a sing-song voice. At lunch the clerks behind the counter said, “Congratulations on your new President!”
We had planned to spend the day out at the pool next to the beach. I was going to watch the swearing-in ceremony on my laptop. However, we quickly nixed that idea. I wasn’t going to risk something of this historic import on a flakey Internet connection.
Obama’s speech was stirring. To me it struck all of the right notes. It repudiated the idiocy of the Bush years, and set the correct tone for the coming years.
I watched the ceremonies while sharing the experience with my friends and those that I follow on Twitter and Facebook. It was fun to read other’s comments in this worldwide conversation. I particularly liked one of John Hodgman’s comments regarding Cheney in his wheelchair asking, “Where’s his fluffy white cat?” Most comments, however, looked to the future and expressed pride in our nation.
We watched the rest of the coverage off and on. Laura and I both worried for the Obamas as they got out of their limo and walked along Pennsylvania Ave. While most of the people were celebrating, there are crazies out there, and I worry for their safety.
And so we once again celebrate the peaceful transfer of power to our newest, the 44th President of the United States, Barak Hussein Obama. Good luck, and God be with you.
This has been an incredible day. My daughter and her classmates spent their entire day watching the festivities. I truly hope her generation will be as inspired as we are by this historical moment.
I was quite moved myself by the day. Still feel the afterglow. I was rather irritated at many in the press who wanted to focus so much on race. The beauty of this day was that our President was elected largely by people who believe in his ideas and vision, and not because he was of one race or another. The Press could not get beyond the significance that he happened to be black, and the connection to Civil Rights. While that is of importance, it kind of takes us back to where we were IMO. I’d loved to have had commentary-free coverage (which I finally found for the parade). IMO the press coverage probably alienated some folks who, frankly, didn’t need to be alienated. Even NPR seemed to miss the story. IMO of course.