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Posted by MF DU on 2009-01-16 16:28:37 +0000

WSJ had a nice 'what to do in Washington' feature I was reading earlier this a.m. Also - I think somewhere the Glob has a cool pictorial on Obama's new wheels he's driving into town on. It will be cool to have a new president.

Posted by tgl on 2009-01-16 16:53:15 +0000

It will be new to have a cool president.

Posted by tgl on 2009-01-20 14:46:24 +0000

John Williams punts it... an Aaron Copeland Medley, inspiring!

Posted by dyedon8 on 2009-01-20 15:01:14 +0000

I spilled coffee on the rug during the swearing-in.

Posted by ConorClockwise on 2009-01-20 15:53:24 +0000

"America is ready to lead again." Would be nice wouldn't it? Copeland-ish tune wasn't bad esp. the clarinet part. No feeling for the poem. Bland? Loved the last bit in the benediction, "If your yellow, you can mellow. If your red, you can get ahead..."

Posted by dyedon8 on 2009-01-20 16:00:09 +0000

That bit was great. Bummed he didn't include "if you're gay, you're AOK."

Posted by ConorClockwise on 2009-01-20 16:45:03 +0000

Too bad Justice Roberts didn't read the swearing in; they might not have screwed it up if he did. "For my first act as President, I pardon George Bush and Dick Cheney for their acts of treason and crimes against humanity." Rumor has it Obama brought this idea up with George Will and David Brooks when he had dinner at Will's house last week. Would be nice for the country to move on, and not have Bush and Co. wrapped up in legal precedings for the next umpteen years, ala Ford did for Nixon.

Posted by tommy on 2009-01-20 23:06:36 +0000

This would be great, actually. It would just be such a bitch slap, such a repudiation. Plus, politically, you could pass it off as an attempt to reconcile and move on. Totally passive-aggressive and awesome.

Posted by pamsterdam on 2009-01-21 13:05:37 +0000

You're not the only one. This was actually a topic of discussion at dinner last night, with my Secretary of Gay Affairs.

Posted by TheFullCleveland on 2009-01-21 13:13:53 +0000

It didn't occur to me - the train of thought wasn't differences of sexual orientation, but skin color.

Posted by pamsterdam on 2009-01-21 13:17:37 +0000

I know, but with the whole Rick Warren vs Gene Robinson debacle, GLBT issues were at the top of everyone's mind when it came to the prayers. No? It just would have been cool if the final prayer - delivered by a preacher with links to the GLBT movement, by the way - had alluded to that.

Posted by TheFullCleveland on 2009-01-21 14:15:13 +0000

Eh, not for me. I was too high on the Kool Aid, and feeling too elated to bring myself down with that. It was an excellent speech. Rick Warren v. Gene Robinson was something separate from that guy's speechifying, which wrapped up the ceremony nicely.

Posted by pamsterdam on 2009-01-21 14:22:52 +0000

I hear you. I didn't feel down about it - I guess I'm just the kind of person who's always looking for something more/different/better. I wasn't 'disappointed' - I was flying high too! I just noted the absence. I know, always a critic.

Posted by TheFullCleveland on 2009-01-21 14:40:00 +0000

The funny thing is, *I'm* always the critic. It's kind of surprising to me that I'm all "woo hoo" about everything in this inauguration. Although, I do have to admit I was underwhelmed by the poetry. And Rick Warren's speechifying was booooring (though I thought some commentary by CNN was good - that Warren is used to giant, adoring crowds, and here he was before a tepid and hardly applauding crowd. Probably a good dose of reality for him. I think that the cool reception by the entire mall crowd spoke volumes, more than any words could convey. Wolf Blitzer, on the other hand - total douchebag.)

Posted by pamsterdam on 2009-01-21 14:45:59 +0000

I think the poem itself was good, but my impression was that her nerves got the better of her. One of my viewing companions wondered aloud, "What, does she have a master's degree in enunciation?" Chortle inducing. So it wasn't just me feeling the crowd's chilly reception of Warren? I thought maybe that was wishful thinking on my part. Yes, I agree that this spoke volumes! My dad gets apoplectic about Wolf Blitzer: "He is BANAL! The only reason anyone knows who the hell he is is because he hid under a damned desk 15 years ago!"

Posted by TheFullCleveland on 2009-01-21 15:02:21 +0000

The enunciation was definitely a problem. I was so struck by her precise enunciation of everything she said that I practically did not hear what she was saying. Wolf's dumbest comment that I heard was his amazement that Obama was able to convey that there's a difference between Muslims and terrorists. The manner in which he said it indicated that in Wolf's World, all terrorists are clearly Muslim. He'll have to learn the new talking points. I can't believe Blitzer is STILL getting mileage out of his Gulf War coverage.

Posted by pamsterdam on 2009-01-21 15:16:59 +0000

Dad says it's the only reason he still has a job. Of course, he also says that the Alan Parsons Project was cruelly underrated.

Posted by mahatma chani on 2009-01-22 12:29:53 +0000

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Posted by MF DU on 2009-01-22 12:32:11 +0000

__________________.

Posted by tgl on 2009-01-22 15:19:38 +0000

Yeah, no change here!

Posted by TheFullCleveland on 2009-01-22 16:46:34 +0000

And here I thought Obama would be telling us that we need to apologize for our way of life, and that we should prostrate ourselves before our enemies. Silly me!

Posted by ConorClockwise on 2009-01-22 17:32:02 +0000

Classic. Hil-fucking-larious

Posted by tgl on 2009-01-22 23:33:02 +0000

Pretty good clip. "I don't believe Obama actually believes this stuff, and that's what gives me hope." The blog post around the clip is drivel, however.