Every inauguration is celebrated. They are transitional events in our political and cultural history. It is the installation of a new President, only the 44th in our history..
We need a party. Our economy has been gravely damaged. Our military capacity has been misused and impaired. Our diplomatic power has been squandered, and our.diplomatic standing has been diminished It is a relief to see the exit of those who did so much differently than they promised, and so differently than they should have done.
We also have much to celebrate. The election of a wise and pragmatic man. Someone who promised to reach out to all others, and who has already done so. Someone who is open to all good ideas, to be judgeded on efficacy and merit, rather than on partisanship or ideology. Someone who ran the most steady and dignified campaign I have seen, in spite of the most vicious, scurrilous organized lies and smear campaign I have ever see. America took an enormous stride in selecting the most able candidate in spite of the historically virulent racism in this country, vestiges of which are still prevelant including in posts at this site.
We need a party, and we have much to celebrate.
LIVING POLITICS
Howard Fineman
Capital Crosscurrents
Washington is awash in fear and hope.
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If the impact of an event can be measured in barricades, fences and rows of portable toilets, then Washington is about to witness either the second Siege of Stalingrad or the Second Coming itself.
These last days before the inauguration of Barack Obama are an emotional riptide of fear and hope. The air here is full of news of economic collapse and civil celebration, of banks caving and movie stars arriving, of government going broke in a city suddenly (and temporarily) full of tuxes and bling.
Rarely in our history has so much hope been piled on the shoulders of one man at such a schizophrenic moment.
In the old days, inaugurations were held in March, which made seasonal sense: early spring for a new beginning. Now we do them in the dead of winter, which is not the mood we want.
Since 9/11, Washington has been obsessed with security; the advent of Obama and the inaugural festivities has redoubled that obsession. As a result, streets are blocked by squad cars (protecting the Obamas' hotel and now the Blair House); the National Mall is ringed with metal fencing; and Jersey barriers line streets and sidewalks that only days ago were open and unnoticed by the authorities.
Inside the U.S. Capitol, security is tighter than ever. More public places are off-limits, probably forever; certain passes now require finger-printing and a full criminal background check.
Along the avenues that line the Mall, work crews are erecting towers of stadium-level loudspeakers, which soon will amplify for millions of adoring listeners the words of the newly sworn-in president.
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