What the Inauguration Should Mean (Hint: It has nothing to do with Politics)

[Parker36]

Every inauguration is special, but even more so when there is a change from one party to another. It still amazing, even in our modern day world, that we continue to have clean, fair, bloodless transitions of power, especially after such a bitter divide in the country leading up to the election itself.

To make everything better is the amount of enthusiasm and interest that we are seeing out of the public (just look at the parade route today and both campaigns), which for so long was viewed as politically apathetic. Perhaps it was the fallout of the ultra-political 60s, but it great to see large voter turnout once again, especially amongst the youth. And not just the act of voting itself, but people taking an active interest and campaigning and debating on both sides of the isle.

It is days like today, that no matter what side of the debate you are on, whether you voted for our current president or not, whether you believe change will come or we will see more of the same (or worse), you have to be proud to be an American

 

[devaspawn]

It seems astonishing to me today that it's so matter of fact that at 12:00 PM today, regardless of the fact that Obama hadn't taken the oath yet, that power had gone from one person to another. No coups...just the simple adherence to a piece of paper that was written over 200 years ago...simply amazing!!!

:-X

 

[adrock]

It seems astonishing to me today that it's so matter of fact that at 12:00 PM today, regardless of the fact that Obama hadn't taken the oath yet, that power had gone from one person to another. No coups...just the simple adherence to a piece of paper that was written over 200 years ago...simply amazing!!!

:-X

Devaspawn, I hadn't really thought of it like that. I second your sentiments...there are nations all over the world (African nations come to mind) that would give anything to have the kind of political stability and peaceful transition that we enjoy here in the U.S.A.

Let's all try to enjoy that, no matter which side of the fence we were on.

 

[BierMuncher]

I have a 22-ounce bottle of "Ale to the Chief" (8.6%) I got for Secret Santa I'm going to sip on tonight.

 

[devaspawn]

Is that a commercial brew?!!! What kind?! I want details!!!

 

[david_42]

What is equally amazing, with over a million people in the Mall, no violence, no property damage, no arrests. A few lost kids and some frost-bite.

Ironically, I had to go to the BBC site to find a good stream of the inauguration.

 

[nealf]

Is that a commercial brew?!!! What kind?! I want details!!!

I believe it was an avery offering:

Ale To The Chief - Avery Brewing Company - BeerAdvocate

 

[Revvy]

Did anyone pay attention to the time during the swearing in? According to my bosses and my watch, Joe Biden was technically President for about 10 minutes....

They were running behind a bit....At Noon, George was no longer president (IIRC as per the Constitution), Biden was sworn in shortly after noon, then there was a musical number played, and Obama wasn't sworn in til nearly quarter after the hour. Therefore according to the chain of succession, Joe was the big cheese during the song, right.

If something would have happened (god forbid) he would have been the president. And he might technically still be if someone challenges the fact the thanks to the Chief Justice, Barack didn't say the Constitutional swearing in words EXACTLY as they are laid down....I wonder if some nutjob will sue and claim his presidency is not valid.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

Presidency changes hands at noon automatically, sworn in or not.

 

[Revvy]

Presidency changes hands at noon automatically, sworn in or not.

But who does it technically go to, the duly elected or the duly sworn???

 

[shecky]

Did anyone pay attention to the time during the swearing in? According to my bosses and my watch, Joe Biden was technically President for about 10 minutes....

They were running behind a bit....At Noon, George was no longer president (IIRC as per the Constitution), Biden was sworn in shortly after noon, then there was a musical number played, and Obama wasn't sworn in til nearly quarter after the hour. Therefore according to the chain of succession, Joe was the big cheese during the song, right.

If something would have happened (god forbid) he would have been the president. And he might technically still be if someone challenges the fact the thanks to the Chief Justice, Barack didn't say the Constitutional swearing in words EXACTLY as they are laid down....I wonder if some nutjob will sue and claim his presidency is not valid.

I could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain the Constitution states the incoming prez takes office at exactly noon on Jan. 20 regardless of whether he's taken the oath. Nice, simple transferrance of power.

Did anybody watch the Neighborhood Ball thing on ABC? I saw some of it, specifically Jay Z's performance. It took me a while to figure that out. It sounded as if he was rapping about sex and I thought, what the hell does this have to do with Obama?

Finally dawned on me that he was talking about victory being his wife and history being their progeny. It made much more poetic sense then.

And why the hell is Shakira performing at this thing? Isn't she Brazilian or something?

 

[barracudamagoo]

Doesn't matter, noon is the change of power, the swearing in is a formalilty. Compare it to getting married, you have your marriage certificate long before the ceremony, and are technically married then, the ceremony is formal representation of the union.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

It was a great day IMO. I was reluctant to post here at first because I could just see this thread going all political and getting spoiled.

America can be proud of what happened yesterday. Although the event was greatly overdone for an inauguration I feel it had to be that way. Too many people had too much invested in this through a long, long history of taking the back seat for this event to be played down to a level that would normally be more appropriate.


Now, this may seem like I'm trying to be a smartass, but I'm not. How many of you besides myself were worried when they got out of the cars and walked down Penn. Ave that we might suddenly see the back of his head blown away. It has only just occurred to me as I type this that "live" TV has a delay so we wouldn't see that, but at the time I was terrified for him. I hust wanted him to get the hell back in the damn car!

 

[shecky]

You're not alone Gnome. I was watching with my kids and was more than a little afraid they would see something their little eyes should not see.

I have to admit to getting a bit teary-eyed.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

But who does it technically go to, the duly elected or the duly sworn???

Duly elected. They were talking about it on TV this morning. Another interesting tidbit that I didn't know was that is was the supreme justice who screwed up the oath for Obama by getting the words wrong.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

You're not alone Gnome. I was watching with my kids and was more than a little afraid they would see something their little eyes should not see.

I have to admit to getting a bit teary-eyed.

Yep, I teared up too. Luckily I was alone so nobody got to see it. It is a secret of mine that will be mine forever!!


Oh crap! I see what I did there.

 

[Revvy]

I was watching and praying the whole time from the minute he stepped up to the podium, to everytime he got out of the car....Every wide shot of the mall or of DC I was trying to gauge how far away the tallest buildings were....Can't a 50 caliber sniper's bullet travel accurately for over a mile....I know he's the most protected President in history...but god...I was a nervous nelly yesterday.

 

[Beerrific]

Duly elected. They were talking about it on TV this morning. Another interesting tidbit that I didn't know was that is was the supreme justice who screwed up the oath for Obama by getting the words wrong.

They both screwed up. Obama started repeating too early on the first line, but Roberts completely fubared the second line. I am sure they both practiced, but nerves got the best of them.

I was watching this thing on CNN a couple days ago about presidents that screw up saying the oath, it happens a lot and most of them mess up by starting to repeat the first line too soon.

Now, this may seem like I'm trying to be a smartass, but I'm not. How many of you besides myself were worried when they got out of the cars and walked down Penn. Ave that we might suddenly the the back of his head blown away. It has only just occurred to me as I type this that "live" TV has a delay so we wouldn't see that, but at the time I was terrified for him. I hust wanted him to get the hell back in the damn car!

I also wondered if there was a delay. If so I can't imagine it was much. I think it would suck to have to be the network executive that had to made that decision. On one hand, you want to bring it live, but on the other, you have to admit to yourself it is a possibility and put the delay in.

 

[XXguy]

....it was the supreme justice who screwed up the oath for Obama by getting the words wrong.

I was watching the TV when that happened - I knew enough to know that Stephens was saying it wrong - and Obama was tripping over his words, because I think he knew what it was supposed to be...

You'd think a Supreme Court Justice would have known the words by heart.

 

[Dadrick]

IEvery wide shot of the mall or of DC I was trying to gauge how far away the tallest buildings were.....

No need to worry on that account, the Secret Service had men on everyone of them I'm sure.

trivia - no building in DC can be taller that the Washington Monument (555 ft).

 

[jmulligan]

HWMO and I drove over to my parents to watch it with them, my sister, and niece. By the end, my 2 year old niece was saying "President Obama." It was a pretty exciting day, and I will be optimistic about the next 4 years (for our country's sake, and also for my job's sake - I'm in the sciences). HWMO and I also worried about Obama walking out in the open. Thank goodness everything was OK.

Did anyone else wonder how Aretha Franklin sang, even though some sort of jewel-encrusted bow ate her head? Of course, that probably hurt less than the rabid chinchillas that were roosting on Bush Sr's noggin.

 

[shecky]

H.W. looked terrible. Babs has looked the same for 25 years. Weird how that happens.

Aretha sang horribly. And that bow, I'm no fashion guru but what the hell was she thinking?

My 4-year-old wore the "Future President" t-shirt I got her on my last trip to DC. It's navy blue so people think she's a boy when she wears it. They had pink ones that said, "Future 1st Lady," but I figured I don't want her shooting that low just because she's female.

Now she says Barack Obama is her favorite president.

 

[Revvy]

Well..ahem....It appears that my concerns maybe not have been too far off base, especially in the light of his flubbing of the Oath...

INAUGURATION 2009: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
Was President Obama’s oath of office re-do needed?
Chief exec did so out of ‘abundance of caution,’ White House counsel says

From staff and wire reports

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Chief Justice John G. Roberts readministered the oath of office to President Barack Obama Wednesday night because the first time, part of it was said out of sequence.

Pete Souza / White House / MCT
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. administers the oath of office a second time to President Obama.


The blogosphere has been filled with speculation that Obama was not officially president because of the mistake. Roberts initially said part of the 35-word oath incorrectly, Obama apparently recognized the mistake and paused to give Roberts time to say it correctly.

Better safe than sorry and to dispel any potential debate, Obama did a re-do.

This time, the scene was the White House Map Room in front of a small group of reporters, not the Capitol platform before the whole watching world.

“We decided that because it was so much fun …,” Obama joked to reporters who followed press secretary Robert Gibbs into the room. No TV camera crews or news photographers were allowed in. A few of Obama’s closest aides were there, along with a White House photographer.

Roberts put on his black robe.

“Are you ready to take the oath?” he said.

“Yes, I am,” Obama said. “And we’re going to do it very slowly.”

Roberts then led Obama through the oath without any missteps.

The president said he did not have his Bible with him, but that the oath was binding anyway.

Craig, the White House lawyer, said in a statement Wednesday evening: “We believe the oath of office was administered effectively and that the president was sworn in appropriately yesterday. Yet the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out of the abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath a second time.”

The Constitution is clear about the exact wording of the oath and as a result, some constitutional experts have said that a do-over probably wasn’t necessary but also couldn’t hurt. Two other previous presidents have repeated the oath because of similar issues, Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur.

*snicker* Maybe Joe was President for a LOT longer than 5 minutes.

And CNN just mentioned this....but it appears that Obama gave the Veep a bit of a b1tch slap after he made a joke about the swearing in...Cnn ran two differnt angles on this and focussed on the President's facial expression, and the little slap on the back...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7fsf8b1PcM]YouTube - Biden Jokes About Roberts' Oath Gaffe[/ame]

 

[IrregularPulse]

Wow Obama did not look pleased. I liked the one comment you could hear at the end of the on e guy saying "WOW". haha

 

[Dloucks]

I wish Obama all the luck in the world, for the sake of the country. I'm not going to be an obama basher just for the sake of bashing him like a large % of the country did with Bush.

What does concern me about this whole process is the assumption that this must be a great thing because of the massive turn out, mob style appeal, voter turn out etc.

I think we need to drop some of the expectations for this man, he's mortal, will make mistakes and will be influenced by his party just as every president before him has been.

Putting it into perspective. Millions of people tune in and PAY to vote for american idol contestants, possibly the worst thing to ever happen to music/entertainment. If the president makes unpopular decisions (and lets hope he does, because making only popular decissions would be the downfall of the country) how will the "newly interested" public take to it?

I hope obama is the greatest president we've ever had, however this year, this election voting for/supporting him has been the "hip" thing to do. I'm very curious as to what the next election will look like.

 

[Mutilated1]

Did anyone pay attention to the time during the swearing in? According to my bosses and my watch, Joe Biden was technically President for about 10 minutes....

that swearing in is just a photo-op, the real swearing in occurred before hand in closed senate chambers

what you saw on TV was just the dog and pony show

 

[Mutilated1]

One other thing thats remarkable about the inauguration... I heard this on the radio yesterday, so I assume its true - don't absolutely know for sure.

Apparently with all those extra people there for the party, there wasn't one single arrest for anything. Thats amazing in and of itself just for the fact that there were millions of people all standing around, just flat out bordering on unbelievable when you consider that the inauguration was held in Washington D.C. crime capital of east coast.

 

[Dloucks]

There were no arrests. There have been some reports of crimes committed, a few fights here and there, but no arrests.

still quite the accomplishment to put this many people in once place without something bigger than a few fist fights occurring.

What's more amazing to me, in a time of people losing jobs left and right, and it quickly becoming an employers market (as opposed to the employee's market we've had over the last couple decades) how many people skipped work to go to the inauguration, or called in sick to watch it on TV.

 

[flyangler18]

What's more amazing to me, in a time of people losing jobs left and right, and it quickly becoming an employers market (as opposed to the employee's market we've had over the last couple decades) how many people skipped work to go to the inauguration, or called in sick to watch it on TV.

My company gave employees time off to watch it on TV or streaming online.

Of course, I was in the hospital waiting for my niece to be born so I had all the time in the world.

Apparently with all those extra people there for the party, there wasn't one single arrest for anything. Thats amazing in and of itself just for the fact that there were millions of people all standing around, just flat out bordering on unbelievable when you consider that the inauguration was held in Washington D.C. crime capital of east coast.

The area surrounding the Capitol and National Mall isn't exactly ground zero for violent crime in the District. Anacostia/SE on the other hand....

 

[Dloucks]

My company gave employees time off to watch it on TV or streaming online.

Of course, I was in the hospital waiting for my niece to be born so I had all the time in the world.

Did they give time off four years ago? If so, good for them, if not, then your company is guilty of indoctrination.

 

[flyangler18]

Did they give time off four years ago? If so, good for them, if not, then your company is guilty of indoctrination.

I wasn't with them four years ago, so I can't say with certainty. Indoctrination? Hardly.

 

[Dloucks]

Perhaps not indoctrination, but if you only show the inauguration if you like the winner, it's pretty weak at the very least, and it's pushing a single ideology on the workers of that company.

I work for a company that it is very very hard to have political opinions that vary from your employer, and even though for the most part the company shares my political opinion, I hate that they push it onto the employees.

 

[HBHoss]

Perhaps not indoctrination, but if you only show the inauguration if you like the winner, it's pretty weak at the very least, and it's pushing a single ideology on the workers of that company.

I work for a company that it is very very hard to have political opinions that vary from your employer, and even though for the most part the company shares my political opinion, I hate that they push it onto the employees.

I think it's the fact that we're not inaugurating the same old boring, rich, white guy again and that this is an "historical moment" so time to jump on the band wagon.

 

[Revvy]

Remember how this thread began folks...This is NOT a debate thread...there's a WHOLE section (that I have blocked out) for that...

Let's not debate the merits of showing one innauguration over another...for one thing that's water under the bridge...and besides....First black president is SORT of an historical moment for everybody, regardless of party politics....

Let's keep this discussion civil...and lighthearted.

 

[FireBrewer]

I work for a company that it is very very hard to have political opinions that vary from your employer, and even though for the most part the company shares my political opinion, I hate that they push it onto the employees.

That's highly illegal. Your company is muscling their way into a class-action lawsuit.

 

[Revvy]

So am I the only one who since Monday has kept Cnn Online on nearly constantly while at work. I usually listen to Canadian public radio while at work, because I like their day time programming...but I'n doing this Cnn junky thing that I haven't done since 9-11..

Oooh....The first press briefing is happenning.

So Robert Gibbs is the new mouthpiece eh? I was sort of hoping for someone as hot as Dana Perino...

They're talking about the re-swearing in....and whether he now needs to re-sign all the executive orders....White House Councils office says OK..but Chief Justice Roberts still felt that caution should prevail...and it is the 3rd time in history this has happened...

 

[Revvy]

Man...Gibbs is being raked for the re-swearing coverage...

 

[Parker36]

They're talking about the re-swearing in....and whether he now needs to re-sign all the executive orders....White House Councils office says OK..but Chief Justice Roberts still felt that caution should prevail...and it is the 3rd time in history this has happened...

They might as well, its just signing your name three times. You know there are wackos out there that will challenge this type of thing - just not worth the media headache that would arise.

 

[Revvy]

Whooo HOOOO, Helen Thomas is covering the briefing, and NOT being blown off and/or ignored!

 

[Beerrific]

I think it's the fact that we're not inaugurating the same old boring, rich, white guy again and that this is an "historical moment" so time to jump on the band wagon.

This time it was a rich, half-white guy. (Ok, this time he was not as old and arguably less boring.)

Man...Gibbs is being raked for the re-swearing coverage...

I heard CNN filled an official complaint about this. Said they were already going back on the promise of transparency in government. Give me an f-ing break. Not everything that happens in the White House should be on CNN. Oh, FoxNews was pissed, they were not allowed to film Obama taking a sh*t.