Watching the inauguration in spite of myself, like being drawn to watch a train wreck. I'm so sad to see the Obamas leave. I remember watching his inauguration 8 years with Gaby who was only 3 years old. She had practiced saying "Barack Obama" and recognizing him whenever she saw him on TV or pictures. Now, at eleven, she has no memory of any other president. I'm so glad that she has him as a model to measure all other presidents against throughout her life.
The first inauguration I remember is Kennedy's. It was so cold in DC that day, everyone so bundled up. But his words were so powerful and made such an impression on my 12-year-old mind. We can never know what lies ahead, and I suppose it's a good thing that no one could have had a premonition for what lay ahead. I'm so fearful now of what's to come. I see the images of the capitol, Washington Monument, the view down the mall. They're so filled with symbolism and meaning, and so many people feel that deeply. I can never see those monuments without being stirred, conscious of the words and promises of the documents they represent. I could never teach the rhetoric of those documents to students without chills, realizing how long they've held true and how many people have often held true and fast.
Sen. Schumer is reading a powerful letter from Civil War soldier Major Sullivan Ballou.
And now Clarence Thomas is swearing in Mike Pence as vice-president. How appropriate..
Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings "America." Beautiful song, but he's so unworthy of anything so majestic.
Chief Justice Roberts is now swearing him in. God help us all. And now Hail to the Chief. Chief Enemy of the country.
Now his speech: "transferring power from Wash. DC and giving it back to you the people." He's calling all politicians self-serving who have fleeced the American people. As if his own pockets will not be lined with more money. He's made no sacrifices for public good, and refuses to do so now. "the people became the rulers of this nation again...the forgotten people of our country will be forgotten no longer." Reference "the movement" that put him in office. Back to the poverty of the ?inner cities...school systems flush with cash...the gangs...American carnage"
Grand promises with no hints of how to pay for them. "When you open your hearts to patriotism there is no room for prejudice." "Most importantly we will be protected by God." This man is so far from Godly. Lightning should strike him down.
Benedictions: Rabbi from Simon Wiesenthal Center reads a psalm.
Now Franklin Graham, strident evangelical. "Wants all people to be saved...only one way through Jesus."
Bishop Jackson, African-American pastor--reminds me of Douglass' "What to Me is the Fourth of July?"
Commentators all saying the same thing--this was a campaign speech, not an inaugural speech, also predicted by Bob.
It's over.
2 comments:
Well, that was thoroughly depressing. Apropos, but still. Were you AT Kennedy's inauguration?
Oh, no. I wish. That would certainly be a highlight of a lifetime. We watched it on TV in Tampa, but we could see how cold it was, how bundled up everyone was. But my parents let me stay up until the early hours of the morning because the election was so close. Of course, now we know that it was close for a few not-so-legal reasons, like Mayor Daley in Chicago and Joe Kennedy buying votes for his son. But still, one of those historical occasions you never forget.
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