Inaugural Notes

Watched the ceremony here at IU South Bend in a packed room with lots of faculty, staff and students. As recommended by my brother Steve, I also checked out the live blog on Swampland, which is often very funny. Some random observations:

• Barbara Bush looked the same now as she did back in 1988. Bush, Sr. was really looking old this time around (maybe it was the way he was walking).


• Image of the day? Cheney in a wheelchair! What a farewell shot of this guy. He has been called the worst vice-president of all time, the one who really ran the country and ran roughshod over the constitution and was despised by many. But here he was, confined to a wheelchair. Kinda reminds me of Mark Felt (aka Deep Throat). A guy that brought down Nixon we only remember as this 90 year-old with a walker.


• A little long on the prayer Mr. Warren, you could've cut it a bit short. One of the Swampland bloggers asked, "Why did Rick Warren say "Malia and Sasha" like he was introducing Siegfried & Roy?" Kudos for Obama for not replacing Warren after the criticism he received.


• Nice job by Aretha Franklin. She can still belt it out. But what was up with that hat?


• The music by Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and those other two? Kinda strange and surprisingly downbeat for such an occasion. Don't think the younger generation really connected to that. Not that he needed Springsteen or Bono to come out and sing, but, well, maybe he should have.


• Lots of people in the room I was watching laughed when they saw the size of that Bible. The thing is huge!


• Another Swampland nugget: "Dorky constitutional question: after Biden takes the oath of office, is he, for however many minutes, technically George W. Bush's vice president?"


• Did Obama flub the oath or did Roberts? Will David Letterman add this to his "Great Moments in Presidential History?" A swampland blogger said, "I am registering www.obamaflubbedtheoathandthereforeisnotofficiallypresident.com".


• Obama's speech? Very anti-climactic. He's been trying to dial down expectations ever since election night and he seemed to be trying extra hard to do so with this speech. I was kinda lost at times at exactly what he was saying. I figured we'd see the Obama from the campaign trail, as this was the time to really inspire the audience. But much of it fell flat to me, but I imagine the analysis will say it was great. I also expected him to be interrupted multiple times with applause (like in a State of the Union speech), but that never really happened. Maybe it was just the hype, but overall a curiously downbeat speech. Lots of zingers thrown in at the Bush administration, though, as Bush sat right there beside him. Overall, the speech just seemed to be missing something.
  
• But the crowd! All this for a presidential inauguration? It was a sight to see. There's no way Obama will be able to keep up this fervor, but on this day, it was impressive to see everyone excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. Yes, Obama does make you feel good about America.
  
• Uh, why exactly did we need a poet there at the end?
  
• Was that a prayer or a speech by Lowery? I don't know, but it was good.
  
• Neat seeing the Obama's walk along the route back to the White House. They seemed most relaxed at this point. Is this the most photogenic first family or what?
  

Okay Obama, you got the Congress, Senate, and White House all to yourself. Your move.