Inauguration Celebration

Okay, Portland, Belize, LA, and then, on the last leg of my walkabout, Washington DC for the inauguration of Barack Obama. I voted for Obama in the primary and general election and talked him up pretty good along the way. But I live in Manhattan, I don't think I could name a single person who I interact with on a regular basis that wasn't voting for him anyway. I knew 10 people who weren't voting at all for every 1 that was even considering McCain and the choice of Sarah Palin knocked those few people out of his column in the end. So I don't know that I actually helped Obama's cause much, but I was so glad to have a politician talk to us like adults that I actually took to wearing the Hope t-shirt.

My sister Rachel lives in DC and got tickets to the parade, so I pretty much had to go. I didn't realize yet that he was going to sign the Executive Order changing the way the government deals with Freedom of Information Act requests, nor did I necessarily believe he was going to act on Guantanamo as quickly as he did. I think the orders regarding transparency in government may ultimately change our country more than temporarily nationalizing the banks or even pulling out of Iraq. If the bar for secrecy is set as high as Obama claims, if our government is now truly operating behind a clean plane of glass, that would be every bit as big a change as electing a Black guy to sign those papers in the first place.

It was a great experience, being surrounded by 2 million people while Bush was packing his shit. So many people bowed their heads while Obama took the oath, like it was some kind of prayer, and it seems silly in retrospect, but it sure made sense at the time.

The Inspiration

Open The Gates!

Big Tent Politics


Citizen #1

Citizen #2

Morning In America

Keeping Warm

Rachel Loves America

Where Is He?

Secret Service

Obama Loves America, Too

The next day Weezy and I went back to the Mall and walked around a bit. It was cold but the sun was so beautiful that day it was hard not to be happy.


Flag Wavers

Stars

Weezington Monument