Final Thoughts

From there the afternoon became a flurry of phone calls and text messages, of conversations and observations, of good spirits and laughs. And, eventually, a celebratory cocktail.

I've never been big on parades, not even on an occasion such as this, and so it came as no surprise to me when my attention span was exceeded. I was in the car and on the way home when the news broke about Ted Kennedy. That it appears now to have been a false alarm prevents an ugly stain from being forever attached the day's events. Still, at the time it was a jolt, an unpleasant reminder that real life does go on.

We are almost two weeks removed from Inauguration Day as of this writing, and over that time I have come to realize that putting my thoughts about Barack Obama and the beginning of his administration down on paper was a much more difficult task than I ever believed it would be. I struggled with why that was, with why the end result I had advocated, hoped and voted for didn't inspire me more thoroughly than it has. And what I eventually realized was this:

What had the greatest impact on me that day was not the speeches or the pageantry or the crowds or the euphoria that seemed to grip almost this entire nation. What struck me most, and what has stayed with me most clearly, is the retreat from Washington in disgrace of George W. Bush. It is not the image of Barack Obama taking the oath of office but rather of the long, slow helicopter ride over and across the Mall, of the dramatic pause above the Jefferson Memorial, and of the final departure from Andrews Air Force Base. It was then that I understood that Bush was simply going to return to Texas and to the same cushy and pampered life he had led for 54 years before coming to power—and that it is the rest of us (not just Obama) who are tasked to clean up the mess he has left behind.

Some have said that electing Obama was the easy part, but it seems now that getting rid of Bush was pretty easy, too—even if it did take us eight years to do it. It is now when the real work begins, and in fact already had begun before the celebration was even complete.

Where will we be four years from now? No one can know for sure...but I, for one, do honestly believe we as a nation will be better off than we are today.

God help us all if I'm wrong.

Old, True, and Overdue: The Inauguration Blog

Inauguration Day began for me at 5:15am in the tiny hamlet of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Ninety minutes later I settled into my chosen viewing location for the day's events: A couch at the homestead in Wellesley. To be there in DC would be great, but only to be able to say I was there. If you really want to see it happen then the best seat in the house is in your house.

6:52am: The TV is already tuned to the local ABC affiliate when I turn it on. I'm lucky enough to be just in time to catch local anchor Bianca de la Garza remind us that tonight “ABC has exclusive coverage of the First Couple's first dance.” The fact that they are hyping that is as good an indication as any you will ever see of why I prefer NBC. And so it begins...

7am: Good Morning America kicks off with the ridiculous scene on the Mall. Already the crowd is packed in and we are still hours away. I will give these people credit—that is determination. You have to really want to see something to stand outside in the cold all night long just to get what passes for close in the non-ticketed section. What I really want is another cup of coffee, and my prime viewing spot in the living room is conveniently placed only a short walk away from the kitchen.

7:10: Robin Roberts on Jill Biden's comments the day before that Joe Biden was given a choice between Vice President and Secretary of State. I love that both Bidens have trouble controlling their mouths. They just seem like likable people all around. But I am left wondering if she really didn't understand announcing that was going to cause controversy. Really? You didn't know? Still, anything that makes the Clintons uncomfortable also makes me happy. So thanks to you, Mrs. Biden.

7:30: This is the first I've heard that Dick Cheney has been confined to a wheelchair. The best they could come up with is that he hurt himself moving boxes? That is what we are supposed to believe? No way in hell that evil bastard handled his own move. With how little he has been in the spotlight and how few public appearances he has made lately, you do have to wonder how long the VPOTUS hasn't been able to walk.

And on that note we make the switch to the regulars over on MSNBC.

7:44: Chuck Todd reports on the transition and how smooth it has gone. A lot of credit for that goes to Obama and the people he has chosen for his staff, but that Bush has done his part cannot be denied. He could have made a mess of this but didn't. Contrast that with the exit of the Clintons. The stunt with pulling all the W keys off West Wing keyboards was small-time and childish. That is how they spent their final hours? I was dismissive of it at the time, as I was of all Bill Clintons missteps, but that was truly uncalled for.

8:03am: Amanda Cane reports from DC that she is on her way to the Mall, that the streets are packed with people doing the same, and that she is freezing. So far nothing I have seen or heard has made me regret my decision to not venture down there.

8:24: Colin Powell speaks to how important this day is to race relations in this country, noting that in twenty years minorities will be the new majority. This idea scares the hell out of some parts of white America, maybe even more so than the idea of a black man becoming President. I'm not sure where Powell was going with that, either, because the election of Obama isn't going to change the day to day lives of any one segment of the population, white or black. The election of John Kennedy didn't improve the lives of Irish-Catholics. What it did was prove that anything was possible—for anyone, regardless of ethnicity. That is what black America should be taking away from this day and these last few months. Regardless of race, anything is now possible.

8:29: We have an early contender for Best Line of the Day honors as Tom Brokaw says, “I'm thinking back about the long road I've traveled, and about all the bigots and the rednecks I've met along the way. To them I say TAKE THIS!” The last part he says with a clenched fist, and it is pretty clear that “TAKE THIS” was not his first choice of words. Ah, Tom. Professional till the end.

8:30: Brokaw is immediately called away, allegedly to appear on the Today show. Was that NBC cutting his Mic before he said something really interesting?

9am: Time for a special inaugural breakfast:

Two slices of pumpernickel, lightly toasted

Chunky peanut butter (because salmonella be damned)

Red Raspberry jam

Combine and enjoy.

9:50: The Obamas leave church and head towards the White House and their destiny. Carl Bernstein (or, Woodward and Bernstein, the lesser) makes a convincing case that Obama is already a more pivotal figure in American politics than is John F. Kennedy. And not just at the time of his inauguration. Given everything that happened after, from Cuba to Alabama to Dallas, Bernstein argues that Obama today is more pivotal.

OK, perhaps “convincing” is too strong a word. Obama has never had to stare down a Nikita Khrushchev or a George Wallace. That will come in time, unfortunately, but hasn't happened yet. It is hard, but not impossible, to overstate Obama's impact on the culture of this nation. Did Carl Bernstein just pull it off?

9:54: The arrival! Michelle Obama brings with her a gift for Laura Bush. (Is that a tradition? It's classy, nonetheless.) Barack looks serious, as close to nervous as I have ever seen him. George cracks a joke to the future First Lady. These moments are when W is at his very best, courteous but utterly trite and meaningless conversations. Does he have any sense of the magnitude of this moment? He must. I think. Maybe.

9:58: I've been taking notes in pencil and this is the perfect moment to make the switch to pen. MSNBC, as if sensing the magnitude of my own moment, instantly cuts away to a video package and clip of U2's Beautiful Day. So fitting. We are a well oiled machine at this point.

10am: Keith Olbermann: “This day, in this city, is like a cross between Woodstock and a religious pilgrimage.” I chuckle before realizing that he is dead right and that it is the perfect comparison. Still so very glad I am on this couch and not on a pilgrimage to the portapotty.

10:08: We see Muhammad Ali taking his place on the viewing stand and I learn for the first time that he was in his late 20's when he was drafted. Is that right? It was a steady stream of 18 year old kids and then, randomly, Ali? Good for him for standing up for himself.

10:10: Magic Johnson. Still the healthiest HIV positive patient in the world. (I know, I know. We're all supposed to pretend there is nothing strange about that.)

10:14: David Axelrod stresses the importance of the hand off and lets us know that certain senior staff members will be in place in the west wing before the ceremony has even concluded. I've really come to like this guy a lot, despite the fact that Deval Patrick is all his fault.

10:22: We get a replay of the arrival from a different angle and can clearly see Laura Bush handing off Michelle Obama's gift to an aid without ever opening it. “Yes, thanks, I'll cherish this forever.”

10:28: Doris Kearns Goodwin is wicked smahht. 'nuff said.

10:36: We meet a woman who slept in a DC office building overnight just to be sure she could be on the Mall before dawn. We don't get her name because her boss might be watching and she doesn't want to get in trouble. Um, you just showed your face on TV...

10:38: Cops from all over the country, more than 2000 in total, have been brought to Washington to supplement security and provide crowd control. Now word yet on how good a day the nation's criminal element is having. Hasn't anyone seen Die Hard with a Vengeance?

10:41: Ted Kennedy appears on the platform and takes his seat under his own power. He looks very good. Not as good as Magic Johnson, but still very good.

10:43: The procession from the White House to the Capitol begins with Jill Biden and Dick Cheney's nurse. (Honestly, it has been eight years and I have no idea what the Vice President's wife name is. I wonder if she knows how long he has been in that wheelchair?)

10:45: The First Ladies. Rachel Maddow explains that their clothes are from an acclaimed Cuban-American designer whose name I am not quick enough to catch, and that they are beautiful. Seriously, even Rachel Maddow is fascinated by the fashion? WTF, Rachel? I thought you were better than that.

10:46: Joe Biden and the wheelchair take the long way down the handicap ramp. Poor Joe is being shown up by Mr. Potter. (God how I wish I was the first to make that comparison.)

10:48: George W. Bush, in the company of Barack Obama, leaves the White House for the final time as POTUS. There were many times over the course of these last eight years when it was hard to imagine this day ever coming to pass. I have a countdown clock on this very blog that I never thought would hit zero. And now it has.

10:52: Chris Matthews opines that Obama is today accepting a torch that was first passed from Franklin Roosevelt to John Kennedy, and now from Kennedy to Obama. Bill Clinton would obviously disagree.

10:58: We learn from Rachel Maddow that the Bush family plans to head from Washington to Waco, TX for a celebration with longtime supporters such as Karen Hughes and Karl Rove. I can think of no more fitting place for George Bush to retreat to on this day than back into the arms of Karl Rove. Two terms, America. You gave these people two terms.

11am: The motorcade arrives at the Capitol.

11:03: The Supreme Court files out onto the platform. It is impossible to watch this scene unfold and not be struck by what it means to live in this country. We are transferring power from one faction to another, from one leader who could not be more different from his successor, and it is all happening peacefully, orderly, and according to the Constitution. This will make my pinko-leftist-liberal friends cringe, but there really is something to the notion of “American Exceptionalism”.

11:08: We learn that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is the cabinet member chosen to watch the show from an undisclosed location. I think this makes perfect sense when you think about it. If some catastrophic event occurs that forces the absentee cabinet member to ascend to the presidency, it probably also means that we have been attacked and the shit has completely hit the fan. I want somebody who can kick a little ass to takeover in that situation—not the Commerce or Treasury Secretaries, and certainly not the head of Housing and Urban Development or Health and Human Services. It should be the guy who best knows how to make war. Always.

11:11: Mondale, Quayle, Gore…it is a murderer’s row of guys who just weren’t quite good enough to win the top job. (Yes, I know that is unfair to Dan Quayle. He really wasn’t even good enough to run for the top job.)

Then: We get our first glimpse of former President George H.W. Bush. You can see he is having trouble walking, is carrying a cane, and for the first time I can ever remember, he is looking old. He looks much worse than he did at the GOP Convention a few months back.

Jimmy Carter looks good. So does wife Rosalynn—is that her real hair color? Good for her.

11:16: We get our first glimpse of the Clintons. Surprise, surprise; neither looks particularly happy. Actually, they both look quite dejected. They walk solemnly down the stairway towards the podium, and Bill only reaches out and takes her hand when he notices the cameras. The he flashes the smile. Hillary, always a moment behind in these moments, is late to realize their situation has changed and we get a full 15 seconds of a beaming Bill and a scouring Hill.

Bush the First appears and shares a warm embrace with Bill Clinton. I’ve never quite understood the strange rapport that developed between those two, but their mutual reaction to one another did make it look like there is genuine affection there. If the elder Bush can look past all the faults of the man who defeated him in 1992 then that speaks greatly to his character. Too bad he raised a bunch of douche bag sons…

11:22: The formal announcement of the Clintons and the crowd reaction is off the charts. Now it is all smiles. They are rock stars on this day, as they are everyday, but they are only the opening act rather than the headliner. Smile, wave, and move on.

11:32: Boos for George W. Bush. That is in ridiculously poor taste. You don’t like the guy, I don’t like the guy, and it is debatable whether his own father even likes the guy, but he is the President of the United States and he deserves to be shown a little respect. Silence is a perfectly acceptable reaction. Booing is not.

11:35: The formal announcement of the minority congressional leadership brings out fewer boos, mostly because the booing element of the crowd has no idea who they are. This is the downside of inclusion.

11:38: The majority leadership appears on stage as the energy begins to build. We are getting close and you can feel the excitement. I just realized I’ve been pacing around the room for an indeterminate amount of time.

Is that time right? Are we going to make noon?

Joe Biden appears. No tears yet. Vegas has taken down the proposition bet that Joe will break down on stage today because the action against was non-existent. God I love this guy. That hair is so terrible it is truly fantastic. I’ve really come to believe Biden could have taken Bush four years ago. But if he had would be inaugurating John McCain today? Or Mitt Romney? Maybe. Would we be out of Iraq, and would their be a staggering number of now shattered American families that were still intact? Possibly.

11:42: Barack Hussein Obama strolls out onto the podium alone. His is the image of the collected leader. No display of nerves, nothing to indicate he is shaken by the oath he is about to take. Nothing rattles this guy. I wonder if he plays poker?

We are so ridiculously late right now.

11:45: Senator Diane Feinstein of California is our Master of Ceremonies. She gives a few brief remarks and takes her swing at history. Sorry, Diane, you would have to drop in a trio of well placed f-bombs for anyone to remember what you said on this day.

Feinstein wraps up and turns the microphone over to Rick Warren. I know nothing about Warren other than that he is no friend to the gays. Oh, and he did run a presidential symposium on faith that was attended by both Obama and McCain last July, and may very well have been rigged in McCain’s favor. (Something about confidential questions that weren’t quite confidential. It was over the summer, after the primaries and before the conventions, when most sane people - myself included - stopped paying close attention.)

Blah, blah, Jesus, blah, blah, America. That is more or less the gist.

11:53: Aretha Franklin performs the National Anthem. The anthem was necessary. Rick Warren was not. We are never going to make noon.

11:57: Justice John Paul Stevens is introduced to swear in the new VP. Joe Biden is all smiles, no tears. Crap, I would have totally lost that bet.

And just like that, the era of Richard Bruce Cheney comes to an end. This is almost as exciting a moment as what is still to come. Without Cheney, the story of the Bush years is completely different. Imagine the puppet strings being held by a puppeteer who wasn't the very picture of executive power run amok. It's OK. Go ahead. Imagine it.

Ahhh...

12pm: The top of the hour comes and goes while the Yo Yo Ma all-stars perform on stage. What was the point of this?

12:04: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts is out to swear Obama in. A crawl along the bottom of the screen informs me that the transition of power became official four minutes ago regardless of whether or not the oath has been taken.

Just in case you are curious, yes, I am still pacing around the room. I could justify a drink since we have crossed over to the afternoon but I do let good judgment once again get the better of me. For now.

Roberts completely botches the first stanza of the oath. Obama knew it, too. That was not smooth. So we witness another element of Bush's legacy: our Chief Justice has trouble reading the English language.

President Barack Hussein Obama, fortunately, has a masterful command of the English language, and he nails what is a fantastic speech. “These things are old. These things are true.” Beautiful. The text has already been reviewed by smarter people than myself—praised and analyzed and shredded and defended.

Watch it in its entirety here.

Read the often insane but always brilliant Pat Buchanan's take on it here.

Final thoughts still to come...

Super Bowl Thoughts

I'm rooting for Arizona but thinking Pittsburgh will probably come away with the win. Either scenario will work from my point of view. I have great affection for Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and Anquin Boldin—the heart and sole of my recently vanquished 2008 fantasy football team. All three were studs, and seeing them display that this last month has been fun to watch. They are easy to support on any given Sunday and especially so given this particular opponent.

As for the Steelers, I still don't like them. But I've always said that while I don't like the Steelers, I don't respect the Colts, and for that reason and that reason alone I could live with another Super Bowl championship for western Pennsylvania.

Why? Because while it is without doubt that the team of this decade is the New England Patriots, there are many observers who would argue that the Indianapolis Colts are a close number two. A second championship for this Steelers team would shatter that myth forever. Anything that damages the undeserved stature of Dungy and Manning cannot be all bad.

So, go Cardinals...and hooray for silver linings, too.

Here's Hoping...

Here's hoping...

...that I do manage to someday soon put into words my feelings on the Inauguration and the beginnings of this new administration. They are many, but they are also jumbled, and to un-jumble the jumbled requires a level of concentration I have, as yet, been unable to muster.

...that the Boston Celtics do not sign Stephon Marbury. Sure, we need help at point guard, but Marbury? If you are so much of a clubhouse cancer that you can malcontent your way off the Knicks then you are no one I want to see playing for my team.

...that we have seen the last of the Bush family in the White House. Would this country really elect Jeb in 2012 or 2016? Never make the mistake of overestimating the intelligence of the American voter. This year was an anomaly—it is usually the lowest, not the highest, common denominator that wins out.

...that Jason (Captain .216) Varitek has played his last game for the Boston Red Sox. Maybe there were times when the conventional wisdom was right and I was wrong about this guy, and there probably is something to the notion that he managed pitchers as well as anybody this last decade. But even if all that is true, those days have come and gone. It is time to turn the page.

...that everything I took away from Charlie Wilson's War last night was spot on, because that movie was worthy of being called “wicked awesome”. Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman were both outstanding, and even Julia Roberts failed to annoy me as she usually does. We really do always fuck up the end game, don't we?

And last but not least...

...that I am able to update this here page more frequently over the next few months than I have been over these last few.