On November 5, voters went to the polls. A majority of those who voted decided to make Barack Obama the next president of the United States. My feelings on Obama’s election do not matter for the purpose of this essay…the fact of the matter is, he won the election. However, it seemed as if the inauguration celebrations started on the 6th.
The formal inauguration consists of these words…
I, (name stated), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God.
That’s it ! 30-45 seconds ! No “limited edition” coin collections. No books and magazines directly marketed for the president-elect. No stupid-looking signs that say “The Office of the President-Elect” (which, by the way, there IS no “office” of the president-elect, it’s just a snazzy title until the president-elect is sworn in). Oh yeah…and EVERY inauguration is historic. Every president we elect will have his part in the history books – even William Henry Harrison, who served 32 days before his death.
I don’t ever recall an inaugural weekend with all these people getting together and having a big musical event on the steps of Lincoln’s Monument. And what’s with the plexiglass ?
When President George W. Bush was sworn in to office, that was it. The poor guy hadn’t even been sworn in, and he was being blamed for the recession he was about to inherit. There were no celebrations (the inaugural balls, of course, happened, but there was little fanfare). In fact, the outgoing president was anything but gracious to the Bushes during the Clinton-Bush transition (Clinton’s staff went as far as to remove the ‘W’ keys off all the White House keyboards). From what I have heard from both sides of the aisle, the Bushes have been nothing but gracious to the Obamas. Is that grace being returned ? No. I’ve been hearing reports of cockiness from the Obamas. I hope that is really not the case, but this is what I’m hearing.
So the inauguration is tomorrow, and we can go on with our lives. Then we see how long the honeymoon lasts. For this writer, it ended about a week before Christmas.
