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Running a bit late...
Michelle Obama iis wearing green leather gloves and the official announcer is stumbling over some names of eminent Republicans.
The Shrub has arrived. Negative, but restrained, crowd reaction.
Another great thing about living in the future--when it is 27 F degrees (with a 14 F degree wind chill factor--and that's -2.78/-10 C or 270.22/263 K for those searching for a warmer-sounding interpretation), the former First Ladies, all of them old enough to be grandmothers, can say "The hell with formalities, I'm dressing for the weather," and put on trousers.
Watching live from Tokyo, even though it's nearly 2 in the morning.
Wouldn't miss this for the world.
Has anybody ever explained to Rick Warren the difference between a speech and a prayer?
Did the BBC just get confused about National Anthems?
Joe Biden now has been sworn in as VP
Microphonmes across Wahington are now overloading as the band plays "Hail To The Chief" for President Barack Hussein Obama.
I'm so glad you have this thread, because I was hoping to watch the Inauguration, as I watched the election, here on Making Light.
NHK is broadcasting the inaugural address live, with a simultaneous translation.
Popped the champagne. To President Obama!
And I am now older than the President of the USA.
Remember, eight years ago when Patrick and others posted in rec.arts.sf.fandom about the first inauguration of Bush and how angry and desperate we felt, how awful that day was?
How Bush slunk into town like a thief, with thousands of protestors making sure he knew he wasn't wanted?
How different from today, with a president America can be proud of, with millions of Americans and others braving the cold to cheer him on. I thought the day would never come, but it has and it feels good.
I wonder which of the countries where it's not self-evident let that speech be broadcast uncut.
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."
Oh good.
I just walked into my favorite neighborhood coffee house and sat down with my laptop and my coffee and my breakfast burrito... and realized that they had the satellite radio tuned in to the inauguration. (This was around the time that we were hearing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" and just before the most complex version of "Simple Gifts" I'd ever heard.) Now I'm listening to the inauguration speech.
And right now, the thought that is coming most to mind is, "Did I just hear the use of *liberal* dogwhistle codewords in a President's speech?"
That aside and beside (ok but srsly!), I feel like I finally, once more, have a President who thinks *I'm* a really truly citizen. Liberal, bleeding-heart, bi-poly-Pagan-geek *me*. Wow.
(Also, I say with the multitudes, "President Barack Hussein Obama! Take that, xenophobes!")
Cracking good speechwriter, eh?
Well, as a wise man once said: This is not the end. It is not the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
I just want to say it once, slowly, enjoying every syllable:
Former. President. George. W. Bush.
Now, back to our scheduled hope and joy.
Rev, Lowery's prayer is making me weep.
Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.
Amen.
"Let all those who do justice and love mercy, say amen."
Amen.
#17, the most complex version of "Simple Gifts" I'd ever heard: Yes, I'd noticed that as well.
Madeleine Robins and me, evidently in telepathic communion!
It feels good to once again be proud of our President; that was one hell of an inaugural speech.
I must admit that the official poetry didn't move me much.
Maybe I hould stop reading William and Rudyard.
AMEN, Rev. Lowery, and I don't care if my 1:00 patient sees that I've been crying!
#30, Dave Bell -
I had trouble with the delivery of the poem - I might like it if I read it, but the delivery distracted me from really listening to it.
President Obama and FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH are about to descend the East Front of the Capitol.
At which point FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH will get into a helicopter and fly away.
Away! Away! GO AWAY!
Amen.
As far as I could tell, everyone in my office was gathered in our board room to watch the CNN feed projected. I was the only one who thought to bring a box of tissues in with me, and it's now three-quarters empty.
Hope. What a glorious feeling.
(Sorry, I'm really enjoying this part.)
Oh. Wow. Inspiring!
And I want Aretha's hat.
Nangleator: As I understand it, that would be himself....
And yes, that was one hell of a speech!
Shrub is waiting for his getaway 'copter -- video suggests he cracked a joke to Obama on the way out. The CBS voices are blathering.
Into the helicopter with you! GOODBYE!
Patrick: What do you mean sorry? I spent the last eight years waiting for comment 34!
And away goes the helicopter carrying former president George W. Bush.
What a very nice phrase that is.
I just want to say it once, slowly, enjoying every syllable:
Former. President. George. W. Bush.
Who is now flying away!
Bush chopper taking off.
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!
Checking in from Tbilisi, Georgia, btw. Switching among BBC, euronews in German, and two German networks. The euronews folks have just said, with apparent relish, "Das Ära Bush ist zu Ende." The Bush era is at an end.
WHEELS UP at 12:56:19 EST.
(Yes, we timed it exactly.)
AND THE CROWD IS SINGING THE SHA-NA-NA-NA HEY-HEY-GOODBYE SONG.
That was a dismaying 8 years, but as a Canadian, also part of a western-style democracy, I'd like to comment that I'm pleased how the management can change so peacefully and gracefully.
Amen!
He clearly repudiated torture, though he didn't use the word. But I heard it. I am so glad.
Patrick, oh my gosh, are they really??
I didn't hear that on CBS. I was just singing it to myself.
Woooooow.
I just want to say it once, slowly, enjoying every syllable:
Former. President. George. W. Bush.
Who is now flying away!
On a broomstick? With a coterie of flying monkeys?
http://change.gov/
They even update their webpage on time.
Now on CNN: He's signing his first official document -- the nomination of his cabinet officers.
Huh. Not sure whether I should be surprised to discover that the President is a lefty.
"Let all those who do justice and love mercy, say amen."
So say we all.
So mote it be.
Amen.
Behold the official blog of the Obama Administration.
I do like the way Obama escorted the Bushes off the premises. I felt very relieved when that chopper took off.
Jo, I came here first (well, when I realized I wasn't going to Cambridge this morning), and followed the links to DailyKos and thence to the CBC download. I liked the John Williams arrangement of Simple Gifts, what I heard of it. My hearing of it was complicated by the church down the street, which began ringing bells in a celebratory manner at noon. They don't usually do musical peals on weekdays, but this is a special occasion. I opened the window because the pieces seemed to go together reasonably well, and because I like the idea of hearing my neighbors cheering. I usually feel closer to Arlington residents who post comments to Making Light than with those who attend that church. Today I'm inspired to feel like Yes We Can all be one community.
The Obama White House has a blog and there are at least four posts up already.
Amen.
From our lips to the Deity's ears.
Roberts fluffed the reading of the oath! Man, he's never gonna live that down. (I hope.)
How good it felt to hear our President invoke the founders and quote George Washington for why we must never compromise our ideals in time of danger. I wonder if Bush even understands how much of a slap in his face he was given there.
From a chapter about the revolution of 1848 in a history book I've read:
On February the 24th Louis Phillipe stood at his desk, [...] and signed his abdication. Then the last King of France, who already hadn't really been one anymore, fled. Twelve Royal carriages were provided to take him and his family away, but they could not get through. On the Place de la Concorde, amidst a jeering crowd that might take savage actions any moment, he entered a small rental carriage; he, the Queen, and the Crown Prince's widow. The door was closed from the outside; he thanked. "Nothing to thank", the polite man on the outside responded, "I've been waiting for this moment for seventeen years!"
"Let all those who do justice and love mercy, say amen."
Amen.
So Say We All!
There was a shoutout to the nonbelievers! Yessss!
Raphael, #61: Fabulous quote.
My heart is full. It's been a long, ugly eight years. I'm glad I had a fresh box of tissues at my desk.
and...
Ding dong, the Bush is Gone. (wishing for a flotilla of flying monkeys to see him off but that is too much to wish for. Protesters are enough.)
Bush is gone! WooHOO!
(Patrick, you're not the only one enjoying that part. A bunch of my coworkers were still in the board, making sure he left, and letting out all the remarks they were too polite to say during the ceremony.)
@Madelaine #63:
He also mentioned the value of real science, which was cool.
Jonathan Schwarz provides Today's Joke:
"Now that he's confined to a wheelchair, Cheney's transformation into a Supervillain is finally complete."
@59 Yes, though I hope that people understand that Roberts was the one who fluffed, not President Obama.
He needs a fluffy white cat to stroke. But he can't have mine.
Madeleine @63: yes, I appreciated that. "...and non-believers." It's not the first time he's acknowledged us, but I really appreciate his doing it in the inaugural address.
Janet @ 70: I like the way Obama smiled and nodded at Roberts, indicating he should re-do it.
Amen!
I listened to it with half an ear, as it's been streaming on various computers in our library. I'll watch properly tonight when I'm not distracted.
And someone had the brilliant idea to bring in Black & White cookies to celebrate.
Antony, I laughed until I cried.
Madeleine and Janet, yes!
Here's something from that blog that just about dropped my jaw:
Participation -- President Obama started his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw firsthand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the internet will play an important role in that. One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.
(emphasis mine)
Is this the first time, anywhere, that passed-but-not-signed legislature will be available to the general public in such a publicly-accessible location? (Thomas doesn't count; you need a degree in library science to use it :) )
Sauron (Bush Jr) may be gone, but Frodo and Friends (Obama) must now address the mess that was left behind; just because the villain has been defeated does not mean the world will immediately revert back into goodness and light.
Hard work awaits our protagonist, and he said as much in his inaugural speech.
I wonder how clear it is to the general public that the mistake was Roberts, not Obama. (I didn't know until I pointed out to a friend that Obama screwed up, a friend who then corrected me.)
We don't have TV, and the cable Internet's squirrely today, so I gave up and went to the grocery. But ... reading the PRESIDENT'S BLOG (!), I ran into this:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim...
And damn if I didn't start crying.
On the oath flubbing:
At first I thought that Obama was so nervous that he forgot his lines and wanted a prompt*, but when Roberts repeated himself in a different way, I assumed that Obama knew the correct oath and Roberts had messed up. And then Obama still didn't say it the way Roberts had, and so I wasn't sure if the mistake didn't ultimately catch them both.
*Which is a position I respect, actually. It happens, and I'd rather see him wait for a prompt than bumble through.
David Manheim @78, I'm afraid that depends entirely on what part of the general public you mean by that. Apparently, some wingers are already all over it.
ABC (the American one) caught the flub and noted that it was Roberts's error, not Obama's.
Okay, okay, Pepsi. Yes, I have noticed that your new logo strongly resembles the Obama "O." Cute.
I haven't had the feeling of so much change since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Jon @ 76: Technically, all proposed legislation is publicly available, through the Federal Register. Practically, it's not easy to get to, and hardly anyone bothers unless it's a hot topic. Putting things on the web captures the rest of the population, which has its advantages and its disadvantages. I hope that they publish easy-to-understand versions of the proposed legislation, and not the highly technical legalese that is shown in the FedReg.
Roberts was off tempo from the beginning. From the transcript:
ROBERTS: I, Barack Hussein Obama...
OBAMA: I, Barack...
ROBERTS: ... do solemnly swear...
Sigh.
"Is this the first time, anywhere, that passed-but-not-signed legislature will be available to the general public in such a publicly-accessible location?"
In general all UK legislation is published at all parliamentary stages & its all been online for years now. I'd sort of assumed all US legislation was as well, presumably the federal side of things is on the website of Congress. Is it not there?
Of course over here (and in Canada, Australia etc) Her Maj has no real discretion as to whether she or her representatives on earth actually sign and seal the stuff.
In our system refusal to assent to a Bill would be a one-shot weapon - I imagine that if it ever happens again (hasn't for two centuries, though apparently Victoria threatened to once or twice - the rules will be changed. Or heads would roll.
I work for a company that makes video servers. In my cubical have an HDTV with a closed-circuit cable hookup and a literal pile of set top boxes.
Of COURSE I would try to watch it on live TV.
When I got in I frantically hooked up a box and then started flipping around our limited selection of channels for a channel covering the inaugural. My co-worker found one, I another; both had annoying "zippers" on the bottom. We settled on one which showed viewers' text messages. Those w/o TVs came and watched.
Patrick, 20: the five prettiest words in the English language...
Patrick, 46: Really?? Please let there be YouTube footage!
Raphael, 81: No doubt some wingnuts have their excuse to not acknowledge Obama's legitimacy, not that they needed another one. Let 'em stew.
John L @77:
"Meanwhile the labour of repair went on apace, and Sam was kept very busy. Hobbits can work like bees when the mood and the need comes on them. Now there were thousands of willing hands of all ages from the small but nimble ones of the hobbit lads and lasses to the well-worn and horny ones of the gaffers and gammers. Before Yule not a brick was left standing of the new Shirriff-houses or of anything that had been built by 'Sharkey's Men'; but the bricks were used to repair many an old hole, to make it snugger and drier."
AND THE CROWD IS SINGING THE SHA-NA-NA-NA HEY-HEY-GOODBYE SONG.
I think the public did that just after the election too.
To quote the old Camiroi proverb, "There'll be many a dry eye here when you're gone."
The first band scheduled to march is from Punahou, Barack's high school. Those kids were practicing marching at Hawai'i's only ice rink, trying to acclimatize to the cold.
I'll bet it doesn't compare.
So, I figure that the oath flub (regardless of whose fault it was) will persuade the wingnuts to declare that Obama isn't really President.
CNN is showing the official presentation of the Wonderful Christal Bowls, with a short description of the company that made them. Hmm, nearly monarchic pomp combined with product placement- sounds almost Pterryan to me.
I did take a good looong look at Bush flying away, never to be President again. It was great.
And now for the parade!
Ken @ #88
Yes, it's available, as Ginger (@86) points out through the Federal Register - I believe this is synonymous with Thomas, which is the lookup tool that I know of to browse legislature.
If I'm correct (and I may well not be), then the text that's put there is a) hard to find unless you know the bill number, but bills get different numbering in the different houses of congress), and b) written (as Ginger alludes to) in strictest legalese, for maximum impenetrability. So it's hard to find and hard to parse, and unless you -really- care you're never going to bother.
Putting the finished product, reconciled between the Houses, on the Web for all to see (and comment on) before signing will allow the American public to express their opinion of the laws that will govern us before the one representative elected to represent the entire populace signs it into law.
Presumably, if 98% of respondents hate a proposed law, President Obama (yay!) will at least pay even closer attention to the bill before signing it; if a sensible idea to improve it comes along that he agrees with, presumably he'd go back to Congress with that idea to improve the bill before signing.
Presumably. Which does NOT equal anything beneficial to anyone, but it's a better chance than we've had as far as I can remember...
Oh- they just reported that Ted Kennedy collapsed.
Senator Edward Kennedy has evidently been carried out of the lunch in Statuary Hall on a stretcher.
Yeah. I put on the itunes playlist I made during the election campaign. And its got various versions of "A change is gonna come" on it (Sam Cooke's really is the best). And its also got Curtis Mayfield doing "People get ready" on it. And when I was listening to that my eyes watered. Thinking of generations of African Americans now dead who would hardly have dared imagine this.
Of course my own political tradition - the loony left of the British Labour Party - fully accepts soppy sentiment over elections won. Especially with beer added. We have to get our celebration in quickly because we also fully expect promises betrayed and hope unfulfilled. Its not that we're cynical, its that we have long memories.
(& FWIW, if I can believe Wikipedia, the last Bill that was vetoed in the UK was the Scottish Militia Bill, 1708 - there are perhaps some advantages to not having a President)
Sen. Kennedy apparently collapsed at the luncheon.
CNN had a cute feature - they put the feed window next to a window of the Facebook statuses of everyone on your friends list. So people updated their Facebook statuses and commented on them, as a group liveblog.
Evidently both Senator Byrd and Senator Kennedy were taken out of the luncheon. Byrd's troubles sound minor--they're reporting "trouble eating"--but what we're hearing about Kennedy is "convulsions."
Earl Cooley, I saw one guy say "He can't even get the oath right, what else is he going to screw up?" Argh.
I'm concerned about Sen. Kennedy. No more word that I've seen on his condition.
Kennedy was reportedly conscious and talking to people by the time they put him in the ambulance.
CBS commented that Byrd was very close to Kennedy, and is also 90+ years old -- I suspect his problem may have been a reaction to Kennedy's. W.r.t. Kennedy, they mentioned something about brain cancer, but I didn't catch the tense.
ABC just quoted Sen.Kerry as saying he thinks Sen. Kennedy is "fine." Apparently he held him down during a seizure.
Reports that Kennedy is confirmed to have had a seizure but had recovered consciousness before being loaded onto the ambulance. For someone with brain surgery/cancer, this is a not-entirely-unexpected complication.
Byrd is not confirmed, although they reported he'd left the luncheon.
Jon @ 97: Thomas is the Library of Congress search engine for all legislative information. It's named for Thomas Jefferson, and was one of my sources of information about the voting records of certain Senators during the recent campaigns. It's a good place to look.
The House and the Senate number bills separately, so knowing one will not give you the other; THOMAS allows searching by bill number, committee reports, and other valuable bits of information.
It doesn't translate bills from the legalese, though. If you need to review a legislative document, bring a bunch of highlighters, a bottle of ibuprofen, and a thermos of tea. You'll need it all before you finish decoding the document.
Byrd's office says he is fine and has not been hospitalized.
Kennedy is in the hospital; the hospital confirms he is conscious and communicating.
Ginger @108, good to know.
@109, my impression is that it's kind of difficult to tell quickly without much fuss from Thomas which bills are short before becoming laws. Perhaps the new White House page might come in handy there?
(Less important, why does that one ceremonial unit have red 18C uniforms? Shouldn't they be blue?)
Sen. Dodd quoted Sen. Kennedy as "bellowing" that he didn't want to be taken away from the scene of the action.
Raphael @ 111: The ceremonial unit in red uniforms is the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, and they wear the same uniforms that were issued in colonial times.
From the website of the 3rd US Infantry Regiment:
"The musicians of this unit recall the days of the American Revolution as they parade in uniforms patterned after those worn by the musicians of Gen. George Washington's Continental Army. Military musicians of the period wore the reverse colors of the regiments to which they were assigned. The uniforms worn by the members of the Corps are dated circa 1781, and consist of black tricorn hats, white wigs, waistcoats, colonial coveralls, and red regimental coats. "
As for bills, I think the calendar in THOMAS might give some indication to which ones are short. I don't know, I've never tried to find that information.
And there we have Obama doing what Bush couldn't do eight years ago, walk into the White House.
I don't know whether it makes me a good spec fic fangirl geek or a very bad person that, when I saw CNN reporting on the collapse of Sen.s Kennedy and Byrd, I thought to myself, "See, this how zombie movies start." Best wishes for their recoveries and care, and forgive me my perverse Muse...
Ooh, Barack and Michelle have gotten out of the "tank with windows" and are waving at the crowd. Look at those smiles!
DC friend of mine says that he walked the block with FBI on one side and DoJ on the other. Probably easier to secure. (Security is my first thought every time I see him outside walking. I wonder if I'll ever get over that. I tend to be hypervigilant for myself; I know it's magical thinking to be hypervigilant when I see Obama on TV, but I can't help it.)
CBS News blames the cold for his short walking route.
A report from the Washington Hospital Center says that Senator Kennedy is awake, alert, and undergoing assessment.
Senator Bryd road along with him to the hospital because he is a close friend, not because he was ill.
The President and the First Lady exited the limo/tank and walked a block or so along Pennsylvania Avenue before getting back in. Now Biden is out walking.
Wonderful day.
Speaking of cold, I've been wodering about the tech behind Michelle O's dress. Is it electrically heated? Are the metallic threads shreds of space blanket? She manages not to look cold.
It was Roberts' flub, not Obama's -- although I do think it threw Obama off a bit too. And isn't that bit about "defend the Constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic" supposed to be in there too, or is that just for the military? Because it wasn't.
OTOH, any duly-appointed Federal official can take that oath. If Obama's smart, he'll have Biden do it, and do it right, as soon as they get to the Oval Office, just to make sure that all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed.
Reverend Joseph Lowery: ""We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right"
I love this guy! 87 years old. Hot damn.
Lee (119): That bit was in Biden's oath, but not Obama's. I wondered about that, too; I had been expecting the oaths to be identical (except for the office), but there were other differences as well.
Here's the current front page of Huffpost. So pretty. SO PRETTY!!!!
Mary Dell, he was quoting himself, as it turns out. It sounded like either James Brown or Paul Simon to me, but I was wrong.
Lee, Mary Aileen, the oaths are different; the President's is I 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. Nothing abou "against all enemies"
Mary Dell @ 120
As the Rev finished that line, the video I was watching cut to Obama, who was grinning. Damn, I like having a president with a real sense of humor!
Linkmeister @#123: I figured it was his own thing - it's a riff on the song "Black, Brown & White" (I think that's the name). "If you're white, you're all right, and if you're brown, stick around, but if you're black, oh, brother, get back, get back, get back."
Mary Dell @ 126: That's the name I've heard too, and the song was written by Big Bill Broonzy.
I've been sitting here watching the parade on C-SPAN the whole time. I think it's helping me process the fact that he's actually president. I keep looking up and yup, it's still him waving at everyone. I haven't woken up yet. I think maybe I'm not dreaming.
Awww, Michelle Obama is dancing to the marching band playing Signed, Sealed, Delivered.
I'm a religious person, and I love the respectful way Obama acknowledges nonbelievers in so many of his speeches. I want an inclusive society, with a secular government strong enough to resist religious attempts to take it over.
During the campaign, Obama's opponents made a lot of fuss about his father's connections to Islam...but it surprised me that so little attention was paid to his mother being non-religious. Sure, she had been baptized Christian as a child, but by the time she was raising Barack, she was a freethinker teaching *about* many religions but belief in any. That's increasingly common, but there are a lot of people in the mainstream of common culture who still find it shocking. (There is an uncomfortable gap where everybody acknowledges that lapsed religious people often end up with little or no faith, but that's different from recognizing that respectable people can set out to be atheists on purpose. See also, those people who are more shocked by polyamory than adultery.)
It doesn't matter how many Making Light readers live in the mainstream of common culture. Probably a minority, in this dimension. The current statistics across the country as a whole don't even matter that much (for this end). Like the idea that Americans living in cities near the coasts are somehow wildly atypical, the cultural mainstream is not always aligned with objective reality.
One odd artifact which presents due to the fact that the Inauguration is on so many (adjacent) TV channels at once is that the stations use different delay amounts, so that you can get a ripple effect when quickly channel flipping. I guess I'm just easily amused. heh.
In one of the lecture rooms, right by the lunchroom, they're showing CNN on the screen, and I swung by just now... Obama still smiling and waving to the parade...
He started at 9 my time and will probably still be going at 5. He's going to be putting in a basically 8-hour work day being feted, and then probably another 6 hours at parties tonight. And did he sleep well last night? Are there people getting him snacks to tide him over? Seriously, a lot of effort. I bet he's a extrovert who gets energy from this sort of thing, but damn! I guess I'm impressed how cheerful he looks. This is great.
When Punahou's marching band went by the entire Obama family flashed the shaka sign, which cemented his popularity out here, if more cement was needed.
When the astronauts saluted and paraded with the flag as though freshly on the surface of the moon, OMG the smiles again on the First Couple! So big and happy and wide! I teared up again.
Wasn't Rev. Lowry's playful use of those black, yellow, red and white phrases part of something commonly used during the Civil Rights era -- which he certainly, um, recalls.
Love, C.
Actually, I think something like the "white, brown, black" triplet is a lot older than the Civil Rights era--the only place I can find it at the moment is in the lyrics of the "Big Bill" Broonzy song, but I have this vague memory of reading it somewhere as at least an early 1900s-1920s bit of doggerel . . . in the context of "advice" to each other among young African American women about selecting a lover. Something like, "If he's light, he's alright," etc. But I haven't been able to find any source to back up the memory.
Doesn't matter, of course. Rev. Lowry's use of the phrase was still inspired.
Linkmeister, #32: Interesting! I have trouble making that sign with either hand, although the Vulcan Salute is no problem for me. Guess I'd better not come to Hawai'i, then...
Lee @ #136, we don't require it of our visitors! And hotel room rates are dropping like stones, so now would be a great time to come visit; it's 75-80 degrees outside (OK, it's been in the 60s at night, but for mainlanders that's no big deal, right?).
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with the Hawai'i Visitors and Conventions Bureau.
Linkmeister, #137: hotel room rates are dropping like stones
Unfortunately, so is our income -- which has never been more than enough to keep us comfortable in the first place. I'd love to visit; highs near 80 and lows in the 60s are my idea of perfect early- or late-summer weather! But not this year, I'm afraid.
Nicole @17: I feel like I finally, once more, have a President who thinks *I'm* a really truly citizen.
This. Yes. Of all the reactions I've read today, this is the one that's resonated most with me.
(Also, Nicole - if I'm recalling your musical tastes correctly, you might particularly appreciate my own inaugural-moment experience today.)
Lee #136:
Or to Austin on UT occasions? It looks exactly like "hook'em-horns" except with the thumb raised instead of the index finger.
Nah, "hook 'em horns" is the old Italian "mano cornuto," aka "giving someone the devil's horns." Which I've always thought was hysterically funny, but anyway, it's easy to make, especially in moments of strong emotion . . .
It's tomorrow and Barack Obama is still President! And Bush and Cheney are still gone! GONE!
WOOHOO!
Time to cue the Conga line:
Pre-si-dent-O-ba-MA!
Pre-si-dent-O-ba-MA!
Joann, #140: No, that's much easier, because the thumb holds the two middle fingers in place. It's getting all three fingers to curl down and stay down that's the problem with the shaka, and I can feel the pull on the tendons in my hand when I try.
Patrick @46: Is there video of that up yet?
Jacque @ 145, I heard over at ginmar's place that the "Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" audio was on MSNBC.
Oddly enough, the only place I've found it online so far is at NewsBusters, where they are so self-righteously outraged about the "bad behavior" that it is funny. The link is here -- tiny little postage stamp of a video but you can make it full-screen. (Ignore the written commentary on the site. Or laugh at it, as you choose.)
Dan - very much appreciated! Following the lyrical segue from that song to "Closer to the Heart" is also incredibly apt: the idea that change begins with those in power, but that everyone at every level has a role to play in making it happen.
Hahaha, I just had a look at the Drudge Report's front page, and it's a picture of the aftermath of the inaugural celebrations: litter, grey skies, a minuscule phallic monument in the background, abandoned wheelchair-bound person, subtitled: NOW WHAT?
Beat that, The Onion!
Oddly enough, half the inauguration related clips on youtube seem to be recordings made when someone filmed a tv screen with a camera at the moment.
Nicole, I had the same thought. "You can be the captain and I will draw the chart" isn't far from what I'm almost allowing myself to hope for these next few years.
(It's really a shame that Rush gets tarred so badly for their flirtation with Objectivism, considering their philosophy doesn't often read as terribly Randian at all.)
More about Oathgate: Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the oath to Obama on Wednesday night at the White House, to correct the oath flub. However, the wingnuts will still go off the deep end over it, because it wasn't done with a Bible. Whee!
Raphael, #149, most of the people down there were too far away to actually see or hear anything, so there were Jumbotrons on the Mall. I'm not surprised people videotaped those.
Dan: I think "flirtation" is the right word. They outgrew at least the hardline version of it pretty quickly. Although I did get into an argument around the time Counterparts came out as to whether "Cut To The Chase" proved Peart was still purely an objectivist!libertarian (I said not, he said yes).
Btw, are you familiar with their latest outing, Snakes & Arrows?
Earl: I just got home and turned on the TV, and CNN was all "Breaking News" about that. They're wittering about why the White House didn't bring in TV cameras and wondering whether this calls into question the new Administration's commitment to transparency. Whee indeed.
Dave Bell @ 85:
I haven't seen so much change since the last time we cleaned out my wife's purse!
Ba-room-ching! I'll be here all week...
But seriously folks, Roberts, the CJ of the Supreme Court, flubbing a straight quote from the Constitution? Personal nervousness, or a last-ditch Republican dig to screw up the beginning of Obama's presidency? (Tin hats optional in discussing this one)
Jon @ 154, others: Stephen Pinker of the New York Times opined today that the flub was related to Justice Roberts' tendency to be overly correct in his grammar. He thinks Roberts wanted to avoid the split infinitive, which we all know and love.
Ginger@155: "What split infinitive?" I nearly asked, but since GIMF, I found that Pinker is fingering
...the prohibition against “split verbs,” in which an adverb comes between an infinitive marker like “to,” or an auxiliary like “will,” and the main verb of the sentence.Okay, so it's an auxiliary split from its verb.
Yesterday, a psychologist advanced the opinion that it comes from an attack of nerves coupled with the overwhelming nerve of not bringing a notecard, just in case.
"Are you ready, Senator?" indeed. Barack had been president for several minutes already, oath or no oath. The next time Stevens administers the oath, I hope someone has the guts to ask, "Are you ready, Chief Justice?"
Earl Cooley III @ 151... Sure didn't take them long to make something up to deem Obama's Presidency illegitimate. I think that beats how fast they did that with Bill Clinton.
My niece went downtown Tuesday and got to see the Obamas walk on Pennsylvania Avenue. Woot!
And today he's closing the secret prisons and banning torture. Also closing Guantanamo within a year and setting up a task force to review extraordinary rendition.
And naming Holbrooke and Mitchell as special envoys to Afghanistan/Pakistan and the Middle East, respectively.
Mitchell must be a glutton for this sort of punishment. Holbrooke likes the work, but he likes the spotlight too.
The adults are reappearing after 8 years in the wilderness.
Someone named 'Westside Buppie' posted this in comments for This Washington Monthly Post:
'From a friend at MIT describing the scene in a lecture hall where they broadcast the inauguration ceremony:
"It was crowded to the rafters. Stairs, steps, upper passageways, crammed with people. doubled on several seats. I snuck in the back way, and stood on tip toe. [When] Sen Feinstein or CJ Roberts said, 'will all please stand.' The entire auditorium in [the hall] stood. They listened to the oath and then roared. You could feel the whole building. Dozens of people were crying....And --- would you believe the entire [lecture hall] sang the national anthem as if it was worth singing. I am turning 70+ and have not seen anything like this for a long time ....... not since WWII ...."'
tefan Jones @ 161... We sure hate America, don't we?
Marilee @152, I didn't mean Jumbotrons (who named them that?); I meant stuff like this, the longest uncut clip of Bush's departure I could find so far, which was apparently made when someone pointed a camera at a tv screen at home (you can see the "live" sign and station logo moving around).
Linkmeister @160,
Holbrooke likes the work, but he likes the spotlight too.
The adults are reappearing after 8 years in the wilderness.
What I worry about with Holbrooke is that his main achievements were apparently at a time when the USA were the mostly unchallenged one superpower on Earth, and I don't know wether he'll really realize that he has to work under a different set of circumstances now, and how well he can adapt. That's my main worry with Clinton, too.
Raphael @ #163, that's true, although when he got Dayton done it was with Milosevic, who seemed to think Serbia was just as big a superpower as the US was at the time.
HRC is, I think, a pragmatist.
Nicole @153: I have a, ahem, buccaneered copy of S&A around here somewhere and have not yet given it a thorough listening, though I hear good things. I was never quite able to warm to most of their '80s and '90s work; my love and passion for Rush runs right up to and includes "Distant Early Warning" on Grace Under Pressure and drops off to nodding admiration thereafter. I'm afraid I was imprinted strongly enough as a child on Hemispheres that they don't quite sound right to me unless you can't tell Geddy from Ann Wilson without liner notes.
And the real answer to your debate is that Peart is a good enough chaos magician to be whatever he needs to for the working he's currently doing. (The related geek-wankery essay question, of course, is "If Neil Peart and Danny Carey threw lightning bolts at each other, who would win?", but now I've wandered far afield of the thread even for ML.)
Nicole, #153, I saw a few seconds of the second oath on my local NBC station. Maybe CNN just wasn't asked in.
Hmmm, they also say the quartet was instru-synching because of the cold.
Raphael, #163, that's PBS they recorded. It is a bit odd to aim a videocamera at that!
Jo Walton @159 Yes!!!! Let the sunshine in...
Marilee, #166: I watched the video at that link, and I think what you saw was a few seconds of an official White House still photo. I'm not a bit surprised that they don't let videocams and big news-photographer cameras in there -- you could hide all kinds of nasty stuff in something that size, and security checks would be a circus.
They are, however, letting private citizens in again, and even letting them bring little pocket digicams. A friend of mine who works for a Federal agency was invited to a small White House reception Wednesday evening. She got to shake hands with the First Lady and had her picture taken in front of the door to the Oval Office -- the shot is at an odd angle, because she's short and the person taking the picture had to almost lie flat on the floor to get both her and the seal into the field of view! Yet another refreshing change from the new administration.
Raphael, #163 -
I heard one co-worker advising another that setting a video camera up pointing at the tv screen was a feasible way to record the day.
I guess if you don't have a DVR, and don't have VCR-to-computer capabilities, recording the screen with your digital video camera is the next logical leap. For a non-tech-savvy person, it is definitely the quickest and easiest way to get video from the television to the computer. (We have a DVR, and although my husband can do it, I haven't the foggiest idea how one goes about getting video from the machine to my computer, and I'm more tech savvy than most.)
I am a bit surprised that it is showing up on youtube in such quantity, but maybe the ease of doing it meant that video-camera versions were online by 2pm on Tuesday, while directly-recorded versions needed more hands-on tinkering to get them ready. Direct recordings might also be made by people who are more likely to spend time editing and cleaning up the files, so they'd be slower to appear, or the owners are more likely to be afraid of prosecution for infringement, and so not upload them at all.
Oh. I just thought of something. Were video cameras allowed in the crowd? It might be possible to collect footage from amateur videos and make a completely crowd-sourced version of the day. A video of a public event that inarguably belonged to the people, not to ABC or CNN or Fox. That would be amazingly awesome if it could be done well.
I'm not sure where else to post this. I remember, weeks and weeks ago, people saying that they wanted Obama's first act as president to be closing Guantanamo.
It looks like this was indeed pretty darned close to his first act.
RM @169 “Were video cameras allowed in the crowd? It might be possible to collect footage from amateur videos and make a completely crowd-sourced version of the day. A video of a public event that inarguably belonged to the people, not to ABC or CNN or Fox. That would be amazingly awesome if it could be done well.”
Yup. That's what I'd love to see. I heard bags weren't allowed, but small hand cameras might've been.
I wish Molly Ivins were around to see what's happening to her America.
It's not quite over: remember, for example, that Obama specifically supported FISA legislation that included telecom immunity from warrantless wiretapping prosecution. As far as I know, he hasn't taken steps to correct that error in judgment yet.
Isn't there something Bush-y on the books which currently "protects" U.S. military personnel from being charged in an international court with having committed war crimes?
Joel @174, Yes, but "universal jurisdiction" prosecutions, although rare, trump that.
Earl Cooley III @ 173... Still, what he has done so far rather puts the lie to the assertion that Democrats are just the same as Republicans.
I want all the Bush signing statements invalidated by Executive Order. It's something the President, and only the President, can do. He can start small, with the one attached to the ban on torture, and work his way out from there.
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