I’ve never attended a presidential inauguration before. And for my first one, I had a pretty darn good seat.

Members of the House and the Senate all sit up in an amphitheater-like setting behind the President. Also in that vicinity are a number of governors (Arnold was there), cabinet members, and other dignitaries from government such as Ben Bernanke and Colin Powell; both of whom were seated not too far in front of me. It was all government people up there. The celebrities; and there were dozens and dozens of them, were all sitting in seats in front of the stage.

It was really, really cold. I am a 4th generation Californian who doesn’t ski. Needless to say I don’t do cold well. It never got above 32 degrees Fahrenheit all day and there was quite a breeze on top of that. I’ve never worn so many clothes in my life, and it still wasn’t enough! There are many reasons I live in ‘The OC’ and don’t intend to leave, it’s days like today when I remember one of those reasons.

The crowd was amazing. From where I sat I could see all the way to the Lincoln Memorial and the mass of humanity that filled every inch of available space. Here is a picture I took with my iPhone from my seat.

This picture was taken during the President’s address.

I thought Pastor Rick Warren’s invocation was very good, if a bit long. I appreciated the Lord’s Prayer at the end. After the invocation, I saw Obama turn around and mouth something to Pastor Rick which appeared to be thank you and good job. I thought the instrumental piece arranged by John Williams and performed in part by Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma was exceptional. President Obama’s speech was very good, it was my first time hearing him in person, and he is truly a great orator. I agree with much of what he said in his speech, and was particularly comforted by what I thought were pretty strong words about confronting those around the world who would destroy our country, our people, and our way of life. He clearly let them know that they should not expect weakness from him in defending this country any more than they saw weakness from President Bush 43.

Which brings me to the low point of the day. When President Bush (at that point still President) was introduced, there was a large round of boos from the crowd. I can assure you that I didn’t like the Carter presidency any less than those people didn’t like the Bush presidency. Jimmy Carter is a fine man, but in my mind he ranks with Lyndon Johnson as the two worst Presidents of the 20th Century. But I did not boo Carter, nor would I out of respect for the office, and the fact that I think every man who has occupied that office has done the best they could. That was a classless act from a substantial portion of the crowd. I would imagine that President Obama would agree with that. May those people learn from this President that dignity and respectfulness are virtues too.

The benediction by Rev. Joseph Lowery also ended rather poorly. He prayed that "black will not be asked to get in back," that “brown can stick around,” that "yellow will be mellow," that "the red man can get ahead man," and that "white will embrace what is right." Being color blind means not calling everyone by their color. I frankly was offended by Reverend Lowery’s remarks and it’s implication that none of those things are happening now and that we still must categorize everyone by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character.

Given all of that, it was a great day. As I sat there looking across the expanse of the National Mall I thought about the greatness of this country. I thought about all we have, all we have done, and all we have still to do. At one point I looked up to glance at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac, where those to whom we owe all of our freedoms rest. I thought about President Bush, all he did, and what a fine, genuine man I believe he is. I thought about President Obama, and how I hope he can realize even a portion of the expectations we have for him. And I thought about how lucky I am to have been born into all of this. I thanked God for all of it.

But now the speeches end and the work begins. And it is always easier to talk than to do. You will hear from me again later this week about TARPs and stimulus and such.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.