Post Obamanation Inauguration Blog Post

It's been more than a week now since I got back from my fantastic trip to DC for the inauguration of our 44th president. That it has taken me this long to write about it is not at all a reflection of the experience--I had an amazing time--but more a function of actually being super busy at work this week and lazy at home. I also want to post some pictures with this, but they'll have to wait.

Celebrating Barack Obama's election on the National Mall with just under 2 million other Americans was truly spectacular. So many moments made the experience unforgettable and the occasion we were celebrating is so momentous that I still don't think it has really sunk in for me. Barack Obama is the president of the United States. I just have to keep reminding myself.

Some highlights:

Waking up in Takoma Park with a bunch of friends at 3:45am, eating "breakfast" and piling on layers upon layers of clothes, grabbing blankets and our premade snacks and walking to the metro. We got on the train with the other early birds and headed into the city. The metro wasn't as crowded as I had expected and most people looked pretty tired (with the exception of the girl who got on the train yelling "Happy Obama Day!").

We walked to the Mall from the L'Enfant station (a good decision). There were tons of people at the station all walking to the mall. When we got to the mall it was already packed from the Capitol to 6th street. We found a spot close to a jumbotron and set up our blankets. The mood was excited, the air was electric, it was freezing and it was 5am.

A few hours later, the sky started to light up. Bodies that had previously been bundled up under blankets hiding from the cold began to stir. American flags were being passed around, the porta-potty traffic had begun and pictures actually started to turn out well. My toes at this point were moving between frozen and numb.

At some point the jumbotrons started playing the concert from Sunday. Flags were waving in time with the music, everyone sang along to "Lean on Me," and there was dancing and singing to "Shout"--it was fantastic.

Pretty much everyone I encountered the whole day was in a great mood. Everyone was cold but everyone was just so excited to be taking part in such a great celebration that no one minded. There were no incidents that I'm aware of and there were zero arrests the whole day. DC was just full of people rejoicing.

Following the replay of the concert, some time around when my feet started being painfully cold, congressmen, senators, dignitaries and ex-presidents (Bill looked amazing as usual) started arriving at the Capitol. My favorite part of this was seeing Dick Cheney being wheeled in his wheel chair (apparently he hurt his back moving boxes). It was just such a perfect image of a man fallen from the power he stole and abused.

Obama's arrival. The crowd goes wild. So many flags, so much cheering, hugs, smiles and tears. A woman in front of us had brought her two little kids. They were both freezing and bundled up. They were young enough that they may not remember this moment, but their mom made sure they were there. I'm glad I was.

Aretha Franklin sings in an amazing hat, Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman play, Justice Roberts messes up the oath, Obama laughs it off and delivers an inspired and inspiring speech. I'll end with some of my favorite quotes.

"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. ...

"Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply. ...

"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.... Our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead...our power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint. "

A new era has begun. I'm expecting positive change. So far things have been going well--from repealing the Global Gag Rule to appearing on Al Arabiya to signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to describing an eight-day visit to the Middle East as a mission of listening "because all too often the United States starts by dictating"--Obama is changing the world. Today, I'm happy to be an American and I'm hopeful for our future.