Today is both Presidential Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King Day—and we arranged to have a black president for the occasion. Somebody planned this very well! Always look ahead! If Inauguration Day fell on St. Patrick’s Day, would we have to have an Irish president? Barack Obama would qualify for that one too.
At the inauguration four years ago, we were in the middle of an economic collapse. Heck, last time things were so bad that George Bush should have just symbolically handed Obama a plastic bag full of his dog Barney’s poop. There’s isn’t quite the excitement this time. Obama has a tough act to follow. At least he has the satisfaction of knowing that tough act to follow is him. I hope Barack Obama appreciates the groundbreaking and pioneering that Barack Obama did to make this moment possible for him.
Obama took the oath with his hand on not one, but two Bibles. Is that for extra emphasis, as in “I swear on a stack of Bibles”? One Bible was owned by Abraham Lincoln, and one was owned by Martin Luther King. Of course, Bill O’Reilly will say that’s because Obama doesn’t have a Bible of his own.
In his speech, Obama mentioned gay rights, voter suppression, climate change, and gun control! He didn’t just rely on the fact that he was being inaugurated to drive conservatives up a wall! He also ticked off all the things that tick them off!
Finally, Beyonce sang the National Anthem. We’re seeing a lot of Beyonce these days. But in terms of wardrobe, we didn’t see nearly as much of her today as we’re going to at the Super Bowl halftime show. It was amazing to see so many black faces up there on the podium. Wait! That one is John Boehner! Now I realize that John Boehner has almost exactly the same skin tone as Beyonce. Maybe that’s what he’s been shooting for all this time. Now we know—when he goes home at night, John Boehner dances in front of a mirror, lip-synching to “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” Poet Richard Blanco was the inaugural poet. That was very nice, but I have a feeling we won’t be seeing Richard Blanco at the Super Bowl halftime.
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