Watching History

Rarely, I think, does history happen where you can sit down (or go to the National Mall) and watch it in anticipation. I don't just mean the inauguration, and election day, but the entire ascending buildup to those moments. We weren't all entirely certain of what the election results would be, but many saw this moment coming for months if not years.

(Inauguration Day/courtesy: Alex Feldman)

So we've finally reached this moment, and it has passed. Yes we can, and yes we did. Change has come, and Barack Obama is the President of the United States of America. But what exactly will change? Yes, some policies will change, but for the most part the "change" that has come to America arrived well before the Inauguration or the election. Obama alluded to this in his speech yesterday:

"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."

All over the District I've seen posters and signs and images of President Obama (glad we don't have to say 'President-elect' anymore) being portrayed as "The Dream, realized." I'm not so sure I'm a fan of this idea that Obama marks the end of racism and prejudice. I don't see Barack Obama's position in the world as the realization of Martin Luther King Jr's dream of equality and justice. It's undoubtedly a step, and the effects will surely be profound in so many ways and in ways I could never imagine. But Obama is only part of the change.

(Obama on the campaign trail/courtesy: AZWiner)

Like many famous historical figures, Obama is not just a powerful person, but was able to be part of a movement. Rosa Parks didn't start the Civil Rights Movement - the growing tension had made a spark almost inevitable. Rosa Parks was part of a movement, a changing tide that had been shifting for decades and would continue shift for decades. Like Harvey Milk for the gay community, like George Washington for the United States, like Lennon or Lincoln or Mandela or Moses, these were leaders, yes, but they were leaders of a movement that was already happening, and desperately needed someone to lead.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the world is changing, and has been changing, and no matter how hard we try, it's not until the historians look back can we attempt to determine when the transition of change occurred. Maybe that's why I have trouble agreeing with the "Obama = change" equation. I see change as not having a specific date - no mark of beginning or end.

Did these people know they were watching history?
(Inauguration Day/courtesy: Alex Feldman)

Yet, I still have this feeling that yesterday, we really did all watch history happen. I imagine no one knew that Lincoln would remain as famous as he is today when he was elected back then, but Americans are aware of the undercurrent tide of change that brought Obama to the White House because they are the ones who brought him there. Obama is not the Messiah-Elect - as fellow Gentleman, Damien, has jokingly referred to him - but America has chosen him as the man to be a Washington, a Roosevelt, a Lincoln, a gentleman to lead a people who have already begun to change.

Into the Inaugural Madness!

Becka and I waiting for the sea of people to part.
(realized Moses would be no help to us on this one so we started playing the "excuse me" game)

I've been telling people the party I'm going to is 6 inches from the security zone... I thought I was exaggerating... (My door on left, security checkpoint on right!)

Becka had the right idea being the meat in this sandwich ;)

This was the view on all sides.

AND THIS IS WHAT SMART PEOPLE DID!

Inauguration Survival Guide

I heard somewhere that when it comes down to it, everyone dies of the same thing; loss of oxygen to the brain. Whether you starve to death, or you suffer a heart attack, or a seizure or whatever, what truly kills you is lack of oxygen to your brain. For the human body to work properly, a healthy supply of oxygen must travel through the circulatory system and into your brain.

So it goes without saying that when I saw Garth Brooks and Beyonce Knowles on stage together during the Inauguration concert on the mall, causing my brain to suddenly explode onto the reflecting pool, I was concerned.

To avoid similar results, I would advise anyone going to the Inaugural festivities with these words of experience that will hopefully expunge you from a fate similar to mine.

Don't trust Anderson Cooper. He will probably be in between the Washington Monument and the Capitol. Let down your guard near him and kiss your kidneys goodbye.

Wear lot's of layers. One flak jacket is never enough.

Don't talk to Joe Biden. He'll talk your head off, then scoop it up and run the option with it down to the Lincoln Memorial.

Don't ice skate anywhere unless you are Jesus the Christ. It's not that cold.

Don't look directly at any celebrities at all during your Inauguration celebrations, unless you want to show them what your grey matter looks like. Use your peripheral vision if necessary.

Don't wear a suit and then talk into your sleeve. You'll look like you're in the special service, not the secret service.

Bring a random T-Shirt with you and write the name "Barack Obama" in cursive on it with a sharpie. Walk around holding it up and repeating "one hundred dollar Obama shirts." Lunch is on the lucky customer you meet that day.

And most importantly, anyone not wearing a coat is a Sentinel on the lookout for mutants.