Presidential inaugurations

Ok, here we are, about to inaugurate our new president in a couple days. I will be home from work to watch the inauguration. I have seen every presidential inauguration since Nixon's second inaugural in 1973, when I was just 11 years old.

Over the years, that string has required some juggling on my part. For Carter's inauguration, I had to rearrange the schedule of semester exams in high school. (I had a shorthand class - by the way, does anybody use shorthand anymore? - exam, and I arranged with my shorthand teacher to take the exam a day earlier so I could get out of school early enough on Inauguration Day to see Carter get sworn in). For Reagan's first inaugural in 1981, I (gasp) called in sick to work. (Margaret, if you're out there anywhere and if you even remember me, when I called in sick on January 20, 1981, I wasn't really sick. Can you discipline me 28 years after the fact?)

Every other inauguration either occurred on a weekend, or I was able to take a vacation day and stay home to watch the festitivies, which is what I will be doing on Tuesday.

But with this particular inauguration, I very nearly decided to break my string and skip it. As the (very few so far) readers of my silly little blog know, I am not an Obama supporter. I think his politics are socialist, I think the people he's hung out with over the years are creepy, and I seriously question if he's even eligible to be president under the Constitution. (What's with hiding his birth certificate, and all his records from birth to present time? What if it comes out at some point in time that he really was born in Kenya? Why did the Supreme Court not have the cajones to investigate or cause an investigation to occur, into his background?)

But in the long run, I decided I have to watch this inauguration too, despite my misgivings and forebodings. It is, after all, history of one kind or another, even if it's not history I particularly agree with or wish to see happen. By taking the day off work, I can give myself the choice of whether or not to watch it or turn the TV off. If I went to work on Tuesday, I'd probably wind up listening to the swearing-in on the radio and kicking myself for not staying home.

So on Tuesday, I will be up at 5:00 a.m. to begin watching C-Span (I'd rather watch their coverage so I don't have to listen to the inane babblings of network commentators all agog over their Messiah taking office; on C-Span there is a merciful silence, just coverage of the proceedings with no commentary), and I'll watch everything that takes place, just as I do every four years for every inauguration of every president.

By the way, I love cable! I remember in those early years of watching inaugurations, I used to get so frustrated when the three networks, which were all we had back then, cut away after the new president arrived at the viewing stand to watch the parade; they didn't show the parade itself, or anything of the inaugural balls. Today, with cable, we see everything from the President-Elect departing Blair House, his arrival at the White House to visit with the outgoing president, the ride to the Capitol, all the patriotic ceremonies and music at the Capitol, the inaugural parade, the inaugural balls, everything is covered on cable.

P.S. What is up with this countdown clock on CNN? I don't remember ever seeing a clock counting down the hours and minutes until an inauguration before, and I've been watching presidential swearings-in for decades! This is more than slightly ridiculous! Are they THAT eager to get rid of George Bush and get Obama into office? You would think the Beatles were all still alive and reuniting at noon tomorrow, and not a presidential transition. Good grief!