Obama Inaugural Address — Page 2

I read that after I posted.

I thought the speech was so beautiful. Though it's cliche to say this, I truly got goosebumps. I am consistently proud of being American - regardless of how I feel about the president - but hearing what Obama had to say in his speech really reminded me yet again of how great it is to be a citizen of this country.

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I've never watched any American theatre of state before and, since this was likely to be amongst the best, I left work early as the BBC were broadcasting live coverage between 4:00pm and 6:00pm UK time.

The speech was impressive in the extreme and it was impossible not to be caught up in the symbolic power of what has happened today. As usual, I make no comment on internal American poltics but that striving, yearning American aspiration and optimism (that I so often hear and find so attractive in the scores of the Broadway musicals that attract me to this site) was there in bucketloads.

Stand this man alongside the empty egos of the current Russian bullies, the unknown and unaccountable "appalling waxworks" in China, and the current crop of non-entities in Europe (does anyone else think that Angela Merkel has begun to look like Angela Lansbury in Sweeney Todd?) and you should have a winner.

Congratulations USA.

It was amazing to be there...though I must say the acoustics were HORRIBLE! We could hear Aretha, of course...cause you could hear her without a mic :). And we could hear the prayer, and some of Biden's oath, but whoever was introducing everybody was almost impossible to understand. Pretty much, whenever the crowd started screaming, we screamed. LOL. I got to stand by the reflecting pool in front of the Capitol Building. It was frozen so it was SOOOO much colder there. They didn't have nearly the number of big screens that we thought they would. And the one that we could kind of see was behind a tree! But every so often I got a glimpse of him and could understand what he was saying and it was amazing!! Even though the echoes were jumbling most of what he was saying, I could still hear his tone and style of devlivery and even that was impressive.
Now that I'm home...thawing out....and I can read the text and see it, wow...wow...wow. So exciting!

PJ- I guess I can see where you're coming from with that reference. :)

I do want to say, after reading my initial post, that no matter how nutso it was, it was an amazing place to be. And no matter how cold it was, it wasn't miserable, because we had such reason to be there. I was also really impressed that everybody seemed to be jovial and friendly (in DC that's pretty rare sometimes...of course there were a lot of visitors) but nobody was being very rude or complaining too much. There were comments, of course, but people really seemed to be keeping the spirit of the day in mind and they were all just so very excited to be there. It was really the most incredible thing I've ever seen.

What a really cool day!

And can I just say that, even though we didn't stay for the parade, I LOVE how the Obamas (and the Bidens) got out and walked for so much of it and truly seemed to enjoy seeing the people and connecting with them a bit. It almost seemed like today wasn't about them at all. It was about everybody, which is like what he said in the speech. Other Presidents seem to get the "we're honoring you...it's all about you today, Sir" thing, but the Obamas just seemed to be more interested in connecting with everybody. That's just my take on it. Maybe I'm reading too much into things, but I'm excited!

Lusciouslace, so simply and beautifully stated:

"It almost seemed like today wasn't about them at all. It was about everybody."

So glad you were there! You and Dottie represented BWW.

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My favorite part of the day (because it didn't involve crowds) was my 3.5 mile walk to the Capitol. There were lots of people making that same pre-dawn walk, but it was very controlled and very joyous. The madness began waiting to be admitted on the grounds. It was an amazing experience, but as I tend not to like crowds, I'm very happy to be home.

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Miss P, I actually said, "for once I'm happy to be living in DC". I was very teary-eyed as I was leaving early this morning. In my 8+ years living in DC, never have I experienced such joy.

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I didn't realize you two were not native DC'ers! Funny you guys moved there shortly before I moved away.

Today I wish I still lived there for sure.

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I was at an audition this morning at a rehearsal studio in the city. By 11:45, all auditions stopped, all rehearsals stopped ... and everyone gathered in the lobby to watch the televised inauguration. We cried, we applauded, we cheered, we laughed (at Aretha's hat) ... its amazing that business as usual stopped so everyone could watch this historic moment. Truly an unforgettable day.

WestVillage, this thread is the serious one. If you want to talk about Aretha's hat, you must post it in the "Shallow Reflections" thread.

(J/K! Your story is really wonderful. The whole world was watching!)

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I was watching with about 100 people in a bar in Fort Greene.
At the end, everyone sang the National Anthem and people were crying, I know that I had a tear or two in my eyes.

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Scripps, thanks for your (characteristically) kind and large-hearted words.

Lucious and Dottie, thank you for your firsthand accounts.

It was a great speech. I think we all have a lot of work to do to live up to it.