So I'm back to my computer at Syracuse after a long day of catching up on sleep and, more importantly, catching up on class after getting home at 1AM last night. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
After we stood in the cold, windy National Mall, warmed only by the radiating body heat of a million other people enduring the same frigidness, we were finally welcomed to a display of the "Who's Who" of American politics. After a short game of "Who's that slightly less recognizable national political leader?" came out the big guns. Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, Colin Powell, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Bill Frist, Newt Gingrich, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and finally the man himself, President Barack Obama. After a shaky start when Chief Justice John Roberts slightly misspoke the oath of office (which Obama today re-affirmed to ensure that there was no controversy concerning the mistake) Obama delivered a speech that I feel strayed from the norms of conventional canned political speeches.
First, he began his speech with "My fellow Americans..." and tossed aside the conventional introduction of "I would first like to thank the Inaugural Staff and all the dedicated members who put this together..." This to me shows that he is ready to get down to business. Now I'm not a naive, pie-in-the-sky type of person and I fully recognize that our financial problems and military conflicts will not immediately cease or even be particularly solved under an Obama administration, however I believe that inspires in a lot of people something we haven't seen in a long time. He's known for his oratorical abilities and for his rhetoric, but he recognizes that there's no time for that now. That was for the campaign. Now it's time to take a look at the failed economy, something he readily admits is currently in a crisis. Former President Bush was often criticized for not admitting fault or not acknowledging impending crises, yet Obama started off his very first direct speech to the nation stating that we are destined for demise if we, as Americans, do not look at our own lives and begin to change. Sure, he acknowledges the corrupt businessmen that have lost thousands of Americans billions of dollars, but he forces us to realize that part of the responsibility is on us as well. He made sure to reinforce his policy on opening up relationships between fellow nations, with the line that especially stuck with me, "We are ready to extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Just being there in the moment, with the chants of "Obama, Obama" reverberating seemingly all across this electrified city was an experience I'll take with me for the rest of my life.
After the ceremonies were complete, we were unfortunately unable to attend the Inaugural Parade due to the fact that we had heard that the parade route was already filled to capacity, all 300,000 people they were going to allow in the high-security parade route area. We decided instead to keep warm and visited the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and saw the dinosaurs and the Hope Diamond. Soon we found that it was ready to head back to the Metro station with the end result being our bus. If only we knew the debacle it would be to get back.
In order to catch the train before the 300,000 people watching the parade, we decided to try to get back to the Metro Station we came in on considerably early, only to find out all Metro stations in a 10 block radius were closed due to the security surrounding the parade route. Thanks to the Google Maps application on my Blackberry (thanks Mom and Dad) we were able to track down the nearest Metro station and catch a bus that took us on a straight, uninterrupted train ride back to our bus and made it with plenty of time to spare.
Going into this trip, I wasn't sure what to make of it. I had recently become very discouraged with our government; never did I question the actual institution of democracy but instead the individuals who were at the helm of decision-making and business. The cause of my frustration was not concentrated with the Bush administration, because for too long did I feel that they were being used as a scapegoat for our nation's problems. As Obama says, we are all in some way or another at fault so let us not point fingers and write books and make movies about one man's mistakes, if we were to use even half of the amount of effort it required to construct this whole "failure of the Bush administration" media publication circus that it became we would be able to do so much good on the local level. Participate in your local school board or PTA, volunteer with a local service organization, VOTE. Stop complaining about what's wrong with our country and instead do something to make it better.
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