Barack Obama and his Vice President, Joe Biden took their
ceremonial oaths of office during the Inauguration ceremony on Jan.
21st. The traditional inaugural parade followed the ceremony (actually,
both Obama and Biden were officially sworn in the day before the parade
and speech making inauguration ceremony) and the President's second
Inaugural Address. As with every previous inauguration I ignored the
whole thing.
It seems a little an anachronism and pretentious to have such a ceremony in the 21st century, particularly in a democratic nation like the U.S. I think such things are more fitting for the tradition rich British or for dictators who have garish swearing in ceremonies in order to pretend they are really justified in being in power or are loved by their enslaved subjects. As much as I like tradition, and I do love many old things and ideas, I find the inauguration to be over the top for the U.S. It's as silly as all the hoopla over the marriage of the British "nobility" last year.
In the nineteenth century inaugurations were necessary because people simply didn't know who was elected and needed a dramatic presentation to feel a part of the democracy. Today our communication technology gives us to much information and contact, which may explain why I find an inauguration today to be irrelevant. Uh, but then...Obama seems to think himself a dictator or king rather than a democratically elected segment of the government here. Perhaps an inauguration ceremony does better fit Obama than any other recent president we have had.
If Obama were as smart as he thinks he is he would have made his inauguration short and simple, satisfying both those who feel one is necessary and those like me who feel they have outlived their usefulness. Of course, he did not. The shortest inauguration speech was ny our first President George Washington, who in his second inauguration gave a two paragraph statement and went home. Any President who did that and also told the masses that there was a "Free liquor bar at the White House and all are invited" would not only win re election, but would see his popularity ratings soar at the same time.
This idea is not as novel as you may think. In 1829, Andrew Jackson, America's seventh president, opened the White House's doors to the inaugural mobs and escaped the crush of the crowd only when aides formed a wedge and escorted him out through a back window. The mansion's furnishings were ruined, and the staff could not get the 20,000 partiers to vacate the premises. They then hit on the same idea as mine, to put tubs of whiskey away from the White House until the crowd was beyond the White House gates. This proves either that politics and whiskey make a great couple or that one has to be drunk to attend and enjoy an inauguration ceremony.
It seems a little an anachronism and pretentious to have such a ceremony in the 21st century, particularly in a democratic nation like the U.S. I think such things are more fitting for the tradition rich British or for dictators who have garish swearing in ceremonies in order to pretend they are really justified in being in power or are loved by their enslaved subjects. As much as I like tradition, and I do love many old things and ideas, I find the inauguration to be over the top for the U.S. It's as silly as all the hoopla over the marriage of the British "nobility" last year.
In the nineteenth century inaugurations were necessary because people simply didn't know who was elected and needed a dramatic presentation to feel a part of the democracy. Today our communication technology gives us to much information and contact, which may explain why I find an inauguration today to be irrelevant. Uh, but then...Obama seems to think himself a dictator or king rather than a democratically elected segment of the government here. Perhaps an inauguration ceremony does better fit Obama than any other recent president we have had.
If Obama were as smart as he thinks he is he would have made his inauguration short and simple, satisfying both those who feel one is necessary and those like me who feel they have outlived their usefulness. Of course, he did not. The shortest inauguration speech was ny our first President George Washington, who in his second inauguration gave a two paragraph statement and went home. Any President who did that and also told the masses that there was a "Free liquor bar at the White House and all are invited" would not only win re election, but would see his popularity ratings soar at the same time.
This idea is not as novel as you may think. In 1829, Andrew Jackson, America's seventh president, opened the White House's doors to the inaugural mobs and escaped the crush of the crowd only when aides formed a wedge and escorted him out through a back window. The mansion's furnishings were ruined, and the staff could not get the 20,000 partiers to vacate the premises. They then hit on the same idea as mine, to put tubs of whiskey away from the White House until the crowd was beyond the White House gates. This proves either that politics and whiskey make a great couple or that one has to be drunk to attend and enjoy an inauguration ceremony.
No comments:
Post a Comment