The Inauguration Party Gets Started
From CNN:
Inauguration revelry began Sunday afternoon as thousands gathered on the National Mall in Washington for a free concert featuring big stars.
“The dream of our founders will live on in our time. … What gives me hope is what I see when I look out across this mall,” he said.
Obama spent the morning visiting Arlington National Cemetery and attending church before heading to the “We are One: Opening Inaugural Celebration” at the Lincoln Memorial. It was nothing but good vibes — a brief respite for an incoming president who will face some big problems after he takes office Tuesday.
From the Washington Times:
Though he followed the path of the Great Emancipator, America’s first black president called on the American people to “reclaim” the spirit of the nation’s Founders.
“While our problems may be new, what is required to overcome them is not. What is required is the same perseverance and idealism that our Founders displayed,” he said. “What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives - from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry - an appeal not to our easy instincts, but to our better angels.”
Mr. Obama traveled with his wife, Michelle, on her 45th birthday, along with their two daughters, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, in a bright blue Pullman caboose car at the end of a 10-car Amtrak train full of Secret Service personnel and three cars of reporters. Following that train was another, filled with more security personnel.
From The Nation:
A peculiar mix of Obamamania and patriotism permeates the frigid DC air. Both IKEA and Pepsi have caught wind of the enthusiasm and plastered the capital city with advertising campaigns encouraging consumers to, respectively, “Embrace Change” and “Refresh Everything.” The city has been decked out in red, white and blue, and bootleg inaugural memorabilia is available everywhere from CVS pharmacies to farmers markets. Even the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has got into the act: Obama’s smiling visage adorns the farecards one must use to ride the Metro.
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