History

I noticed that the Daily Tar Heel has a thumbs up or thumbs down feature called Quick Hits. They gave the symbolic Obama train ride from Philadelphia to DC a sideways thumb, saying it was a bit "too theatrical and corny" for their taste. As a matter of fact, I agree; it's my understanding that it cost a ton of money to set up given the security concerns, but I can't find any figures for that off hand. The idea was to recreate Lincoln's journey to DC, which sounds symbolic, but also brings up hubris and opulence. Had it zero to little cost associated with it, I think it'd be fine, like how the mayor of New York, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, rides the subway to work (occasionally at least). I think the train ride was unnecessary. The fact that the country elected Obama is in itself very significant and symbolic. The fact that a couple million people attended the inauguration was significant and symbolic. Maybe everyone on the National Mall could have joined in song together. That would have been awesome, memorable, and free (or at least cheap). But adding in an expensive, phony train ride to DC is probably taking away from the history being made.

Presidents

Every time I hear something like, "the President took the oath of office," I just smile and feel happy. He's now "the President." Finally. The Iowa Caucuses were over a year ago. I feel quite proud to be an American. Over the last eigth years, I found my president to be an embarassment, and I was often quick to explain that he didn't speak for me whenever I traveled or met people from other countries. A part of me now feels a little sorry for Bush since he has finally shown some remorse and admitted some errors. Too bad he didn't admit errors earlier or have the foresight to know how wrong his direction was. A least, in admitting errors, he seems more sympathetic, like he was in over his head. Dick Cheney, on the other hand, remains defiant.

Different topic:

Interestingly enough, Obama, who has shown quick wit and skilled oration over the years, totally stumbled through the oath of office, with the help of stumbling Chief Justice John Roberts. I guess they both were a little nervous.

I also noticed that most news outlets were optimistic and excited about the election. So I went over to FoxNews to see what they were reporting. Some of the headlines conveyed this optimism, like "Historic Moment Cast as Victory of Hope Over Fear." Some commentators, however, like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and Glenn Beck were skeptical. Hannity could be right that it is the most expensive inauguration ever, but he doesn't cite any numbers.

What was quite interesting to me was a piece about the unhealthiest presidents. Turns out JFK was a health disaster. Eisenhower was also in bad shape, and even developed Crohn's Disease while in office.