Does anybody else want to talk about how much they love George Bush? I could hardly contain myself after his inaugural address today. He has got to be one of the wisest men in power today, among our politicians, judges, bureaucrats, celebrities, and media figures. He reminds me of Solomon. He is my hero (one of them). And he is from Texas. And I have his autograph. Yeehaw!
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I watched the speech on TV, but I think I'd like to read over it again before I make any comments about it. Parts of it certainly sounded really nice. What I would really like to know is if anyone from DC (Strauss, etc.) has any inaguration stories. I figure that at the very least you guys could hear them setting off the cannons after Renquist did his thing, and I suspect that there are some interesting security/crowd/protestor stories that could be shared. And did anyone else that saw the coverage notice how much screen time the younger Barbara Bush had? Not that I'm complaining...
Have you guys heard about/read Alexander Solzhenitsin's commencement adddress at Harvard in '78...I remember Roger Lundin talking about it a couple times. The story is basically that he stirred up a tremendous furor by delivering a devastating indictment of western culture and consequently he was never invited to Harvard again. I just read the address online and it's stunning. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/arch/solzhenitsyn/harvard1978.html
I think it's an excellent match for Bush's speech...you can see just how right S. was in his doomsaying, and just how wrong.
Also check out Peggy Noonan's article ((Reagan's former speechwriter)from the WallStreetJournal, entitled "Way TOo Much God": http://www.opinionjou
rnal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110006184
Coye, I can give you inauguration stories, but they aren't as interesting as I had hoped they would be. I managed to score tickets to the inauguration through Brett, but I did not get to see the actual inauguration ceremony. My roommate and I got to the security entrance over an hour before the swearing in, and we were still trying to get through security an hour and a half later. We got in at about the time that those inside were starting to leave. It was still fun though. It was amazing how many people were down there. There was easily over a thousand in the security checkpoint crowd alone. The amorphous blob of us trying to get through security, definitely was not a line. Every now and then, we'd hear cheering, and I did get to hear and see the cannons go off. If I'm still here in four years and get tickets again, I will be showing up a good deal earlier. Live and learn.
The more eventful happenings, at least for me, were just wandering along outside of the secure parade zone after the swearing in was over. At one point, a group of mildly militant, college-aged protestors dressed in black and carrying signs for almost any anti-Bush group you can think of (gays, war protestors, pro-choice, pro-cannibis, etc.) came streaming around a street corner straight in our direction, then they turned the corner where we were at and crashed as a wave into the side of a colossal line (two blocks long and as wide as the street) of peaceful people trying to get through a checkpoint for entering the parade routes secure zone. Less than a minute later, three cop cars and a motorcycle came flying down the street behind the protestors. The protestors were sandwiched between the line and police.
Calamity broke out as the protestors broke ranks. A few attacked police officers. Others ran away various distances before boldly trying to reenter the area as the police cleared everyone out of the area, both protesters and peaceful spectators. The riot gear was broken out. Lines of police formed.
Parade spectators mostly treated the spectacle as another event to be absorbed. One spectator was unfazed to the point that he interrupted a cop with a beat down stick confronting a protestor in order to ask for directions to some where.
I got some good pictures of the whole mess. I may try and post a couple if anyone is interested once I get them developed and on to CD.
Brett may have some better stories than I do as he volunteered to help with the parade. I have not touched base with him since the event. The rest of my stories would just be about how the onslaught of visitors has annoyingly tripled my evening commute time and restricted general ease of travel from point A to point B. The city has definitely been buzzing. It's been an interesting time to live here.
This is Andy Strauss, DC correspondant, signing off.
Coye, maybe the media thinks that Barbara is being groomed to be the next Bush president.
You mean the Bush President after next. I think it goes Jeb then Barbara then Barbara's as yet unborn daughter.
Not to disparage my commander-in-chief, but to compare him to "Solomon"...Ryan??? I'm as conservative as the next guy (almost) but I can't be so quick to judge Dubya as one of the wisest men in power. I voted for him and I give him a lot of credit for standing his ground in the midst of a barrage of nay-sayers and people who would love to see him fall flat on his face. I am grateful that he grounds his belief in his faith and that, from all accounts, he has an active relationship to Jesus. But wisest leader? I don't think so. Granted, he is in murky waters. There is no easy answer to our international or domestic troubles - never have been. But I think that there is a "bumble" factor to the way he has dealt with issues. He kind of seems to trip into solutions, and then stick to his guns. I wish he were a more humble leader and were more able to bring all partners to the table. I voted for Bush because I agreed with more of his policies, but I was halfway curious to see what a Kerry presidency would have been like. I like it would have more thoughtful, more intelligent. Bush works from his gut. Regardless, the wisest men aren't in positions of such absolute power. Or if they do find themselves there, they lose their perspective of wisdom. The power corrupts. That's my rant. I really do support Bush - just wanted to throw a counter-weight to Ryan's post. Love you Ryan!
Oh, and I forgot to add that if you really like the references to our Father in the inauguration speech, you might have his chief speechwriter to thank for that. Michael Gershwin (I think I got his last name right) was a Wheaton grad.
A wheatie speechwriter, huh? That's awesome. I'm aware that Bush didn't pen the speech, but I think he has demonstrated in the past four years that he doesn't say things merely to please the public or the media or lobby groups or even his own wife. (Laura laid into him for his "bring 'em on" and "wanted: dead or alive" tough talk). I think he meant what he said in the speech, and that he fully understands the implications of all his "God-references."
Frankly though they didn't seem like references so much...they seemed to permeate the whole speech. As Peggy Noonan notes in the article mentioned above: "It was a God-drenched speech."
Adam, your perspective is very interesting to me, since you are obviously in the midst of something very much related to the Bush presidency. I don't want to turn this into a political debate, but I was interested if any of your fellow troops had picked up on the "inaugurationgate" mini-scandal...that the Administration spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a lavish inauguration when you guys are in Iraq and Afghanistan in desperate need of funds. Is that something you feel is true, or is it the liberal media?
Thanks again for your service to the US, Adam, by the way
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6790433/
Michael Gerson is on his way out and the above link is an interesting article regarding that.
Michael Gershwin must be George and Ira's long-lost brother.
Michael Gershwin is the Presidential librettist. Just picture it: the State of the Union address performed as an operetta (or, at the very least, an aria). The House and Senate performing antiphonal chorus pieces, and everyone in the balcony looking through little patriotic opera glasses. I wonder what Bush's lung capacity is...
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