January 20: The Inauguration

(The shoe throwing in Dupont Circle was January 19.)

You'll find this hard to believe but thousands of people around us left immediately after the inaugural address, before the poem. To my mind, both the speech and the poem were sincere efforts and missed opportunities, without any phrase or imagery that will endure. I did, however, appreciate the Bush/Cheney criticism.

Ultimately I think Obama is a better speechmaker than speechwriter. He creates a lofty, vague mood but nothing specific stays with the listener. If I'm wrong, recite your favorite lines from the Denver speech. Or summarize its thesis.

Understandably, everyone is focused on the new, and thank god for that, but I did think the Official Bush Farewell Poem, released late yesterday morning, was more to the point.

There was a man from Texas
Who was hated by both sexes.
Everything he tried
Depended on a lie,
And he left with no successes.

Comments

[frank regan]

I must disagree with you about the speech. There might not be take away lines, but several take away phrases. (Patchwork heritage, we will reach out a hand if you will unclench your fist.) Lincoln's second inaugural had few lines that people can easily come up with today and still it is considered one of the classics of American oratory. It's about language, words and how they're strung together. Yesterday's speech seemed to flow like water. Someone who loves good books as you do must appreciate the artful way the President has with words. Great speeches are often neglected until people read them over and find that they work as much as literature as they do as oratory. So, there were few applause lines, and no stand up and cheer moments of overflowing emotion. But still, it was a beautiful thing.
Love your site. Thanks for introducing me to many unfamiliar writers, and you are a fine photographer as well.

[Lori Hobkirk]

I have mixed feelings about The Poem. I think it could have been read differently to have a more poignant effect. But overall it was a somber tone accompanying a somber inauguration. We have nothing really to celebrate, yet, but the accomplishment of day (Praise Song for the Day) and the language of the moment and our actions that unify us and lift our bodies to move us forward. She tried to isolate the very moment of inauguration, I think, not just the day. She tried to put it into a context and capture the one point where we are along this journey that hasn't ended yet began years and years ago. I don't know . . . the fact that I didn't space out but listened to every word makes me think it was at least somewhat gripping.

[my website]

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