by Mark Silva
In a little more than two weeks, the presidential military aide will travel to the Capitol with President George W. Bush carrying codes for America's nuclear defenses, and later that day the military aide will leave the Capitol with President Barack Obama.
The handoff of power around high noon on Jan. 20 is one of the great ceremonies of the American political order.
And this inauguration, installing the first African-American in the presidency, with as many as 3 million people expected to overrun the National Mall from the Capitol end to the Lincoln Memorial end, could prove to be one of the grandest. Obama, who will check into the Hay-Adams Hotel one block from the White House on Sunday, plans to take the oath of office on Jan. 20 with the inaugural Bible of Abraham Lincoln.
The voice of Aretha Franklin should help make it all soar
Our friends at Top of the Ticket remind us of the ceremony at hand with the official schedule for the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama, the full name by which the son of an American woman and Kenyan man will take the oath of office. It all starts at 10 am EST in Washington on the west front of the Capitol:
-- Musical Selections: The United States Marine Band, followed by The San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.
-- Call to Order and Welcoming Remarks: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
-- Invocation: Dr. Rick Warren of California.
-- Musical Selection: Aretha Franklin.
-- Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will be sworn into office by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, the Honorable John Paul Stevens.
-- Musical Selection: John Williams, composer/arranger with Itzhak Perlman, (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Gabriela Montero (piano) and Anthony McGill (clarinet).
-- President-elect Obama will take the Oath of Office, using President Lincoln's Inaugural Bible, administered by the Chief Justice of the United States, the Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr.
-- Inaugural Address.
-- Poem: Elizabeth Alexander.
-- Benediction: The Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery.
-- The National Anthem: The United States Navy Band "Sea Chanters"
After President Obama gives his Inaugural Address, he will escort outgoing President George W. Bush to a departure ceremony before attending a luncheon in the Capitol's Statuary Hall. The 56th Inaugural Parade will then make its way down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House with groups traveling from all over the country to participate.
Later that day, the Presidential Inaugural Committee will host 10 official Inaugural Balls.
Comments
This Lincoln angle is so touching...Saul Lainsky would be proud...God bless America.
Posted by: Bubba Porter | January 3, 2009 11:45 AM
Too bad I'll be missing John Williams and Yo Yo Ma. Lincoln Bible huh. Will we also have a Civil War?
Posted by: Harold Reimann | January 3, 2009 2:31 PM
All I ever see on here are Repubs making crass attempts at mocking Dems, maligning them, and wishing for the worst. Not a single one offering any alternatives to the Dem agenda as espoused by Obama in his address to the Nation today.
The GOP is now just a whinny bunch of individuals, hoping to come back in power by the Dems defaulting on their agenda. They have no ideas of their own to counter the Dems.
They're going to be out of power for a very long time with their current "strategy".
Posted by: Bubba "Jeff " Porter | January 3, 2009 3:24 PM
"After President Obama gives his Inaugural Address, he will escort outgoing President George W. Bush to a departure ceremony before attending a luncheon in the Capitol's Statuary Hall."
...and what an "outstanding" legacy Shrub is leaving behind.
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http://media.photobucket.com/image/bush%20dodges%20shoes/AsSeenOnTV6/Bush_dodges_shoes.gif
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They Republic Party should rename themselves the Plantation Party and be done with it.
The strategy of racial division that brought them to power can't win them support from the once fattened middle class that GOoPer anti-government policies have devastated.
I look forward to the further deevolution of the GOP. I expect lots of whining and screeching. I just hope the Dem party leaders aren't foolish enough to continue to kowtow to the so-called conservatives.
Posted by: Big Orange Satan | January 3, 2009 5:25 PM
I know that I can't wait. This will be the moment that we have been waiting for, I have been so informed, which is why I can't wait.
There is also the irony of Chief Justice Roberts, a constitutional constructionist judge and a judge that the great Obama would NEVER have nominated for anything, probably, giving the oath to a lawyer guy who has, at best, a Fuzzy Bear kind of understanding of the United States Constitution. Somehow the Republic survives, and actually continues. See, Liberals / Leftists, not only are Pretty Latinas proof that there is a God, but so is this future moment in American history. I can't wait.
Posted by: Django - N Exile In/Around the 30th Parallel | January 3, 2009 11:42 PM
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Posted by: Bubba "Jeff " Porter | January 3, 2009 3:24 PM
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This is unmitigated B.S. To see something you have to keep your eyes open and look for it. You and your ilk immediately close your hearts, ears and minds once an idea looks different from what’s in the approved DNC playbook. And then you go congratulate the Democratic Party for having all the ideas. That’s like a blind man congratulating himself for seeing the only true color: dark.
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You can go ahead and keep fooling yourself until all this pseudo-liberal gobbledygook fails miserably and people begin to howl. And then they will look elsewhere. It happens quite regularly. Over the last forty (40) years, voters have gone careening from Johnson to Nixon, from Ford to Carter, from Carter to Reagan, from Bush to Clinton, and now from Bush to Obama. Each time, they voted one party out of office and were happy with the result. That is, they WERE happy until the party voted into office got complacent and began to screw up in grand fashion. Then voters wonder what they were thinking of in the first place and why they voted as they did. And then they went back to the other side.
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There is a reason for this, you know. Changing from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, or vice versa, represents no significant change at all. Both parties have accepted and live within the same large-government, statist framework. It is that very same large-government, statist framework that hinders the ability of anyone in government to make any significant, substantive change for the better. It is also what makes it easy for the party on the outs to reverse any changes made by a previous administration when it gets back into power. The parties may sound different, but lip service to ideals is a cheap way to keep people believing they really are different. After all, what to the Great Unwashed really know?
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And consider this: The fact that both adhere to the idea of big government statism means that both are, of necessity, right-wing political parties. That the Democrats may be a little further to the left of the Republicans from time to time (but quite rarely in actual practice) doesn’t change where their policies lie on the political spectrum.
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One of these days, I hope, we will return to the vision of the Founding Fathers and actually choose FREEDOM as the way forward. That means being able to think and act and choose your own destiny without the government coming in and mucking up the path. The only government worth having is the one that stays out of people’s way and lets them be free. The Founding Fathers were vehement on this point. Contrary to the basic premise of both major parties, most people are grown up and responsible enough to take care of themselves without Big Brother. Those that aren’t, ought to start - for their own good.
Posted by: John W. | January 4, 2009 4:05 AM
There will be a time soon when McCain will be very thankful he did not win.
Posted by: Harold Reimann | January 4, 2009 2:18 PM
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most people are grown up and responsible enough to take care of themselves without Big Brother. Those that aren’t, ought to start - for their own good.
Posted by: John W. | January 4, 2009 4:05 AM
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Old man Winter,
He said "Repubs have no new idea's". Regifting Voodoo Reagan trickle-downonomics is NOT a new idea. Saint Ronnynomics has already proven to be a stinking pile of failure.
http://www.geocities.com/thereaganyears/economicpolicy.htm
Posted by: HopeNChange | January 4, 2009 6:05 PM
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Posted by: HopeNChange | January 4, 2009 6:05 PM
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Little JohnEEE-Boy,
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Do you honestly think that “Reagan trickle-downonomics” is the only idea Conservatives have? If you do, you are gravely mistaken. Even Daddy Bush called it voodoo economics. Why Duh’bya tried it again is a mystery I hope we never have to solve again.
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On the other hand, the plunder economics, as promised in large measure by Obama’s incoming administration, suffers from its own serious flaws. We are yet to be told how we can afford the price tag without running up an even greater debt or creating inflation; and we are still left in the dark as to how the plan is going to improve the economy as a whole. Repairing infrastructure may be good for some people in the economy in the long run. But it is not likely to result in much of an improvement in GNP or permanent job creation. Rebuilding bridges and roads is a form of consumption, not production. Furthermore, those who find themselves jobless in non-construction industries and production jobs will still be SOL.
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The fact is, JohnEEE-boy, we’re not out of the woods by a long shot, and Obama is neither a savior nor a magician. We’re still headed for some interesting times.
Posted by: John W. | January 4, 2009 8:08 PM
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Do you honestly think that “Reagan trickle-downonomics” is the only idea Conservatives have?
Posted by: John W. | January 4, 2009 8:08 PM
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Yes!
Posted by: HopeNChange | January 4, 2009 9:07 PM
JohnW
your pessimism is what lost you the last election. Hold onto it and you will keep losing. In the past Americans went Dem Pres to Rep Pres to Dem to Repug, but they didnt vote the same for Congress as they did in this last election. Americans always thought Congress needed some checks and ballances by dividing the Executive branch from the Legislative branch. Now the Dems have most control over both branches, lets see what they can do for America first before assuming the worst.
Posted by: scot S. Blakeley | January 5, 2009 11:04 AM