{"id":1460,"date":"2009-01-20T14:38:26","date_gmt":"2009-01-20T19:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlwpen.com\/?p=1460"},"modified":"2009-01-20T14:38:26","modified_gmt":"2009-01-20T19:38:26","slug":"inauguration-day-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/2009\/01\/20\/inauguration-day-in-nyc\/","title":{"rendered":"Inauguration Day in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Live blogged from Caroline’s on Broadway<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Marco Acevedo (for accompanying pics where here it just says “IMG”, visit Marco’s front page post over at Open Salon<\/a>, from which this is poached – with Marco’s permission, of course)<\/p>\n

10:52 a.m.<\/strong>
\nI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m at our table in Carolines with my wife Dee (aka Girl w\/Pen) and a happy, mimosa-fueled crowd of feminist confreres watching as the bi-Presidential caravan heads out from the White House. (This is unfortunately taking the form of an after-the-fact dispatch, since I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have Internet access here).<\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re here at the invitation of The White House Project (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153a non-partisan organization committed to enhancing public perceptions of women leaders and advancing a richly diverse, critical mass of women into leadership positions.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Although Lizz Winstead, co-creator of The Daily Show, declared herself pointedly partisan during her opening monologue. Her comment on the news that Cheney will be in a wheelchair for the inauguration: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cheney supposedly hurt himself while moving. I guess he did let the doorknob hit him in the ass on the way out.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d)<\/p>\n

IMG_0283
\nLizz Winstead, co-creator of The Daily Show<\/p>\n

11:08 a.m.<\/strong>
\nTalk at the table: Who is acting President in the ten minutes between the swearings in of Biden and Obama? Seriously, ten minutes is a long time. A lot can happen. Why aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t they simultaneous?<\/p>\n

IMG_0287
\nMy babe, Girl w\/Pen<\/p>\n

11:19 a.m.<\/strong>
\nThe Carters are announced. The brand strikes up some rousing Sousa (what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening to me? Wearing a flag pin, tearing up to Sousa\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 must be middle age.)<\/p>\n

11:22 a.m.<\/strong>
\nThe Clintons are announced. The Carolines crowd goes wild. Conversation around the table: the symbolism of yellow (gold?) and purple, the vestiges of royal ritual. Everyone on the podium seems to be wearing a jot of one color of the other. Hillary particularly striking in her purple coat.<\/p>\n

11:24 a.m.<\/strong>
\nSasha and Malia, appear, all smiles and regal pace. Carolines erupts again. Whoops at the sight of the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin. Regal presence.<\/p>\n

11:31 a.m.<\/strong>
\nCheers and gasps for Michelle resplendent in glittering yellow. Boos and hissing for Dubya as he ambles along on his perp walk. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help thinking he looks alone. Interesting that the First Lady doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t accompany the outgoing President.<\/p>\n

11:39 a.m.<\/strong>
\nObama appears on the flatscreen. Cheers, applause, a scattering of Carolines attendees rising to their feet. Comments at table: the office has already aged him, and he hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even been sworn in. But he looks filled with the moment, calm and accepting.<\/p>\n

11:44 a.m.<\/strong>
\nPresident-Elect Barack H. Obama is announced. Thunder and cries. Closeups on the screen of black men and women in the crowd on the mall.
\nI feel the moment expanding.<\/p>\n

No more time stamps.
\nThe rest is a blur of fluid motion quickly setting as rock-solid history.<\/p>\n

Hugs and involuntary shout outs during DiFi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impassioned opening speech. Her words about the nonviolent roots of this triumphant moment are superimposed to dramatic effect over the visage of our outgoing President.<\/p>\n

Boos and guffaws at the appearance of Reverend Rick Warren for the opening prayer. Loud comments throughout the prayer, hisses at its close.<\/p>\n

Aretha blesses,caresses and weaves \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My Country \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctis of Thee\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in vaults and spires over the mass of humanity carpeting the Mall. Not your white grandma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Kate Smith.<\/p>\n

Noon.<\/strong>
\nObama becomes President of the United States by Constitutional decree, although he hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t yet taken the oath. The moment passes under the soothing and introspective tones of Yoyo Ma and Itzhak Perlman.<\/p>\n

IMG_0290
\nYoyo Ma at the Moment. Grace.<\/p>\n

IMG_0302
\nThe Girl w\/Pen happy and proud<\/p>\n

IMG_0303
\nBoy w\/Pin<\/p>\n

IMG_0310
\nA jumbotron in Times Square<\/p>\n

IMG_0316
\nObama Generation<\/p>\n

IMG_0319
\nFor posterity<\/p>\n

IMG_0321
\nMy cold fingers, the Flag and the Square<\/p>\n

(crossposted with permission from Open Salon<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Live blogged from Caroline’s on Broadway By Marco Acevedo (for accompanying pics where here it just says “IMG”, visit Marco’s front page post over at Open Salon, from which this is poached – with Marco’s permission, of course) 10:52 a.m. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m at our table in Carolines with my wife Dee (aka Girl w\/Pen) and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1902,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[85],"class_list":["post-1460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1902"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}