Is the country better yet?

Obama is somewhere behind that pole We stood in front of the Washington Monument with a clear view of a TV screen.


Everybody has their own impressions of the significance of this event in American history. For me, it was a cool experience. I am excited to see how this enthusiasm translates to change in America. The country has bought into Obama’s message. Now, I look forward to seeing how that message becomes action.

It has been a few days since Barack Obama took the oath of office. I've been in D.C. the most of the time, so I don't really have a good feeling for what is going on in the rest of America. But by my estimates, the country is 30 percent better than it was at 11:43 on Tuesday morning. Is this the sense that you get?

Who would've thought?

Go back five years in time. If someone were to tell you that in 2008-09, the following six events would occur, which would would you say was the least likely?

• The Devil Rays made the World Series
• The Cardinals made the Super Bowl
• Michigan would not go to a bowl game
• There is an African-American president
• Matt Millen would be fired by the Lions
  

All have occurred.

Just like shavuot

I have tried to compare this atmosphere to anything else I have experienced. The closest thing I can think about is shavuot at the Western Wall. And the more I think about it, the closer this comparison becomes.

On shavuot, Jews gather from all over Jerusalem at the Western Wall. They walk in the wee hours of the morning to congregate at the Kotel for services before sunrise. Everybody is walking for the same purpose. There is some singing, some reflecting, and some conversing.

It was very similar on Tuesday morning in Washington as people walked from all over to meet at the National Mall.

Apparently, we were on TV

When some of the TV stations tried covered what the scene was like on the Mall, they apparently showed our group doing the hokey pokey trying to pass the time and stay warm. Then, as we, and more than a million others, filed out of the Mall after the ceremony, we broke into song (Lean on Me, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Victors). And everybody around us joined in. Someone told us that they heard something about that on the news.

Power nap
We woke up at 6:45 and got to the Mall at 8:30ish. The Metro was so crowded that we couldn't get on. So we had to walk from my friend's apartment in Woodley Park. Some people were pretty tired, like Danny. He slept on the ground for 45 minutes. When he awoke, half his body was freezing cold. He claimed to be very well rested.

People laughed at Dick Cheney in a wheelchair

Despicable