It took a lot of chutzpah for me to ask my close friend Beth to make arrangements for me to be part of the 2009 inauguration. Sheās a VIP in the political circle, and the fact is, she owed me a favorā¦big time. This is the first time I have ever taken advantage of the ābig-time favor exchange.ā I liked the feeling. Beth, from the office of the Virginia Senate, is authorized to distribute tickets to the inaugural events.
The only event she could not accommodate for me was the Inaugural Ballā¦she needed a personal invitation for that. āHow about the concert, the parade, the tour?ā I told her none of the above. My passion was to be close enough to see the president-elect with his family beside him taking the oath and listening to the first inaugural address of the 44th president of the U.S.A.
āJust take care of everything it takes to satisfy my wishes, and we will be even.” Beth agreed, but did remind me that the $400-a-day hotel was not part of our agreement.
Iāve waited 218 days, and at last, Tuesday, January 20, 2009 is now. I am sitting at the west steps of the Capitol Building. Itās a very cold day in Washington, D.C. The sky holds a threat of snow, but Iām prepared with my woolen hat pulled down over my ears and my gloves from LL Bean are doing a good job of keeping my hands if not warm, at least not freezing. My view of the ceremony steps is perfect. The Vice President takes the oath first, and then the excitement of hearing four ruffles and flourishes and āHail Columbiaā is almost too thrilling for my pounding heart.
It is now exactly noon, and the President-elect, with his left hand on the Bible and his right hand raised,takes the oath of office administered by the Chief Justice. The entire oath consists of 36 words. As he faced the area I was in, I felt my head spin and my gloved hands shake. This figure of a man had no face! How could this be? Since the oath was taken, he was no longer the President-elect, he was the 44th President of the United States ready to give his inaugural addressā¦and I did not know who he was!
I have no choice but to imagine his words. I imagined some words that sounded like a voice without passion and some issues like military service and not being a continuation of our previous administration. I cannot accept that. I imagined another voice with great passion which discussed vital issues of foreign policy with peace negotiations first to avoid combat later. I can accept that. I imagined yet a third voice and heard the words, āon the mindless menace of violence.ā I yearn to accept that.
“We seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far-off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire whatever weapons and ammunition they desire.”
ā Robert Kennedy, Cleveland, Ohio, April 5, 1968
