My Day on the Mall
It was Woodstock; peace, love, celebration. There was just one HUGE difference; it wasn't a just a bunch of white teenagers.
There was every color of skin and thousands of different languages. It was peaceful and polite and a celebration of a new America.
I asked a lot of questions of people I met. There seemed to be a few common themes.
A belief that America was finally living up to its promise of Democracy and following the vision of Dr King that we will now begin to judge individuals by the content of their character. A celebration that Bush will be gone and the crimes and abuses of his administration are finally over. A belief that the Wall Street rich are thieves stealing from the American people; that global economy and global corporations are not serving the people of the world.
There was fear of the crashing of our economy and a potential break in the social contract provided by Social Security. There was fear that the Middle East will continue to require more blood and treasure and that the Israelis have gone too far in Lebanon and Gaza with the massacre of innocents. There was hope that we would soon leave Iraq and there was fear that once we left a bloodbath would ensue as a result of our actions there.
Mostly though, there was a feeling of hope that for once, the policies of our government would focus on the general welfare and common good for our citizens.
Tomorrow will be a different kind of day; pure celebration.
The big day will really be Wednesday. The first day of the Obama presidency and what changes will be executed. The people are expecting dramatic action from day one. Let us hope that Obama has a ream of Executive Orders to overturn and a pile of signing statements that will be stricken from the record.
It will be interesting to hear tomorrow's post parade comments and attitudes.
Thanks for this!
January 19, 2009 10:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you also. I need to hear from people on the ground. TPM people.
January 19, 2009 10:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's great to hear the voices of the people on scene. Pls do share some more!
January 20, 2009 1:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
It is early in a great day. It is the day I (we) have waited a long painful time for. Finally our patience is to be rewarded. Barak, Michelle, Joe, and Jill must be feeling good and thinking of getting the show on the road and hitting the ground running.
I wonder how W feels right now, and what might be going through his head on this; his last day. The last 24 hours of a long eight years culminating in his legacy as the most hated man in the United States and the worst President in history.
I don't know what he is feeling but I think I have a pretty good idea regarding what he's thinking. It's like this:
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
It's remarkable that after the last eight years he can be so consistent.
January 20, 2009 3:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Mjeffn:
Take the "B' out of your string of "z"s and I think you will be accurately portraying what Bush is thinking. He's not thinking, he's snoozing, sleeping soundly, just as he has done night after night, all these years ... while others were not allowed to sleep but, rather, were tortured -- either physically, in the case of detainees, or robbed of sleep, in the case of everyone sickened by his regime.
I hope you sleep well tomorrow night, Mjeffn. Me, too.
January 20, 2009 4:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am finally back in my house in MD, thawing out and trying to put together my experiences over the past three days. I volunteered for Obama in DC and worked today mostly directing people from one checkpoint to another, starting at 6 this morning. The eeriest experience for me was walking with thousands of people through the 3rd street tunnel under the Capitol (thinking to myself that none of us had been screened but people were dancing and singing without care). It was cold but mysteriously it got bitter cold at about 12:15, the wind kicked up and the wind chill dropped to 17. It was like the Alberta Clipper God waited until the President was off the stage. Over 9 hours I saw a happy, helpful, friendly crowd of all colors, shapes, sizes, and ages. Because I was working I ended up grabbing a spot at the Lincoln Memorial watching events on the jumbotron and packing hot paks into my gloves and shoes. From afar, it might be possible to get too saccharin or melodramatic about today, but it was powerful and moving and terrifying all at once. As Americans we have cut a new edge. We have a brave young President and 2 million people on the National Mall today were there behind him and before him. Not to mention everyone watching around the country and the world. It will take some time to digest all of this.
January 20, 2009 8:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bravo Kate! Take as long as you need. And thanks so much for all you do.
=D
January 20, 2009 9:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great great news. Our reporter on the street.
After you warm up and rest, read Joan Walsh at Salon. She was just reporting like you are here.
happy that you are home safe.
January 20, 2009 9:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
"From afar, it might be possible to get too saccharin or melodramatic about today, but it was powerful and moving and terrifying all at once. "
Kate -- I admire you so. Thank you for all that you do, professionally and personally, with your realist/idealist perspective.
January 21, 2009 7:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, W, thank you. I don't think I do much more than many people here. Nonetheless, I appreciate your comment very much--I am a hopeless idealist but work in an environment that in the past 8 years has not valued realism or pragmatism, but rather ideology. That's why I admire Obama so much; he's such a great role model, showing us the way for combining idealism with realism. I am very inspired right now, and feel, as a public servant, that I can happily and forcefully do my job for the next 4 (hopefully 8 years) without grinding my teeth at night. As a Fed, it's like a veil has been lifted.
January 22, 2009 8:36 PM | Reply | Permalink