Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Regime Change: Live Blogging the Inauguration

10:00 AM PST: Well, I think you can make it through the rest of the day without Fosco's commentary. Thanks for your company this morning. Happy America!

9:56 AM PST: As the Bush helicopter disappears from sight... our long national nightmare is over.

9:48 AM PST: And here comes the Bush goodbye. I like this part. Think he'll give a big middle finger to everyone? We've been through a lot together, George... Ciao.

9:45 AM PST: Not rave reviews for the speech, even from the MSNBC commentators. Although everyone liked the outreach to the Muslim world (as they should).

9:40 AM PST: Finally. Doesn't America feel warmer? Happier? Sexier? I agree.

9:37 AM PST: Joseph Lowery benediction: "When yellow will be mellow"? Seriously? That was freakin' goofy.

9:33 AM PST: Should we really have so much praying? Isn't it a bit much?

9:32 AM PST: Poetry interlude with Elizabeth Alexander. You know how Fosco feels about Inaugural poetry. This one? Meh. "What if the mightiest word is love?" Not a terrible line.

9:26 AM PST: A strangely campaign-like speech at first, no? Lots of policy talk. A resounding rebuke to Bush/Cheney on all fronts, though.

Some highlights:

  • One resonant line for Fosco: "begin again the remaking of America"
  • Love the shot of Malia taking a photograph of her dad speaking.
  • Great cutaway to Bush during part about not giving up our ideals in favor of our safety.
  • Message to the world: "We are ready to lead once more." Nice.
  • Shoutout to "nonbelievers" along with the religious. I like that.
  • Very well-written passage speaking to the Muslim world and Third World. Strange to have a president who acknowledges the rest of the world (especially without making threats).
  • "when the levees break" = fuck off, GWB.
  • "duties" is an important word. Bush seemed to think our primary duty as citizens was shopping. I think Obama has something grander in mind.
  • He gets choked up during his quote of Washington. Me too. That was a masterful moment.

9:04 AM PST: Oath time. Whoa--what the hell was that? Did Roberts know the oath or was he making it up too? Was Obama too nervous? A surprisingly real moment in an otherwise tightly choreographed spectacle. Wait, is Obama still president? Do we have to do the oath again?

9:00 AM PST: Love Yo-yo Ma. A nice change from Bush's Inaugural performance by Rascal Flatts. Did you know that you could design Rascal Flatts' new CD cover? I mean, assuming you could create something crappy enough.

8:57 AM PST: That's one heckuva bible that Jill Biden is holding.

Is it me, or did that oath sound a little made-up? Was John Paul Stevens ad-libbing?

Hey, there's Bruce Springsteen! Shouldn't he be performing?

8:55 AM PST: Aretha Franklin's backup choir: "Ring ring ring ring ring ring."

8:50 AM PST: Rick Warren talks a good game, I'll give him that. He certainly enunciates distinctly. Oz: "His enunciation reminds me of Chris Berman."

8:48 AM PST: Rick Warren: "[God,] You are loving to everyone you've made. Except homos."

8:45 AM PST: Feinstein speaks: CA power, baby. Maybe she should be Senate majority leader...

She's channeling that movie trailer announcer guy: "In a world..."

And there's that trademark Bush smirk. I wonder if Botox could wipe that away.

8:43 AM PST: It's my senator, Dianne Feinstein! Hey, she still owes me a reply.

8:38 AM PST: After eight years of inappropriate presidential nonverbal behavior, it's nice to see Obama's expression. He knows exactly what he's supposed to look like.

8:32 AM PST: Ouch. Bush is getting booed. And they're singing "Hey, hey, goodbye." Is this an inauguration or a basketball game? It's not in the best of taste, but what does it tell you about the Bush Administration? And after a presidency marked by his complete insulation from any dissent, I can't help but feel a little happy that he is going to hear some of it now.

8:31 AM PST: Matthews: "This is the network that has opened its heart to change." Damn it, Chris... you're making Fosco's defense of you look silly.

8:29 AM PST: Most sentimental caption for a future commemorative item... Chris Matthews reading Sasha and Malia's minds: "My daddy's president." Gag.

8:24 AM PST: Sasha and Malia look incredible: adorable and professional at the same time. Nicely done, Michelle. Fosco is digging Sasha's orange and pink ensemble (although those colors don't always quite work together).

8:21 AM PST: The MSNBC commentators are ripping on Old Bush's apparent frailty. He does look like he might not live through the ceremony.

Wait: who invited the Bush twins? Don't they have something else to do? Isn't it Happy Hour somewhere?

8:18 AM PST: They're keeping Jimmy Carter away from Clinton and Old Bush. Carter fucking hates those guys. Seriously. Isn't that interesting?

8:15 AM PST: Olbermann: "President Clinton looking unusually somber." Hillary looks great in blue, doesn't she?

8:13 AM PST: Speaking of GILFs, there's Joe Biden's mother. I'm glad she is able to see him take the oath--God willing, of course.

8:12 AM PST: And there's Al Gore. Remember how he was supposed to be our president? And now John Kerry. Sure wish he had been a better candidate.

8:07 AM PST: Hey, where'd they find Dan Quayle? I thought he was living under a pseudonym in Argentina.

8:04 AM PST: Very excited to see John Paul Stevens give the oath to Biden. JPS is one of the good ones. It's a shame that Obama has to receive the oath from John Roberts, that smug bastard. Oh well, at least it's not pubic hair aficionado Clarence Thomas.

8:00 AM PST: Michelle looks gorgeous, but her hair is having a little trouble (perhaps because of wind?).

7:59 AM PST: Chris Matthews can't stop comparing the Bushes to the Romanovs. Another unfortunate comparison.

7:55 AM PST: Motorcade, motorcade, motorcade. I'm glad that MSNBC has a real-time map of the motorcade's location. Look, cars!

7:50 AM PST: Bush looked a little less happy when he heard the Obama cheers. Do you think GWB and Obama are talking in the limo?
GWB: "You know, you're a surprisingly handsome man..."
Obama: "It sure looks cold out there."

7:47 AM PST: The floodgates open: here come the senators. Wait, who invited Joe Lieberman? That guy's a dick.

7:46 AM PST: As much as Fosco dislikes Lynn Cheney, he still doesn't think it fair that everyone calls Jill Biden "Dr. Jill Biden" and yet ignores Lynn Cheney's doctorate.

7:45 AM PST: Hmmm. Why does Rachel Maddow instantly recognize VP Cheney's daughter?

7:43 AM PST: Barbara Bush is a GILF.

7:41 AM PST: Ted Kennedy! He looks healthy as an ox. Much commentary on his hat. Where is Kenneth Cole to help us understand?

7:36 AM PST: An interview with a member of the crowd who slept in an office building last night. That makes me tired just hearing it.

7:29 AM PST: And America wonders: will the hero pilot attend the Inauguration? Who did he vote for? What is his favorite food? What else can he teach us about how to live our lives?

7:28 AM PST: If I were Barack, I would state my name in the oath as "Barack Hooooooooo-ssein Obama." And then turn to the camera and wink.

7:25 AM PST: Oh Doris Kearns Goodwin, I don't know how to quit you.

7:17 AM PST: David Axelrod: "Within five minutes of the end of the oath of office, we'll have repealed half of Bush's stupid executive orders." Or something like that.

7:15 AM PST: Fosco hates crowds and that one looks like his worst nightmare. Even with all that Obama love, I would probably get trampled to death.

7:05 AM PST: I am sympathetically cold.

7:02 AM PST: On MSNBC, Eugene Robinson says that this looks a lot like the Million Man March. That seems like a problematic comparison.

6:55 AM PST: Michelle brings a gift for Laura. Let's speculate: lingerie? "Change" t-shirt?

6:51 AM PST: It's time for coffee at the WH with GWB and Dick.
Obama: Good morning, Mr. President.
GWB: So long, suckers!
Dick: Myeh!

6:49 AM PST: Michelle is wearing a yellow/green Isabel Toledo. I like the choice of designer, but I question the color.

6:44 AM PST: Good morning, Obamaketeers! Welcome to history. Thank goodness MSNBC is inexplicably interviewing Kenneth Cole. Seriously. Fosco wishes he hadn't spent so much energy of late arguing for MSNBC's journalistic seriousness...

4 comments:

Jill said...

I was called a WILF once by a 15 year old boy...kinda pedi, but kinda cool too.

I'm enjoying your updates...I don't even need to watch it. My book club meets today...I wonder if anyone is gonna show.

FOSCO said...

Very cool, I think. :)

Oooh, what book?

todd said...

The New York Times has an interesting graphic on the language used at every inaugural address.

Jill said...

Loved the commentary, because I didn't watch any of it. Bush really got booed? Wow. That musta hurt.

We picked books to read for the next six months.