Inaugural Blog Posting

There is really nothing to say about the 2009 inauguration. The inauguration ceremony stands only as an institution that allows power to transfer from one administration to another while maintaining a sense of legitimacy within the government. Millions of people flocked to DC to witness this “historic” event. Yes, Obama is the first African American President… yay.
If you cannot already tell by my lack of enthusiasm, I watched the inauguration from my cozy sofa in a heated apartment. During the broadcast, the various news anchors bombarded me with a constant stream of useless facts and trivia about past presidential inaugurations. For those of you who appreciate historic events, Jimmy Carter’s walk along the parade route was lauded as “the most dramatic of many memorable scenes” in the history of presidential inaugurations (Washingtonpost, Jan. 21, 1977). I was unaware that Jimmy Carter occupied such a remarkable status in the history of the presidency. FDR’s first inaugural address is perhaps the best remembered but mostly only for his line “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Presidential inaugurations are not historic events. The actions of presidents are.
An inaugural ceremony was not a historic event. No matter how much you loved his inaugural address, that speech did nothing to change the world. The decision to close down Guantanamo did represent real change and is therefore an historical event. The logical counter-argument here is that the Obama inauguration is historic not for what it is but for what it represents. In this case, my ability to post this blog is historical because it represents the freedom of speech: one of the founding principles for our republic. Next time I post a blog, I expect all of you to enthusiastically attend the ceremony in Room 312.