Inauguration or Coronation?

[Disney1976]

I live just outside DC in Northern Virginia. Last night's local newscast interviewed someone high-up on the Inaugural team and it was announced the Inaugural festivities would go on for four days (pre-celebration, day of community service, Inaugural, National Day of Prayer.) They will begin on Sunday and last through Wednesday with all DC bars and restaurants remaining open 24 hours per day throughout. I have a real problem with this on several levels.

1. Clearly this is a historic election and the new President should be given his due. His predecessors managed to get by with an evening of concerts and fireworks preceding the Inauguration. After the parade there were the parties and a wonderful evening of celebrations. GREAT! The morning after began with a prayer service of some sort and then that was it. I truly believe four days is pushing it. We don't anoint leaders here and this is beginning to seem more like a coronation than an inaugural to me.

2. The DC bars and restaurants being open 24 hours per day? Seriously? DH is a police Capt. downtown with his area of responsibility being the Mall and Capitol Hill (where Capitol Police and the Park Service are not responsible.) He also has duties at the waterfront. This area is not as full of bars as some others like Adams Morgan and Georgetown where they have serious crime problems the more the bars are visited. The City Council voted to keep the bars open as a revenue stream and a "hats off" because their guy won the election. The police department is rightly concerned with this change of heart on behalf of the city council. They don't have the manpower to control the crowds coming into the city let alone keeping them in order if you add alcohol to the mix.

The bottom line is simple. The Inauguration should be a celebration. I don't care who wins, this is a triumph of democracy and definitely calls for a party. I question the people planning this Inaugural (I don't think the soon to be President has anything to do with it) when in the midst of the economic woes we are in as a country, the President will be seen spending four days celebrating himself. I understand one of the days is dedicated to community service however, it doesn't count nearly as much when you do something because someone is watching. I won't even touch the Day of Prayer.

JMHO. Anyone else think it's a little extreme?

*CAVEAT* because this board is so politically divisive I will gladly say I didn't like or support either candidate so please save the "right-wing" baloney! Oh, and I'll be going on a cruise with the OT from DH working nearly round the clock for six days!

I agree with you, I think it's ridiculous. One day of parties and the traditional Inaugural balls should be sufficient.

 

[mrsltg]

Sounds like a great way to stimulate the economy in the area to me! I know lots of catering folks are traveling from Orlando to work the many events in the area. I'm sure they will bring in extra police and security from all over also. People will make money, pay taxes on this money, and it will be good for everyone all around!

Yes, it does sound good on the surface. They will bring in police from all over. HOWEVER, we have a problem in DC with one of the worst run police departments in the entire country. DH was at a meeting last week where the higher-ups were discussing how many officers were being brought in from far away places. Someone asked the obvious question - "where are they staying?" From DH's account you could have heard crickets chirping in the room. They seriously have not considered where these officers will be put up. There are no rooms left at the hotels. These are grown-ups, not high school students who will sleep in sleeping bags on a gym floor (at least, not in a non-emergent situation.) As I said to DH - "don't even think about bringing anyone home!"

I don't begrudge the man his celebration. I am just going to pray for a cold snap of Biblical proportions....

 

[MontanaZoo]

Seems like 4 days is typical except for the amount of people they're expecting.

Bush inaugural schedule crams a week's celebrations into 4 days
By Ian Christopher McCaleb/CNN

January 15, 2001
Web posted at: 8:20 p.m. EST (0120 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- This past year's protracted presidential election has been to blame for cutting a good number of regularly accepted and traditional practices short, and the harried atmosphere following the late resolution of the election has affected this year's inaugural ceremonies to a great degree.


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In this story:

Preliminary parties

Inauguration Day

The balls




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The transition effort of President-elect George W. Bush lost 36 working days as lawyers battled over the vote count in Florida. Holiday breaks were curtailed and the period between Christmas and Inauguration Day has been abuzz with activity as the new administration prepares to take over in Washington.

With the trappings, preparations and attendant difficulties of newly installed power to be attended to, this year's inaugural ceremonies also have been compressed, with festivities traditionally set for the week prior to Inauguration Day scheduled to begin two days before Bush is sworn into the presidency January 20.

And for such a monumental event, the Republican president-to-be is treating the return of his party and his family name to the White House as a relatively low-key affair.

Preliminary parties
Washington likely won't see the caliber of pomp, circumstance and high-profile activity it experienced when President Clinton came to town in January 1993 to take up residency in the White House. Inaugural week began in 1993 days before the actual swearing-in ceremony, with Clinton, his wife Hillary and their daughter Chelsea crossing Washington's Memorial Bridge on foot.


The Memorial Bridge traverses the Potomac River, linking the District of Columbia with Northern Virginia. Clinton's symbolic walk deposited him on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial -- the same structure that will play host to the opening of the 2001 inaugural program Thursday.

The Bush inaugural team has scheduled a ceremony to open their four days of events at the Lincoln Memorial, which is simply described as the official "Presidential Inaugural Opening Celebration." Events are scheduled to commence at 3:30 p.m. EST.

Friday dawns with the first official solo appearance of incoming First Lady Laura Bush, who will host a "Celebration of America's Authors" that morning at Washington's Constitution Hall.





STORIES
• Campaign promises could prove troublesome for Bush
• Bush inaugural schedule crams a week's celebrations into 4 days
• Education, tax cuts top Bush's Washington agenda
• Bush assembles defensive front in advance of Washington move


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Key players




The ceremonial salutes will continue throughout the day, with Vice President-elect Dick Cheney hosting a tribute to veterans at the Washington Convention Center early in the afternoon, and a concert to "celebrate America's youth" scheduled at Washington's MCI Center sports arena for late Friday afternoon.

That night, Republican groups from the states that birthed the 2000 ticket of Bush and Vice President-elect Dick Cheney will fete both men on their last night as private citizens.

The Wyoming State Society will hold a ticketed party for Cheney in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Hall of Flags. Cheney, who served as the defense secretary in the administration of the president-elect's father, is a Wyoming native who served the state during multiple terms in the House of Representatives.

And the Texas State Society will hold the first ball of the inauguration, with its "Black Tie and Boots Ball" scheduled for 8 p.m. at a downtown hotel in honor of Bush, the Lone Star State's former governor.

Inauguration Day
With Inauguration Day falling on Saturday this year, legions of extra tourists and local curiosity seekers are likely to descend on the expansive National Mall, which stretches from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol Building -- where Bush will take the oath of office late in the morning.

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Their numbers, combined with an expected large number of protesters and the shutting down of a number of central thoroughfares, should make for an exhilarating day in the most picturesque sector of the nation's capital.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee 2001 estimates some 500,000 people could be on hand for the day's events. This number does not include estimates for protesters. The Washington metropolitan police department is bracing for a crush of 700,000 people or more.

The Bushes will begin the day with a church service at St. John's Episcopal Church on Washington's Lafayette Square. George W. and Laura Bush will then be whisked over to the White House, where they are scheduled to enjoy coffee with outgoing President Clinton, whose two-term tenure will come an abrupt halt at noon, when Bush takes the oath of office.

The ceremony itself will kick off at 11:30 a.m. EST, with a call to order by Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, chairman of the joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

The Rev. Billy Graham will offer the inaugural invocation before Vice President-elect Cheney is sworn into office by Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Shortly thereafter, Rehnquist is scheduled to administer the oath of office to Bush with the same Bible used for President George Washington's inauguration April 30, 1789.

That Bible, a King James version printed in 1767, was also used to the swearing in of Presidents Warren G. Harding, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter and Bush's father, George Bush, in January of 1989.

Bush will then deliver his inaugural address.

Meanwhile, protesters are expected to fan out across the Mall's expanse. Not since 1973, when 60,000 protesters entered Washington to express their displeasure with the second inauguration of Richard Nixon, have so many activists been expected to try to get their divergent points across on a new president's day of anointment.

Many of those expected to make some noise on that day were present in Seattle for the raucous 1999 demonstrations against the World Trade Organization, the 2000 protests against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund here in Washington, and at the Republican and Democratic conventions last summer.

They'll be on hand to protest Bush's election victory -- with many preparing placards reading, "Hail to the Thief."

"Thousands of people are coming to protest on a host of issues, but they're all interconnected," said Brian Becker, a director with the New York-based International Action Center, which received permits last Tuesday to hold demonstrations at three locations near the inaugural parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The inaugural parade is set to get under way at 2 p.m. EST. Bush transition spokesman and incoming White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said last week that he hoped the protesters would accord the new president some respect.

"Even with the protests, President-elect Bush has said his job is to be president to all the people, and that what he intends to do," Fleischer said. "We've been very respectful of them, and we expect they'll be respectful of the President-elect."

The balls
Eight inaugural balls are scheduled to commence within two hours of the end of the parade up Pennsylvania Avenue, which should tail off at approximately 5 p.m. EST.

The inaugural balls are perhaps the most scrutinized events of an inauguration day, with celebrities and national luminaries expected to attend each event.

Each will open up at 7 p.m., in various portions of the city, and will be hosted by celebrities yet to be named. Musical entertainment will be provided for guests, each of whom will have paid $125 to attend. As for food -- so-called heavy hors d'oeuvres will be available, but all will have to pay cash at the bar.

"The inaugural balls will be a fitting end to a day filled with history, celebration, and patriotism," said Jeanne Johnson Phillips, executive director of the Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Bush and Cheney will make stops at all eight venues, entering to the strains of "Hail to the Chief" for Bush, and "Hail Columbia" for the new vice president.

On Sunday, Bush will attend a service at the National Cathedral, before presiding over an open house at the White House.

Come Monday, he'll settle in for the first official full business day of the Bush administration.

 

[CarlaKay]

Anywhere from 1 million to 4 million people may come to Washington DC for this event. I know two people who are going. Hotels are requiring a 4 night stay and so some of these events are trying to take into account the fact that a large number of people will be in DC for an extended period of time. You do not want to know how much hotel rooms are going for.

I also saw that they are bringing in several thousand port-o-potties for use at the Mall and that most offices will be open for people to use the restrooms. It is going to be an event and I am sorry that I am not going to be able to make it.

 

[Tinkerbelle's Mom]

I lived for most of my life right outside DC in Northern VA. I have attended every ignauration of my lifetime (even as an infant).

I am truly happy that I am now living in CA and will miss this one and it has nothing to do with Obama.

The idea of keeping the bars open 24/7 with that many people --- the horror. DC police officers work hard to keep the city safe but they have a hard enough time doing so without the added thousands to millions of people coming in for this event.

I do not mean to say that the people coming to celebrate will necessarily cause trouble - there are enough people in DC who will take any excuse to do so.

This ignauration will only give them the oppertunity to do so much more than they normally would have.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Excessive or not, I can't wait to get there.

 

[LakeAriel]

You're going? I am so jealous! I really slipped up when I didn't make reservations before the election taking this into consideration!!

You will be part of history! Though it will be wonderful watching on TV nothing is ever the same as "being there".

 

[CarlaKay]

Four days for an inauguration is way over the top to me. And having the bars open is just ridiculous. Just asking for trouble IMHO.

Most hotels are requiring a four night stay. Do you want 4 million democrats wandering the street of DC with nothing to do. The concept of some public service during this time period makes a great deal of sense.

 

[PatsMom]

Most hotels are requiring a four night stay. Do you want 4 million democrats wandering the street of DC with nothing to do. The concept of some public service during this time period makes a great deal of sense.

And they need the bars open to do public service? I don't mind 4 million democrats (if that is the number) wandering the streets. However, the idea of that many drunken partiers and the problems they could cause for the police just boggles my mind! I could find plenty of things to do in DC and the area for four days that don't require being in a bar.

I would feel the same if it were 4 million republicans by the way. This is not a political thing - I think that any inauguration that lasts four days is way over the top.

 

[bluesaturn]

Ironically, most of the people I know in this area have absolutely no desire to go into the city during that week. Too crazy. And it has nothing to do with Obama. I do alot of people who are trying to rent rooms in their homes though.

What scares me is the number of people coming that aren't familiar with DC. I worry about them wandering into the wrong area and being walking targets for crimes. 24/7 access to alcohol won't help this. As someone already mentioned, the people who already live here and cause trouble are going to see this as a golden opportunity.

 

[disneyjunkie]

You're going? I am so jealous! I really slipped up when I didn't make reservations before the election taking this into consideration!!

You will be part of history! Though it will be wonderful watching on TV nothing is ever the same as "being there".

Yeah, I lucked up on a room (only booked 2 nights ) the day after the election.

I've been trying to grab another for my sister's family but no luck. So my oldest niece (9) and nephew (11) are going down with my son and I. My sister, BIL and the 2 youngest kids will have to watch from home.

What scares me is the number of people coming that aren't familiar with DC. I worry about them wandering into the wrong area and being walking targets for crimes. 24/7 access to alcohol won't help this. As someone already mentioned, the people who already live here and cause trouble are going to see this as a golden opportunity.

It has never crossed my mind to worry about the” wrong side of town”. I figure I'll treat DC (or any other city for that matter) the same way I treat NYC. Just use common sense.