Preserve, Protect and Defend

Preserve, Protect and Defend

It wasn't a high priority for me on Tuesday. I had other things to do. For example, I was behind in answering my email and knew I had a few letters I had to reply to. I also had to run to the store for a few things – milk, orange juice, bread – stuff like that. So when I got around to turning on the TV it was already 10:30 or a little after. Sure, I remembered that Tuesday was Inauguration Day. Sure, I knew it was going to be historic. I'd have been deaf and blind to not know the significance of this particular Tuesday in January. The TV and the radio had also been reminding me about it for weeks. Most of the media that I saw or listened to were responding to the upcoming Inauguration with rabid anticipation. The liberal press, that is. The righties weren't all that enthusiastic. The event wasn't probably as anticipated as, say, the second coming of Christ would be, but I'll bet it wasn't too far behind, at least to my eyes. Breathless expectation was the byword on TV and radio.

Anyhow, there it was, a little past 10:30 on Tuesday morning and I'd finally clicked on the TV. The commentators, anchorpersons and media functionaries were there, all bundled up in their warm winter finery, their breath steaming in the frosty air, their eyes and their apple cheeks glowing in the clear light of a bright Washington morning. Their words described the activities that had already occurred and which would occur later this day. Very little that the incoming President's family would do on this Tuesday would go unscrutinized.

Then the picture changed and you saw a limo pull up under the portico of the White House. Barack and Michelle Obama got out and were greeted at the door by George and Laura Bush. After hugs, kisses and back slaps, the two couples made their way into the building. It was time for a cup of coffee and some conversation before they would ride to the capitol for the ceremonies. They looked like old and dear friends.

I'd venture to say they were not.

I took a sip of my own hot coffee and watched some more.

Here are some of the images that have stuck in my mind from that day:

The politicians and dignitaries wending their way through the Capitol, walking through areas that my family and I had also trod. Many of the faces were familiar. Some I could put names to, some not. Others were totally unknown to me but undoubtedly important people .

I watched the former presidents and their spouses as they walked by – number 39, Jimmie Carter and Rosalynn; number 41, George H. W. Bush and Barbara; number 42, Bill Clinton and Hillary; number 43, George W. Bush and Laura. I missed the smiling face of number 40, Ronald Regan and his Nancy. They would have liked to have been among that company, I'm sure.

How calm was the face of the man who would be number 44, Barack Obama. How he looked like a man who was sure of what he was doing and had gained comfort from that realization. I'm sure he could NOT have been as calm as he appeared, but he definitely gave the appearance of calm confident determination.

His charisma had never been more self evident.

Michelle Obama and the girls coming in and sitting down. How happy and proud they looked.

Watching all the people descend the stairs to the podium's seating area and how they ALL were schmoozing, laughing and playing at politics as they made their way to their seats. I realized then that the majority of the people I was seeing in that area WERE politicians and schmoozing, shaking hands, backslapping and kissing babies is, for a politician, like breathing for the rest of us.

It's the ocean in which those fish swim.

How the oath of office was botched by the Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts. Thirty-five words. I guess it was nerves. I guess even a Chief Justice can feel the enormity of the moment. But Barack Obama, who's hand rested on Abraham Lincoln's Bible, knew exactly what the words were supposed to be and waited for the Justice to begin anew before repeating after him. There would be no mistakes from this man.

Not now.

(And to make sure, they did it all again the next day.)

The glory of the classical music from Itzhak Perlman, Yo-yo Ma, Anthony McGill and Gabriella Montero and how composed and comfortable they looked playing their marvelous music together on that frosty forenoon.

Aretha Franklin. Her sublime voice and her amazing hat.

Obama's stirring inaugural speech displaying his astonishing speech-giving prowess. How you felt your head nodding “yes, yes” as his powerful voice gave his words importance and weight. How he made you feel that anything was possible.

The sense of demarcation, of endings and beginnings. The old guard passing the torch to the new guy. A feeling of a pivot point being reached that divided that which was from that which is to be.

How quickly President Bush left the city after the ceremony – helicopter from the Capitol grounds, then the jet that used to be Air Force One to his old stomping grounds in Texas. And how abruptly the Bush era ended.

I wondered how many people across the world gave a sigh of relief at that moment.

I had promised myself that I wouldn't get too involved in the ceremonies, wouldn't get too involved in the solemnity of the occasion and then went ahead and got involved anyway. I felt the staggering weight of history as this young man raised his right hand and placed his left on the Bible – I saw the long hazy line of presidents before him who had gathered there to do the same, felt the spirits of those men looking down and lending their support to the man who was to continue their line, who was to shoulder the burdens they had carried, who was to walk in their footprints for a while. I saw a man who would leave his imprint in the sands of history no less than did Washington and Grant, Jefferson and Truman, Adams and Eisenhower.

I could hear the scratching of the pens as the scribes began a new chapter in the history books.

I watched the ceremonies on my television until 1:30 or thereabouts when I had to stop and get ready to go to work. I was going to miss the parade, but that was OK. I'd seen the important bits, the historical stuff. I didn't need to see the bands and the military groups marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. I didn't need to see any of the fancy balls being thrown all across the city. I didn't need to see the Obama's in their formal dress, dancing and celebrating. I'd seen the 44^th president of the United States start his term. I'd seen the first black man be sworn in as President of the United States.

I bore witness to history.

But I also felt a sense of the surreal qualities of what I'd seen. The ceremonies of the day seemed to have had the qualities of a dream or a fantasy, something from which I would soon awaken. I'd shake my head upon arising and wonder at the inventiveness of the sleeping human brain, how it could take the most unlikely set of circumstances and make a whole history out of them. My goodness, what would I dream up next?

But it was not a dream and it was not a fantasy. A 48-year-old black man is now my president, the leader of my nation and, in essence if not in fact, the world. He was duly elected in November and duly sworn in on Tuesday. The facts are the facts and reality is reality.

And how do I feel about it?

OK, I guess. He wasn't my choice, but I'm OK with that now. I'm a bit nervous about his politics. I'm a bit nervous about his age. I'm a bit nervous about his history.

But will he be saint or scoundrel?

History will judge the greatness of this man. The fullness of time will pare away the inconsequentialities of his presidency and will leave only the acts upon which he will be known. Will they be the acts of a great and wise statesman, another Jefferson or Lincoln? Or will he be simply known as the first black United States president with no distinguishing characteristics in his presidency? A political hack of the right color in the right place at the right time.

I guess time will tell.

But until then I'm going to wish him all the luck in the world. I don't think he really needs it but I'm going to wish it for him anyway.

I think this guy just might surprise all of us!