Donald Trump has been inaugurated as president of the United States.
Let that depressing news sink in. It's going to be a long, bumpy four years.
Eight years ago, I wrote a post on my original Journalistic Writings blog about President Barack Obama's inauguration. Four years later, when President Obama was inaugurated for a second term, I reposted it on my Journalistic Writings, Two blog.
And now we have Donald J. Trump. It seems we've gone from classy to trashy. How else does one describe going from a president who tried to be inclusive, was still married to - happily married to, from the looks of it - his first wife, was strong enough to take a stand without calling people derogatory names to someone on his third marriage (divorced twice), allegedly cheated on all three of his wives, bragged to Billy Bush (who seemed to be amused by DT's bragging) that he'd grabbed women by certain bodily areas, that one could "do that if you're rich and powerful enough", calls people he doesn't like or who aren't rich WASP (white anglo-saxton protestants) men derogatory names, and spouts off without thinking first, then has to back-track with "well, that's not I meant"?
Personally, I like how the writer Stephen King has referred to trump on Twitter as "he-who-shall-not-be-named." Lately, King has mentioned trump's name...but apparently is still not a fan. I just knew there was something I liked about Stephen King (besides his writing).
Of course, Trump didn't win the popular vote, but he did win the Electoral College's vote. I totally get the Electoral College being needed when the United States was in its infancy. But with technology the way it now is, there's no reason we can't have every person's vote count...Every. Single. Person's. Vote. Counting.
Back in August, I posted that Politics Make Me Sick on this blog. (They still do.) In that post, I mentioned one of my favorite writers, Anne Lamott. Anne wrote about George W. Bush during his years in office, and mentioned, "A friend called to wish me Happy Birthday, and I remembered something she's said many years ago, while reading a Vanity Fair article about Hitler's affair with his niece. 'I have had it with Hitler,' Peggy said vehemently...And I've had it with Bush."
At the time I read that, I thought, "Yeah. I can relate." But at the same time, I figured that after he left office, if I ran into George W. at, say, a barbecue or other gathering, I might actually chat with him and his wife for a few minutes - and actually be civil about it.
I can't, however, say the same about trump. I can't picture myself even crossing the street - crossing a two-lane street with maybe five cars on it all day - to say hi to trump. I am soooooooooo over trump.
It's going to be a long, bumpy four years.
Showing posts with label President. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President. Show all posts
Friday, January 20, 2017
Monday, January 21, 2013
Inauguration repost
I originally posted this in my Journalistic Writings blog on January 26, 2009; it deals with Barack Obama's first inauguration. I plan to write something later this week about today's second inauguration.
"I watched last Tuesday's historic inauguration of Barack Obama during a Visual Communications class. About ten minutes into class, the instructor asked if there were any questions.
"Yeah, can we watch the inauguration?" someone asked. It was the question on everyone's minds.
A computer hooked up to a projector came on so we could watch.
I've watched my share of inaugurations on television, been aware of others. When one has lived over five decades, one does notice a few things.
There were many historic aspects to this inauguration, though. Of course, there's the obvious: the first African-American to become elected president. Backing up to the election, it became clear early on that the Democratic nominee would be a first: either the first African-American or woman as a major party's nominee. That alone seemed to get many people's attention.
Then there is the number of people who flocked to Washington, D.C. to watch Obama's inauguration in person. According to The New York Times, "An estimated 1.8 million people watched the inauguration of Barack Obama in person, the most for any inauguration. At least that is what the mayor of Washington said; the Park Service, no longer in the head-counting business, won't contest that number."(1) (Referrenced footnotes at end of today's blog.)
According to The New York Times' article's multimedia segment, 44,000,000 people watched on their computers using live streaming web videos. This broke down to 26.9 million watching CNN, 9.1 million on MSNBC and 8.0 million on AP. (2)
These are record breaking numbers. This alone would indicate interest. I do know that those around me were excited. Almost everyone I spoke with over the days surrounding the 20th mentioned excitement, hope, a sense that our collective lives had taken a turn for the better. Yes, there are nay-sayers, but they seem to be in the minority.
When Obama was sworn in, those in the class room cheered. We watched President Obama's speech in its entirety. I mention this because the speech ended at 12:30, fifteen minutes after the class ended. Only one or two students left at the end of the class period; the rest of us watched, enraptured, at history taking place.
My oldest son, Jason, lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee. He does phone tech support. He told me that an older African-American lady named Anne works there. Everyone calls her Ms. Annie. She works part-time; as a part-timer, she doesn't always get to sit in the same place. But she usually tries to sit next to Jason.
Tuesday morning, Jason managed to save a place for Ms. Annie so she could sit next to him. Just before the inauguration was to take place, Jason and Ms. Annie left their phones, along with several other employees, so they could watch Barack Obama sworn in.
"Tears just rolled down Ms. Annie's face," Jason later said. Ms. Annie told the small group watching the inauguration that her father had been beaten up years ago for not crossing the street fast enough to let several whites pass, that he'd been hurt several times because of his skin color. "She told us, 'And now, we have an African-American president.' I wish my daddy were alive to see this."
So do I, Ms. Annie. So do I.
(1) "Streaming Onto the Mall, and Into Laptops," by Brian Stelter and Noam Cohen, January 24, 2009; Week In Review; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/weekinreview/25stelter.html?_r=1&scp=8&sq=inauguration,%202009&st=cse
(2) http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/01/25/weekinreview/20090125-stelter-graphic.html
"I watched last Tuesday's historic inauguration of Barack Obama during a Visual Communications class. About ten minutes into class, the instructor asked if there were any questions.
"Yeah, can we watch the inauguration?" someone asked. It was the question on everyone's minds.
A computer hooked up to a projector came on so we could watch.
I've watched my share of inaugurations on television, been aware of others. When one has lived over five decades, one does notice a few things.
There were many historic aspects to this inauguration, though. Of course, there's the obvious: the first African-American to become elected president. Backing up to the election, it became clear early on that the Democratic nominee would be a first: either the first African-American or woman as a major party's nominee. That alone seemed to get many people's attention.
Then there is the number of people who flocked to Washington, D.C. to watch Obama's inauguration in person. According to The New York Times, "An estimated 1.8 million people watched the inauguration of Barack Obama in person, the most for any inauguration. At least that is what the mayor of Washington said; the Park Service, no longer in the head-counting business, won't contest that number."(1) (Referrenced footnotes at end of today's blog.)
According to The New York Times' article's multimedia segment, 44,000,000 people watched on their computers using live streaming web videos. This broke down to 26.9 million watching CNN, 9.1 million on MSNBC and 8.0 million on AP. (2)
These are record breaking numbers. This alone would indicate interest. I do know that those around me were excited. Almost everyone I spoke with over the days surrounding the 20th mentioned excitement, hope, a sense that our collective lives had taken a turn for the better. Yes, there are nay-sayers, but they seem to be in the minority.
When Obama was sworn in, those in the class room cheered. We watched President Obama's speech in its entirety. I mention this because the speech ended at 12:30, fifteen minutes after the class ended. Only one or two students left at the end of the class period; the rest of us watched, enraptured, at history taking place.
My oldest son, Jason, lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee. He does phone tech support. He told me that an older African-American lady named Anne works there. Everyone calls her Ms. Annie. She works part-time; as a part-timer, she doesn't always get to sit in the same place. But she usually tries to sit next to Jason.
Tuesday morning, Jason managed to save a place for Ms. Annie so she could sit next to him. Just before the inauguration was to take place, Jason and Ms. Annie left their phones, along with several other employees, so they could watch Barack Obama sworn in.
"Tears just rolled down Ms. Annie's face," Jason later said. Ms. Annie told the small group watching the inauguration that her father had been beaten up years ago for not crossing the street fast enough to let several whites pass, that he'd been hurt several times because of his skin color. "She told us, 'And now, we have an African-American president.' I wish my daddy were alive to see this."
So do I, Ms. Annie. So do I.
(1) "Streaming Onto the Mall, and Into Laptops," by Brian Stelter and Noam Cohen, January 24, 2009; Week In Review; http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/weekinreview/25stelter.html?_r=1&scp=8&sq=inauguration,%202009&st=cse
(2) http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/01/25/weekinreview/20090125-stelter-graphic.html
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