Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Happy Inauguration Day!

On a cold, snowy day in Munich--although it actually stopped snowing a few hours ago--I am watching the online video feed for today's inauguration. I have two sites running, one with British commentary (EuroNews on Joost) and one with American (Fox on Hulu). I've added The New York Times as well. It makes for a tri-strand antiphonal celebration that echoes (the Times feed is the first and loudest), but is nonetheless comprehensible.

It's moments like these that make us all into news junkies.

I can't remember feeling this excited and pleased at an inauguration in my adult lifetime. The "man on the street" in Germany, i.e., the taxi drivers whom I talk to--is a bit concerned that Obama will turn out to be same-old, same-old: they've watched Obama's cabinet choices and are not seeing the breath of fresh air and change that they'd thought they'd get. At least one cabbie wonders whether Obama will end up having tricked everyone. As for me, I'm hoping Obama's bringing experienced folks in to help get his own people up to speed.

Time will tell. But the world watches and waits, hoping for a turning point.

And it is more than time that we had a president who broke the barrier of prejudice. May all future elections be blind to color, creed, sex, orientation, race.

In lighter news, I've been woefully delinquent in posting here: I will come back over the next few days to fill in my recent travels to Berlin, Livorno, Trent, and Munich, as well as more about books and music, etc.

But in the meantime, happy inauguration to everyone: may today's ceremony augur well for all!

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