Finally, we come to the last full day of the Bush Administration. Normally, I don’t wish for a day off to be over in a hurry, but I think I’ll make an exception today. Hopefully it’ll be over soon.
Watching yesterday’s Obama musical variety show was interesting (and a little bid odd). I don’t recall ever seeing anything like that for a change in presidents (but then, we haven’t ever had a change like this, have we). Most of it was very good, some downright moving, some a bit on the corny side, and even a part or two that was downright boring (I’m thinking of whoever that white lady was that sang some smarmy crappy thing; I’m sure it was wonderful – just not my thing). A little bit for everybody, which I reckon is what it was supposed to be.
Our national anthem is still a pretty shitty song (can we change it to “America the Beautiful” or “This Land is Our Land” – the highlight of the day, for me, personally – already?), though the Marine dude did about the best job you can do with it. Jamie Fox did a great Obama impression, I thought. Shots of the crowd continued to prove that white people still look really stupid when they try to groove to the music (especially in winter parkas). If you’re going to do “American Pie” (rather odd choice, don’t you think? “Them good old boys drinkin’ whiskey and rye, singin’ this’ll be the day that I die.” Well, maybe it was rather apropos after all), why not get Don McLean to do it instead of Garth Brooks (who really got way too much face time, IMHO, and wouldn’t exactly be my first pick to do “Shout”). Well, gotta through some red meat to the crackers, I guess. Little Stevie Wonder aint so little these days, but he played a lot more on-key than Herbie Hancock, I thought (hard to tell with those jazz types; they can get away with playing lots of off-key stuff, and get praised for being artistic).
Mostly, it was pretty good stuff. And really nice to see so many people (of so many different shades) in DC, there, not to protest something bad, but to celebrate sea change, the likes of which this country hasn’t seen since, well, since ever, I think. People there, not to effect change, but to stand testament to it.
Good luck to the President-Elect, and to all of us.