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Purchasing cigarettes, Haagen-Dazs and a Playboy

From Michael Gerson, former speechwriter for George W. Bush (link):

For politicians, the teleprompter has always been something of an embarrassing vice -- the political equivalent of purchasing cigarettes, Haagen-Dazs and a Playboy at the convenience store.

This derision is based on the belief that the teleprompter exaggerates the gap between image and reality -- that it involves a kind of deception. It is true that there is often a distinction between a president on and off his script. With a teleprompter, Obama can be ambitiously eloquent; without it, he tends to be soberly professorial. Ronald Reagan with a script was masterful; during news conferences he caused much wincing and cringing. It is the rare politician, such as Tony Blair, who speaks off the cuff in beautifully crafted paragraphs.

But it is a mistake to argue that the uncrafted is somehow more authentic. Those writers and commentators who prefer the unscripted, who use "rhetoric" as an epithet, who see the teleprompter as a linguistic push-up bra, do not understand the nature of presidential leadership or the importance of writing to the process of thought.

Governing is a craft, not merely a talent. It involves the careful sorting of ideas and priorities. And the discipline of writing -- expressing ideas clearly and putting them in proper order -- is essential to governing. For this reason, the greatest leaders have taken great pains with rhetoric. Lincoln continually edited and revised his speeches. Churchill practiced to the point of memorization. Such leaders would not have been improved by being "unplugged." When it comes to rhetoric, winging it is often shoddy and self-indulgent -- practiced by politicians who hear Mozart in their own voices while others perceive random cymbals and kazoos. Leaders who prefer to speak from the top of their heads are not more authentic, they are often more shallow -- not more "real," but more undisciplined.

(h/t Political Punch)

I'm sure the citizens of Iowa are quite proud...

... of Sen. Chuck Grassley.

First he told an Iowa radio station that AIG executives ought to

...follow the Japanese model and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say I’m sorry, and then either do one of two things — resign, or go commit suicide.

Then he breaks out "that's what she said" during senate budget debate.  Here is the video:

(h/t HuffPo)

Obama Derangement Syndrome

Familiar with the phrase "Bush Derangement Syndrome" as coined by Charles Krauthammer?

the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush

Well, in case you haven't noticed, the virus has mutated.  The new version is very similar, except now it's associated with Obama.

I've seen the symptoms cropping up everywhere lately.  Here are a few examples:

Freaking out because Notre Dame invited the POTUS to speak at commencement (because his views on abortion conflict with the teachings of the Catholic church), but a Catholic university awarding an honorary degree to a pro-choice, pro-death penalty, pro-Iraq-war (all of which are in conflict with the Catholic church) secretary of state is perfectly fine.

Delighting in the thought that Obama's extensive teleprompter use is a sign of some critical character flaw...despite the fact the previous POTUS was famous for inserting his foot in his mouth...thinking that Obama is an idiot despite being able to talk intelligently and extensively about policy with or without a teleprompter...despite the fact that he has a BA from Columbia and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law.

Believing that the stock market tanks every time Obama speaks, taking day to day stock market declines as a sign of his failure, yet being strangely silent as the stock market goes on an extended multi-week surge...even though it's now up since Obama took office.

Freaking out about a bill with bipartisan support that significantly expands the AmeriCorps program for national service...claiming he's planning to take away your kids for some sort of Hitler-esque youth squad.

Claiming that Obama's gallows-humor chuckles during a 60 Minutes interview are signs that he doesn't take the economic crisis and the suffering of the little guy seriously...that an unfortunate but self-deprecating reference to Special Olympics on Leno shows what a horrible guy he really is.

Obama proposes reducing taxes for 95 % of us and increasing the tax rate on the rest by a few percentage points, returning it to where it was under Clinton (a level that is low compared to some historical levels)...and it's proof-positive that he is a Marxist, a Socialist, a Communist, and this is clearly no longer the country we knew.

Ridiculing Earth Hour (in which people around the world are encouraged to take the symbolic act of turning off the lights for an hour) as childish and silly, while completely missing the childishness of encouraging folks to do the opposite (turn on every light in your house)...and calling Obama an "extremist tyrannical president."

Don't get me wrong.  I don't deny that there are plenty of philosophical and policy issues where many folks will have profound differences with Obama.  Even a guy like me (who is generally in agreement with Obama on many issues) can see plenty of mis-steps and imperfections in his brief presidency thus far (I'll write about those sometime soon)...but folks, remember how silly Bush Derangement Syndrome looked (looks; it's still out there)?  That's how you look now.  Derangement syndromes aren't admirable no matter who the target is.

Inauguration Trip Tuesday

twittericon up at 5:30 for early start into D.C. 5:57 AM Jan 20th

twittericondecided to drive to Rosslyn metro. route was blocked but used navi 6:44 AM Jan 20th

Originally we had planned to try to take a bus from Aleix's to Rosslyn.  However, the parking garage we parked in on Sunday was pretty convenient and reasonably priced (~$40 for inauguration day), so we decided to drive to Rosslyn and park.  The route we'd taken on Sunday to get to Rosslyn was closed (except for buses and taxis), so we were briefly worried about getting there.  However, we were able to use the navigation to head in the right direction and arrived without much difficulty.  We were also worried that the trains would be packed by the time we got to Rosslyn.  It was crowded, but we were able to squeeze onto the first one.

twittericonnow on packed train but not moving due to sick passenger on a train ahead of us 6:46 AM Jan 20th

twittericontrain inching along. dressed too warmly for sardine can 6:57 AM Jan 20th

twittericontrain moving pretty steady now 7:04 AM Jan 20th

Here's a photo outside the Federal Center South West metro stop.

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twittericonate hot dog outside metro station. Donovan McNabb got out of a limo right beside us. 7:32 AM Jan 20th

Since we didn't eat breakfast, we grabbed a hot dog (unexpectedly, they were spicy) and Coke outside the metro station.  While we were standing there, a limo drove up next to us.  A cop was yelling at the driver to move it out of here.  We were surprised to see Donovan McNabb and several fur-clad ladies (looked like his mom and aunts, perhaps) get out of the limo and start walking toward the inauguration.

twittericonstanding in line. gate opens in 15 minutes. 7:46 AM Jan 20th

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Here are a couple of videos from when we were standing in line:

 

 

 

 

At one point as we stood in line, a group of elderly African Americans broke into a gospel song.  Too bad I didn't get it on video and that they didn't continue singing because it was nice to hear.  We should have encouraged them to keep singing. 

twittericonline turns into a sea of people but no progress is evident 8:43 AM Jan 20th

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twittericonmoved a little 8:46 AM Jan 20th

twittericonwe're through security 9:29 AM Jan 20th

Here's a picture of security:

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After a couple of hours in line, we were finally in our ticketed area to watch the inauguration.  We were in the silver section.  It was so far away from the action, that Lisa didn't even realize it was a ticketed section when she first looked at the map of the inauguration area.  We were basically on the mall, just in front of the mall area where you didn't need a ticket.  Since the steps of the capital were so far away, we positioned ourselves in front of a jumbotron.

Here are a couple nice photos from the AP (from the nice collection on the Boston Globe's site) where I've indicated our location.

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A photographer named David Bergman took a 1,474-Megapixel photo during the inaugural address.  You can zoom around in the picture.  If you zoom into the area of the jumbotron in background on the right hand side just past the water, you might be able to catch a glimpse of Lisa's green hat.  Here are the links for that:

1,474-Megapixel photo: link

Post on David Bergman's blog: link

The audio was poor.  It wasn't loud enough, there was a delay, and you also heard it with even more delay coming from other places on the mall.  I was surprised that at both the concert and the inauguration they didn't have the technology to have the video and audio in sync.  At least at the concert it was loud enough.  I followed things by reading the closed captioning.  For shorter people like Lisa, that wasn't much of an option either.  It was quite cold.  The crowd blocked the wind, but your feet became quite cold.  Everyone was complaining that the toe-warming packets weren't working.  Standing for so long took quite a toll on our backs too.  All in all, it was great being there with the masses of so many different kinds of people sharing in the moment, but the conditions weren't so great for actually viewing the inauguration.

twittericonstanding in front of a jumbotron with the capital rising behind it 9:46 AM Jan 20th

twittericonis it capital or capitol? the latter, I think 9:47 AM Jan 20th

twittericonat least the sun is out but it's still so cold 10:20 AM Jan 20th

twittericoncrowd chants Teddy 10:43 AM Jan 20th

twittericonchorus of hearty boos for Lieberman 10:47 AM Jan 20th

twittericoncheers for Colin Powell 10:49 AM Jan 20th

Here are some photos I took:

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Here is a video of the crowd:

 

 

As soon as Obama finished talking, many folks starting trying to leave.  We did too because Lisa's back was bothering her so badly, so we missed the last prayer.  However, it still took quite a while before we were able to get out of the venue.  People were taking apart the fences to try to get out but still having a hard time finding an exit.  Here is a photo of the area afterwards:

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twittericonwalking to Rosslyn after hot choc and a cookie 2:06 PM Jan 20th

Rather than waiting in line to get on a crowded metro, we walked out of the city and back to Rosslyn (after stopping for hot chocolate and a cookie).  It took about an hour.  Here are a few photos from the walk:

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Here is a video I took while walking out:

 

 

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twittericonBaja Fresh Mexican Grill before hitting the road 3:06 PM Jan 20th

By the time we got back to Rosslyn, Jonathan was starving so we grabbed a bite to eat and then hit the road to head back towards Michigan.  We didn't have much trouble getting out of town except some initial difficulty due to road closures. 

It was a fun weekend and quite an experience.  We were definitely glad we only had 2 tickets (and therefore decided not to bring the kids).  I doubt we'll do it again (unless we have much closer tickets!).

Inuaguration Trip Monday

 twittericon today's agenda: drop van at Aleix's, CoC/Inauguration Tweetup, Slate Political Gabfest live... 9:58 AM Jan 19th

We checked out of the hotel and drove toward Aleix's place.  Instead of dropping the van off at Aleix's and getting a ride to the metro, we decided to drive to Rosslyn and park there.  Then we took a train into the city.

twittericonObama look-a-like on the metro getting lots of attention 12:15 PM Jan 19th

twittericonsaw an eagle swoop in and land in a tree during the drive this morning 12:25 PM Jan 19th

We made our way to the Hawk and Dove restaurant for the CoC/Inauguration Tweetup.  We met online friend GKB and his wife Sara as well as several other ACU folks there (like Tanya, Brandon, Matt; still bummed that Freeman and Stanley bailed on the trip).  The restaurant was crowded, so we packed in as many of us as we could around a few small tables.  Here are a couple photos:

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Most of those folks were planning to meet Shaun Casey for dinner, but we had other plans (Slate's Political Gabfest live).  Casey is a graduate of ACU who now teaches at Wesley Theological Seminary in D.C.  He was Obama's evangelical outreach coordinator during the campaign.  We decided to make our way to the Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church to hear Shaun Casey's symposium talk "The Wisdom of Serpents: Christians and the Obama Administration."  A new friend from the Tweetup (Matt Lowe) went with us.  We tried to get on a nearby subway, but the lines were enormous.  There were also huge lines as people were trying to pick up their inauguration tickets.  That's when we realized what a big favor Fitz had done for us by picking up our inauguration tickets from Dave Camp's office on Friday.  We ended up hoofing it over to the church, arriving just in time for Casey's talk.

twittericonlistening to Shaun Casey at Mt Vernon UMC 2:53 PM Jan 19th

After Casey's talk, we walked around a bit and found the metro stop for the trip back to Rosslyn after the Gabfest.

twittericonin line for Slate political gabfest 4:38 PM Jan 19th

Here are a couple of photos from inside the synagogue were the live Gabfest (a political podcast that we listen to) event was held:

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After the Gabfest we took the metro back to Rosslyn and drove to Aleix and Libby's house.  It had been nearly twenty years since I'd seen Aleix, so it was great catching up with him and meeting his wife and kids.  They're political insiders, so it was also great fun talking politics over order-in Italian dinner!  We went to bed kind of late considering the early alarm we set for the next morning.

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