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Inauguration Trip Friday to Sunday

Finally an account of our January trip to D.C. for the inauguration. 

Friday evening we dropped the kids off at Lisa's parent's house and then hit the road.

 twittericon on the road 7:32 PM Jan 16th

We spent the night at a hotel (in Ohio) and then continued the journey the next morning.

twittericonstarted seeing cars and buses headed to DC before we got to Pittsburgh 12:32 PM Jan 17th

We planned to spend Saturday and Sunday nights in a hotel (while the rates were still reasonable) and then Monday night with friends.  We stayed at the Econo Lodge Metro in Arlington.  It's got reasonable prices and quality and is a short walk from a metro stop.  After checking in we went to meet some friends for dinner in old Alexandria (Union Street Pub).

econo

twittericonat the hotel in D.C. Tonight, dinner with The Elders 5:28 PM Jan 17th

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Sunday morning we walked to the metro station and road into D.C.  Here are a couple of photos of the national mall with the multitude of portajohns and jumbotrons set up.

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twittericonon the mall. now, where to eat lunch? 12:08 PM Jan 18th

We tried to find our way to an Indian place for lunch, but Google Maps failed us.  We ended up choosing something else for convenience.

twittericonRio Grande Wrap at Bruegger's 12:38 PM Jan 18th

Here is a video of Lisa from lunch:

 

After lunch we walked back to the mall, thinking we might try to see the We Are One concert.  As we stood in front of the White House right next to the Washington Monument, several helicopters flew over our heads.  One landed on the White House lawn, greeted by a crowd.  Later we learned that it was President Bush.

twittericonhelicopters flew over our heads and one landed on White House lawn 1:34 PM Jan 18th

Here is a video of the helicopters:

 

 

twittericonin line for the concert. will we get in? 2:09 PM Jan 18th

twittericondidn't get in. headed for a jumbotron 2:27 PM Jan 18th

Here are some photos of the crowds watching the concert via jumbotron at the Washington Monument.

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Here is a video of the crowd near the beginning of the concert while Denzel Washington was talking:

 

 

twittericonfew seconds delay between audio and video on jumbotron. The Boss sings The Rising 2:43 PM Jan 18th

twittericon"Michael Scott" and Jamie Foxx tag team 2:54 PM Jan 18th

twittericonJamie Foxx does a good Obama impression! 2:56 PM Jan 18th

twittericoneveryone wondering who bettye lavette is 2:56 PM Jan 18th

twittericonbut know bonjovi 2:57 PM Jan 18th

twittericon"Forrest Gump" reading Lincoln quotes 3:03 PM Jan 18th

twittericon surrounded by an endless mosaic of colors...of hats, coats, and skin3:07 PM Jan 18th

twittericonJames Taylor 3:09 PM Jan 18th

twittericonJohn Legend 3:10 PM Jan 18th

twittericonBiden 3:13 PM Jan 18th

twittericondoes he still go by Mellencamp 3:16 PM Jan 18th

twittericonQueen Latifa (sp?) 3:21 PM Jan 18th

twittericonJosh Groban elicits chuckles from the crowd 3:24 PM Jan 18th

twittericonCal Penn and George Lopez. Is Penn Harold or Kumar? 3:28 PM Jan 18th

twittericonwill.i.am, Herbie Hancock, S Crow sing Marley's One Love 3:30 PM Jan 18th

twittericonObama bobs head to reggae beat 3:32 PM Jan 18th

twittericonTiger Woods 3:32 PM Jan 18th

twittericonJack Black sports a green tie and tag teams with Rosario Dawson 3:39 PM Jan 18th

twittericonGarth Brooks 3:41 PM Jan 18th

twittericonBarack bobs head to Garth too 3:42 PM Jan 18th

twittericonGarth leads the masses in Shout 3:44 PM Jan 18th

Garth Brook's performance, energy, and the way he engaged the crowd was one of the more enjoyable moments of the concert.

twittericonAshley Judd and Forrest Whitaker 3:48 PM Jan 18th

twittericonUsher? and Shakira and Stevie Wonder do Higher Ground 3:51 PM Jan 18th

twittericonneed the Chilli Peppers 3:52 PM Jan 18th

twittericonSamuel L. 3:54 PM Jan 18th

twittericonU2 sings Pride as sun peaks through the clouds 3:58 PM Jan 18th

As a U2 fan since high school (and someone who bought a U2/MLK Pride (In the Name of Love) t-shirt in Europe in high school and then wrote MLK quotes all over it as a freshman at Lipscomb, the U2 performance was certainly memorable.

twittericonBono gives shout-out to Israelis and Palestinians 4:03 PM Jan 18th

twittericonBono corrected the historical inaccuracy in Pride 4:06 PM Jan 18th

twittericonObama steps to the mic 4:10 PM Jan 18th

twittericonPete Seeger...This Land is Your Land 4:18 PM Jan 18th

Pete Seeger and crew's performance of This Land is Your Land was great…especially since the crowd was singing a long and laughing at the funny parts. 

Here is a video of the crowd during Seeger's performance:

 

 

twittericonBeyonce sings America the Beautiful 4:23 PM Jan 18th

After the concert was over, we made our way to a nearby metro stop.  After about 30 minutes waiting in line, we were on a train and headed back to the hotel.

twittericonin line for subway, Smithsonian stop 5:02 PM Jan 18th

twittericonthat was pretty quick. now riding in crowded subway 5:33 PM Jan 18th

Here's a photo of the crowded subway train:

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twittericonback at the hotel making plans for dinner 6:03 PM Jan 18th

We took a short walk to a restaurant near the hotel for dinner and watched the Eagles lose to the Cardinals.  Then we walked back to the hotel and watched the Steelers' game before hitting the sack.

twittericonBear Rock Cafe for dinner and football 6:17 PM Jan 18th

twittericonreclining in bed watching the Steelers 9:22 PM Jan 18th

twittericonPolamalu! 10:02 PM Jan 18th

How to Judge Obama

In John Dickerson's article today about Obama's budget (in which he highlights how it contains gimmicks of its own, just different and perhaps less egregious ones than have typically been used before), he raises an interesting question:

Rarely has an administration made such a big deal about its honesty and transparency...So we face a familiar question with the Obama administration of what standard to pick when evaluating the administration. Should we judge it against the Bush standard, which included lots of gimmicks—including not accounting for the Iraq war—or against the standard Obama sets for himself? It's not the first time we've come to this question. On government transparency, ethics and now truth in budgeting, the reality has fallen short of the bold claims. Obama's new ethics rules were heralded as the toughest in history, but after days of boasting we learned that there were exceptions to them. The stimulus bill was heralded as a model of transparency, but in the end, wasn't conceived transparently.

I say we do both.  Give him credit for the ways he surpasses the standards of Bush and his other predecessors but don't let him off hook for the ways that he falls short of the standards he claims to be setting.

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I Started Following Newt Gingrich

...on Twitter in case he had something interesting to say.  My verdict so far: not so much.  Here's a sampling related to Obama's recent address:

Nobody messes with joe and the smiles and nancy handshake resembled a democratic pep rally not a state of the union--sophomoric and silly

and

Speaker Pelosi standing up to applaud the private jet line while she flies around in a government jet at taxpayer expense verges on bizarre

and

Bobby jindal got a good national launch out of last night. His story is compelling.his values appeal to most americans

Especially that last one.  He did have positive things to say about energy, healthcare, and education.  I'll give him a little longer.  He's definitely a better Twitterer than Karl Rove who is mostly promoting his newspaper articles and TV appearances.  One of the more interesting aspects of the Twittering political pundits, in my opinion, is when you get to watch them interact via Twitter (for example, John Dickerson and Jake Tapper).

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Some good news...from Saudi Arabia

Via The Week (link):

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
First woman minister: In a rare breakthrough for women’s rights, Saudi Arabia appointed its first female Cabinet minister this week. Noura bint Abdullah al-Fayez became deputy education minister in charge of a new department of girls’ education. “This is an honor not only for me but for all Saudi women,” she told the Riyadh Arab News. “I’ll be able to face challenges and create positive change.” In his first Cabinet reshuffle since assuming the throne in 2005, King Abdullah also replaced the chief of the religious police and the country’s top judge—two men who were known as enemies of women’s rights. The judge, Sheikh Salih Ibn al-Luhaydan, ruled last year that TV station owners that broadcast “immoral” programs showing unveiled women could be killed. “This is the true start of the promises of reform,” said Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent pro-reform newspaper editor.

What did the Congressional Budget Office Really Say About the Stimulus?

I got a reminder today about the importance of reading your news from a variety of perspectives. 

An example (not today's) is opinions about the underlying causes of the current economic crisis.  If you only pay attention to a certain set news outlets, blogs, and message boards you'll "know" that it's all the liberal's fault for creating the Community Reinvestment Act and forcing banks to make loans to people who couldn't afford them.  From another set of news sources,  blogs, and message boards you might learn that half the sub-prime loans came from institutions not covered by the CRA, that institutions that were covered by it did less (not more) of the risky lending, that it wasn't the debt itself but the selling of the debt (bad debt chopped up and marketed as mortgage-backed securities to financial institutions).  They'll tell you it was actually the inevitable consequence of the Rght's march to deregulate, deregulate, deregulate (for example, the 1999 repeal of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial banks from Wall Street, is significant in this mess).  They probably won't tell you much about the Democrats' role in that deregulation.  Two claims in stark opposition.  Half of the population has been told and believes one; half believes the other.  Almost certainly the real truth is somewhere in between.  Even if it's not, you really need to hear both sides (someday I'll do something with this).

Today's example relates to interpreting the message of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office's statement about the proposed stimulus package.  I Googled "cbo stimulus."  The first link is to a US News & World Report article.  The second is to a Washington Times article.  There third is to the actual letter written by the CBO.  The letter is here.  Read it for yourself and decide what you think it's key message is.

When Amanda Ruggeri read the letter, she got the message that the CBO was saying "Stimulus Bill Could Meet Obama's Job Creation Goal in Short Term" and wrote an article for US News & World Report saying so (here).

When Stephen Dinan of The Washington Times read the very same letter, he got the message that the CBO was saying that "Obama stimulus [will be] harmful over long haul" and wrote an article saying so (here).  The implication of the Washington Times piece is that the CBO thinks the stimulus package is a bad idea...and I saw that very statement echoed, for example, on a certain "Grace Centered" message board.

What do I think the CBO's real message is?  Well, it's partly that the stimulus will almost certainly have a positive effect in the short term (h/t Amanda).  It's also partly that taking on such massive debt will probably have some negative consequences in the long run (no duh!) (h/t Stephen).  However, I think it's a gross over-simplification to say that the CBO was saying that the stimulus is a bad idea.  Let me point out that the CBO letter the emphasizes that...

...many things that make people better off do not appear in GDP at all. For example, healthier children or shorter commute times can improve people’s welfare without necessarily increasing the nation’s measured output in the long run (though spending in those areas would still provide short-run stimulus). Even legislation explicitly intended to affect output may also seek to accomplish other goals and can be evaluated accordingly.

That's the key to my take on the CBO letter.  The CBO's predictions about short-term positive effects on jobs and long-term effects on GDP (the cold, hard financial facts) are interesting and important but only part of the story.  A friend pointed out that this situation can be seen as an example of the "old approach" of making easy choices, delivering immediate benefits and quick payoffs at the expense of "real change"...an approach Obama has often condemned.  OK, maybe...but sometimes the immediate benefits are worth some long-term difficulty.  Next time I have surgery, I could decline the anesthesia in order to avoid it's (relatively) long-term negative consequences...but I think I'll probably take the anesthesia so I'll be spared the agonizing pain of the knife cutting my flesh in exchange for feeling a bit woozy later.  Needless to say, I don't know enough about economics and our economy to have a strong opinion about what should be done about the crisis, but I don't think it's absurd to fear that there will be a whole heck of a lot of human suffering in the short-term if the the economy collapses and that a slightly lower GDP in 2019 might be worth it to mitigate that pain.  The CBO's predictions about GDP are important to consider, but it's not as simple as just that.

That's what I think.

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