I just read the entry at Church of the Masses about the inauguration, and it is so good, I’m copying the entire entry below, just in case you don’t want to go visit her blog. (An excellent blog, BTW, especially if you enjoy movies or ever have thought of writing for the movies.)
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Just finished watching the hour-long prayer service that was W’s second inauguration. Wow, talk about not bowing to the sniping critics who hate you bringing your faith into everything! What a brave man.
And – have to say it – what a difference from Clinton’s inaugurations – especially the first one, which was such an unadulterated celebration of himself. Maybe it was becase he had a boatload of Hollywood folks orchestrtaing the events, but they seemed much more like an AFI Gushfest than the transfer of power in a democratic republic. Who can forget Clinton making the ridiculous pilgrimage to JFK’s tomb, biting his lip and staring at the eternal flame as if to say, “Hell, I’m here to pick up where you left off – (you skirt chasing son of a gun!)” Could anybody else hear Lloyd Benson’s intonation over that scene, “Mr. Clinton, I knew John Kennedy. He was my friend. You sir, are no John Kennedy.” Then there was my other “Most Nauseating Moment” – when Sally Field and Goldie Hawn ran out on stage during one of the inaugural galas, holding hands and saying something to the effect of, “Aren’t we all wonderful?!” It was, in short, revolting.
W’s got a whole other style – one that hearkens back to George Washington waving off being called, “Your Exellency.” “But, what shall we call you sir?” he was asked. “Call me, Mr. President.” W’s speech was one of the best I’ve ever heard. Huge ideals. Huge. Eloquent without being flowery. Delivered without one little stumble, in a voice of authority – “and not like the scribes/Senate…”
Would that all Americans would reflect on this speech and the ideals to which it challenges us. I have been wont to think that we are the last days of the republic – but maybe not…
