|
So Lisa and I just got back from Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company - a hippie pizza place nearby that has a movie theater integrated into it. People eat pizza, drink beer, and watch movies. But today it was pizza, beer, and inauguration.
Yeah, I know I said we were going to go to D.C. But frankly we got scared away by the crowds, the insanity, the cold. I'm kinda sorry I wasn't there, but watching it in a theater full of happy people was still great.
I think the most important message to take away is that we truly do have a peaceful handover of power between two groups that share very little in their vision for America. Elsewhere, elections mean opposing leaders being jailed (if not shot) , people afraid to go to the polls, obvious rigging by the leadership, etc. Here, as soon as the people have spoken (and we'll set aside 2000 for the moment), that's it.
The most stirring moment for me, and by far the most delicious coincidence, was the quartet featuring Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma, along with pianist Gabriella Montero, and John McGill. McGill, by the way, is the principal clarinetest of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. If you just randomly wanted to find the best clarinest in the world, simply saying "Gimme the principal at the Met" wouldn't be a terrible way to go about it.
Anyway, an amazing thing happened: while they were playing, the clock struck high noon in D.C. And, per the Constitution, at that moment, Barack Obama was the President of the United States, oath taken or not.
That, right there, sent chills up my spine.
Then, of course, we've got a new president, but the Queen (of Soul), she's been around a while:
It's been a wonderful party day for the nation.
Peace, Lee
|
