…until Barack Obama is our President. The city is nuts, as I sit here in the National Place Cafe (loving the free wifi), the excitement is palpable. Okay, maybe that’s because I’m sitting here eating a hot dog and fries, but the place is still a buzz.
Walking around the city, I’ve met tons of interesting people. College students that drove for days to get here, high school students performing in the parade, even a homeless man and former felon that told me the Inauguration of Barack Obama is going to turn his life around.
With millions of tourists in town, business seems to be booming. Everywhere I looked, people were selling Obama t-shirts, buttons, magnets, water, scarves, even bibs. You name it, you can probably get it with an Obama logo. I bought myself a few magnets and a button.
Thousands of volunteers were giving their own time on the National Mall to clean it up for tomorrow. They’re joining a national day of service observed by MLK Day. Along with them, military personnel with bomb sniffing dogs scoured the Mall for anything dangerous.
Scheduled tonight is a children’s concert at the Verizon Center, featuring Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. No, I won’t be going.
I have other plans. Some friends and I are staying in Georgetown, we figure already being in the city will give us the best chance to get close to the action come tomorrow morning. I do have a press pass for the swearing-in, but it doesn’t allow me into ticketed areas. The only perk is that I can carry my computer and video camera into the ceremony.
One good thing: My media guide gives me a very detailed look at what will happen tomorrow. Check it out:
- The U.S. Marine Band and the San Francisco Boys and Girls Chorus will start the proceedings at 11:30, followed by a few remarks by the head of Presidential Inaugural Committee, Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Cal.), then the Invocation will be delivered by Dr. Rick Warren.
- After a musical selection from Aretha Franklin, the Oath of Office will be administered to VP-Elect Biden by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
- Musical selections from Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriella Montero and others will precede the Oath of Office to President-elect Barack Obama, administered by John Roberts.
- Finally, we’ll hear Obama’s Inaugural Address, a poem and the Benediction, finishing with the National Anthem.
- Once he is sworn in, Barack will join thousands of other distinguished Americans in the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.
Okay, I’ve got to run. Most likely, the next time you hear from me, Barack Obama will be our President! Read The Daily Gamecock tomorrow morning and be on the look out for more posts from Keri and I. Speaking of Keri, she’s been taking some AMAZING pictures. Big props. See you guys later!
- Jonathan
P.S. What is this I hear about the possibility of snow in Columbia tomorrow? Maybe I won’t miss any classes after all.
