Inauguration Day!

Yes, I watched the inauguration on streaming video - I had to work :-). Great speech - I want to listen to it again and/or read it. Could not believe the crowds! I even kept the video on until the parade was over, though I had to cover it up sometimes so I could actually get work done. I haven't watched very many inaugurations - Carter's, as he was the first president I voted for. A bit of Clinton's first one, I think. But most of the presidents elected since I became an adult were NOT those for whom I voted.

Which brings me to the one time I went to Washington on Inauguration Day. It was 1973, and I was NOT there to celebrate the president. I was there for the Counter-Inauguration. I went with Russ and some other people. My brother Scott was there, too, but I never did see him (he'd come from college in Ohio). We gathered at the Lincoln Memorial. Somehow, our group got included in the honor guard, and we ended up being part of the human square at the head of the parade, surrounding the major protesters such as Daniel Berrigan. I believe some of them were carrying coffins. We marched over to Constitution Avenue, then east on Constitution, ending up below the Washington Monument.

There, we sat for several hours and listened to speakers (of whom I remember Bella Abzug and Ted Kennedy). At one point, the mounted police rode towards some of the protesters, I think trying to push them down the hill, away from the Monument and towards Constitution. Other than that, it was pretty peaceful.

While writing this, I did some google searches trying to find reports of this protest. One says there were about 75,000 of us. Interestingly, the image search found several entries on Flickr, all of which were "currently unavailable". (Must be a conspiracy!) Wish I had some photos, but I don't think I do.

Anyway, that was the highlight of my political life.