Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Inauguration Day And Light Bulb Moments



Chief Justice John Roberts couldn’t remember 35 words. What did you expect? Bush appointed him. Dur!






This made up for that.



















Later, the Obama family attended a 12 hour parade and danced at 1,000 inaugural balls. My president and First Lady can dance and they looked, well - HOT. How hot? I would have pay-per-viewed it. This kind of mutual attraction has never happened in a presidential marriage before.

When I was a kid, I remember my parents and older brothers and sisters talking about John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline. Mrs. Kennedy was clearly a big deal, but I never understood the way people fussed over first ladies because Jackie Kennedy was before my time.

My frames of reference were Betty of The Ford Clinic, boring Rosalynn, Nancy just saying NO, Barbara the bitch, Hillary the Health Care Lady done wrong and creepy, overly Botoxed Laura. Yesterday I had a light bulb moment. The First Lady whoopty-doo made sense when Michelle Obama made it official. I loved Hillary, but Michelle is different because I’m all ready fantasizing about being invited to lunch with with her and Oprah. Together we can change America (and be fabulous).

I called my father. “Dad, wasn’t the Inauguration amazing?” He’s a good old (old old old) boy from North Carolina, who loves his Jesus and worked for GM. He can’t say much because he’s sick but he told me, “I’m so glad. I like his wife. Those kids are… beautiful.” He choked up a bit. No lie. As he was saying this, I was watching TV and looking at the faces in the crowd. They were choked up, too. White faces, brown faces, painted faces – people of all color and creed. You are doing it right, people.

For most of my life Martin Luther King, Jr. was a dreamer from the vault and JFK was a Zapruder film. I have waited 41 years to understand how a leader could be revered and cherished in real time. I never expected to see what a good man looks like in the White House, but now I know. Light bulbs moments all day, is what I am saying.

If anyone asks me what January 20, 2009 was like, I would have to say that it felt like jumping out of an airplane and landing in my own bed, unscathed. “Did that just happen?” Yes!

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Dancing


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19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good morning, Mojo!

You know, Jimmy Carter is also a good man. Just saying.

And when I got to the theater, I wait until the end with the applause. Today is day 1.

LV

Mojopo said...

LV, bless. Jimmy kind of hung VZ out to dry way back when, but he's a fabulous elder statesman. Habitat for Humanity is something to be cherished. As a president, Jimmy was "presidential" as peanuts are to crackers. In other words, it's not an apt comparison to pitch Obama with Carter today. Just saying.

I saw it all on TV. We all got out of our chairs and stood by. Wept. Happy. Everyone is being good to each other. We are going to work this out, I think.

Mojopo said...

LV, I just added a dancing video to this post. This went on 10 times, and poor Michelle's feet!

Anonymous said...

thanks for the video and the pics. You're right about Michelle, she's hot!

LV

Anonymous said...

BwaAHahaAHaHAhAhaAhaaargh...

TGY

Anonymous said...

We should not forget Ladybird Johnson, because she had a really cool name AND she started the Keep America Beautiful campaign. You just wouldn't have believed how sloppy we were before she pointed it out to us. Go, Ladybird!

THIS Mojopost gets a HUGE 10 because it acknowledges how uber-ly my President and First Lady can GET.IT.ON! Well, we all knew my President Barack Hussein Obama can make boogie by his performance on Ellen Degenerators's show. That's why we voted for him!

THIS Mojopost gets another 10! because it makes us realize things have certainly turned 180! Here's a painful reminder:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwisQkmpqmQ&feature=related

This will be a nice break for those other peoples' President George Bush and his First Lady. He'll be able to get some drinking done now, and Laura will finally have time to get that big turd out she's been holding in her ass for eight years. Everybody wins!

Anonymous said...

JFK was the first president I campaigned for and voted for. Back in the day when you had to be 21 to vote, I was 21 in Oct, and the election was in Nov. I had the privilege of shaking hands with both JFK and Jackie. Didn't wash my hand for at least a week. Hell, I've still, have, or had a crush on
Jackie. When Jackie married Onassis, I got drunk for 3 days.
After last night, I now have a new lady to lust after. Like some other
poster said, "Michelle is hot"

Old Hippy

PapaPig said...

Guess I am an old Pig. Michelle is hot hot hot, but Jill is too. I pounded my computer table so hard when Vice President Joe Biden (love tying that) finished his oath. Sorry world, I never blamed Bush nearly like I did Cheney for most of our troubles. When Cheney was gone, the devil was out of the White House. That may sound extreme but it's how I felt. The relief was over whelming we would have a President wasn't ruled by his VP even though Biden could do the job very well himself.

I looked at this poll and I just checked them all. The only one maybe I could live without was constant TV coverage after maybe a few weeks of it. I was watching more TV yesterday and typing less than I have in years.

Yesterday was a big day alright. It was as exciting as Kennedy, no more.

PapaPig said...

I totally forgot one part of my post!

I went to

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

and low and behold, it's not blocked now by my kid protection software and it's in color!

I love it! :@) I am a pig in mud!

J9 said...

I wept on and off for most of the day, and like you MOJO, I get it now! I was way too young for JFK, and didn't truly understand how profoundly one family can capture the hearts and minds of a nation. Truthfully, I credited that to the naivite of that pre-vietnam generation. I thought we were way too smart and cynical for this. I've now realized that we are the same people, and we just needed the right leader.

Your friend, Rusty said...

The first election I voted in was the 1976 presidential election. I almost voted for Jerry Ford because of his wife.

Betty Ford was an outspoken supporter of abortion rights, the ERA, & candor when speaking with kids about sex and drugs. She also insisted on sharing a bedroom with her husband. (The Nixons and probably the Johnsons had had separate bedrooms and Betty put the kibosh on that.) I think it was Gloria Steinem who said that women sleep better at night because Betty Ford sleeps with the president.

She also almost single-handedly removed much of the stigma over having breast cancer. There was less whispering the words after she was diagnosed.

In the end, I couldn't have my first vote go to a Republican; too many ancestors would have haunted me over that one. But Betty Ford made me at least consider the possibility.

And yes, Michelle is hot.

Anonymous said...

I think Laura and George might have shared a bedroom as well on the evenings when he didn't pass out on the stairs.

Mojopo said...

Rusty, great comments. Betty Ford was, by all accounts, a very good woman and a humanitarian. But I'm afraid her story was lost on me as a child because she was tackling some adult subjects. Which is probably why I "get" Michelle. She's not much older than me.

Anonymous said...

I loved the dances and the whispers between Michelle and Barack. I thought it was very telling of their relationship and family. I think there will be a whole lot o'humpin' in the White House with the Obamas in da house! I think the girls are absolutely adorable also...



\\Speedy//

Anonymous said...

Papa Pig, this week's Mojopoll is fixed. Every single answer except the t.v. coverage thing is a slam dunk! That's why Mojo is letting us vote for any and all. Very wise of her, yes?

Anonymous said...

Lookit! Found this link to Boston Globe's superdooper, most excellent ever photo album of yesterday's magnificence at Jon Taplin's blogthing. Pictures from all over everywhere. Love it! I mean, LOVE it! This is for you, Mojopo, cuz yer so special xoxo.


http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01/the_inauguration_of_president.html

Anonymous said...

It's nice to see how much they dig each other. I was born when Mamie Eisenhower was the first lady.

Mojopo said...

Mamie? Well I'll be damned. That's some history right there.

A. Tu - well blow me down! That link was like a birthday present! Thank you, you special wonder!

Anonymous said...

Some of those photos made me weep and not much makes me weep. I'm jaded. Glad you liked, Ms Mojopo.