The Inauguration - One Man’s Thoughts
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Today, for the first time in 232 years, America has a black man as President. Note that I said, “black man” and not “African-American”. First off, I think the phrase “African-American” is completely stupid. The way I see it, you can be African or you can be American. You cannot be both. Secondly, President Obama is not African. He was born in Honolulu, his father was born in Kenya, and his mother was born in Wichita, Kansas. That’s a far cry from Africa.
I’ll be honest. I’ve never understood the need for all the “pomp and circumstance” - whether it’s a high school graduation ceremony or a Presidential inauguration or anything in between. Why is it necessary to spend an entire day listening to a pre-arranged program of speeches with the occasional patriotic song thrown in for good measure? Why not simply have the newly elected President take the Oath of Office, maybe deliver one short “here’s my plan of action”-style speech and then get on with the business of running a government?
That said, I have a question for you 1.5 million people who made the journey from all corners of the nation so you could stand shoulder-to-shoulder in 20-degree weather and listen to the President’s speech over a loudspeaker:
WHY?
I traveled all of about 50 yards and sat in the comfort of my living room where it’s 75 degrees and nobody bumped into me as I videotaped the ceremonies. I only had to compete with 4 other people for the bathroom while you folks freezing your buns off in D.C. were averaging about 400 people for each port-a-potty.
Someone is going to say, “Because I can tell my grandchildren I was there”. Yeah, I suppose you could, but it would be more truthful to tell them, “I was a mile and a half away freezing my butt off and I couldn’t even see what was going on. And, by the way, between the trip and the cost of the ticket, I managed to spend your inheritance”.
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IMO having an African father and an American mother makes him the very definition of African-American, more so than most people under that designation in the US.
Well, the way I see it, having an African father and an American mother might make him of African decent and American decent, but his nationality is still either African or American. Not both.
That was a witty and sarcastic comparison and i liked it. about your question:”Why is it necessary to spend an entire day listening to a pre-arranged program of speeches with the occasional patriotic song thrown in for good measure?”- It is done to distract us from some economic problems, for another week at least.