Yes. We. Did.

Inauguration Day, 2009. A fantastic day at school, as Mike Thurston opened up his room for an inauguration viewing party. I feel fortunate to have witnessed today, for I feel it is a monumental day in American history--and not at all because President Obama is "black." To be honest, I feel its unfortunate that so much emphasis is placed on the fact that he is a colored individual--and the irony is that he really "isnt." And, at the very least, he isnt "African American." Not that any of this matters, because it doesnt. And people should stop making such a big deal about it. I respect Mr Obama for the way he keeps playing this off, rather focusing on the fact that we are all AMERICANS. And, I believe this is such a monumental day in American history because this is the first time in a very long time that this nation has been so moved, so inspired, so hopeful, and so loving of their leader. It is not, as they say, "business as usual."

The inauguration was actually pretty interesting and progressive for its religious references, and, if I were a non-Christian, I would probably be pretty upset. But, since I am a Christian who actually remembers that this great nation was founded by Christians with Christian ideals, I thought it was fantastic. Although very ironic. The minister who did the opening prayer is an OUTSPOKEN opponent of gay marriage (see the cartoon...hehe). And he ended his prayer with "in Jesus's name." Also, President Obama quoted scripture (from the Holy Bible). And the minister who did the closing prayer is himself homosexual, and, I found, quite racist in his comments. He'll go down in history I'm sure for his "and the browns can stick around....and the red man can get ahead man...." comedy. But, if you listen closely, the last thing he says is "and whites can do what's right," referring to the way in which whites, according to him, are perhaps the principle "wrong-doers" of our society. This, unfortunately, just continues to propagate more racism, as it creates a rift in our different ethnicity's. How is this not reverse discrimination? It was uncalled for for such a day such as this.


Some druggie they found on the street read a poem (sorry, but what the hell was that???), and Aretha Franklin left her voice at home, under her "big" hat; she made "God Bless America" sound like a cat getting raped. Oh well.

Izhtak Perlman and Yo Yo Ma were spellbinding in their John Williams piece: "Air and Simple Things." Nice to see one of my people (haha) being included in the festivities. Which reminds me.....where were all my Jewish brothers and sisters when Joe Lieberman was making such a noble run for the white house? That was historic, wasnt it? Ha ha....Mazel Tov, my friends....

Well, I'm off to watch the "Neighborhood Ball," where Jamie Fox, the MC, just remarked how "we can tell we have a black president by the way he just danced to that hot Beyonce song." Again, not to propagate more stereotypes or anything....

I look forward to us all being AMERICANS again.