Obama Inauguration Day Fever Spreads
As the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama nears, excitement for the celebration is building all over the world.
In Canada, national broadcaster the CBC has launched a campaign to define Canadian culture for the incoming 44th President of the United States by collecting 49 songs from North of the 49th parallel. This song collection, aka “Obama’s Playlist,” is envisioned to help Obama better understand his country’s closest neighbor, ally, and trading partner. It is also a terrific diversion for Canadian envy, as the country eyes the charismatic, thoughtful, and intelligent leader to the south.
CTV news has just learned that U.S. president-elect Barack Obama will visit Canada for his first foreign visit after his inauguration later this month. Canadian’s will have a just to understand Obama’s perspective on Canadian US relations, and perhaps someone will sing one of the songs on the playlist.
Closer to the action, organizers are working hard towards tomorrow’s Inauguration Rehearsal reports the DC Traveler.Expect marching bands, marshaling, redoes, confusion, and traffic congestion if you are in the metro DC area Sunday. You will not see Obama or Biden though, for in true Hollywood style, stand-ins will be used for the starring roles.
With millions expected to attend the inauguration ceremony January 20th, and nightly rents in D.C. for private apartments checking in at about five-hundred dollars, (not to mention up to five figures for a single inauguration ticket), many are looking for extensive media coverage of the event as the next best thing to being there. CNN has announced that they will stream the inauguration live via the internet and through the popular social media site Facebook, whose users will be able to view the CNN live stream right in Facebook.
While many will not attend, and even fewer will be invited to exclusive inaugural balls, those moments tend to face quickly, like the bubbles on champagne. However, the words of the inaugural address are destined to become known to this and many generations to follow. When we consider Obama’s oratorial skills, it is anticipated that his speech will rival some of the most famous inaugural addresses in U.S. history:
“Abraham Lincoln told a nation descending into war in 1861 that “we must not be enemies” and called on “the better angels of our nature.” A victorious Lincoln in 1865 pledged “malice toward none, with charity for all” and vowed “to bind up the nation’s wounds.”
“Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933, amid the Great Depression, promised candor about the nation’s troubles while asserting that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
“Kennedy said that “the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.” He challenged citizens to serve their nation. “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”
Obama’s inauguration may be the first with it’s own corresponding Spider-man comic book story. Hitting the stands on Wednesday, Jan. 14, “Amazing Spider-Man” No. 583 will feature a five-page back-up story called “Spidey Meets the President,” written by Zeb Wells and with art by Todd Nauck and Frank D’Armata.
obama spider-man comic
As for the many firsts, Obama’s inauguration will be the most secure Presidential swearing in, with “a blast-proof limousine, fighter planes and heavily armed SWAT teams [that] will join up to 10,000 police. Police will set up 13 checkpoints to screen all those with seats lining the parade route, while teams of officers search the millions who will gather at The Mall. from across the country”
Obama Countdown
created by James Miller
