Will it Rain on Obama's Parade?
The new President would be inaugurated the next day. Washington was all abuzz, filled with political revelers eager to celebrate the official return of the White House unto Democratic hands.
But the weather turned awful. Workers departing Washington for the suburbs jammed Shirley Highway in Virginia as a developing blizzard suddenly made visibility and traction virtually impossible. Eight inches of snow would fall.
Leaving the District late that day, my carpool made its precarious way amid the 55 stranded vehicles we counted between the 14th Street Bridge and the old mixing bowl past the Pentagon. We fortunately made it home to Falls Church by 8:30 pm.
Things were so bad that many of the next day’s events were canceled. John F. Kennedy took the oath as the frigid dignitaries huddled, their applause muffled by their mittens. It was only 22 degrees at noon.
Seldom had Washington’s weather been so inhospitable for an inauguration. For the sake, at least of today’s visiting parade participants, let’s hope this time will be better. It has been on many such occasionsNevertheless, nobody will want to go there; it will be way too crowded, to paraphrase Yogi Berra.
Crowds for past inaugurals didn’t deter me and my family on a few occasions, but the predicted onslaught this time certainly will.
As I recall, when my family was considerably younger and venturesome, we trouped down to Pennsylvania Avenue for Nixon’s first or second inaugural parade. The price of bleacher seats being prohibitive then as now, we stood on tiptoes for a short while. But soon, many of the wealthier politicos in the bleachers began departing, giving us prime seats.
We were lucky, for the parade dragged on for another hour or so. Toward the end, with the bleachers virtually deserted, several dignitaries had yet to pass by atop their convertibles. Accordingly, it became fun for a few of us to begin hollering and jumping up and down, to wrangle a hearty wave and smile, and then a puzzling look from the official passing by.
A confirmed parade lover, I especially enjoy the bands blaring their favorite tunes. Favorites have included bands from Texas A&M, the University of Texas, Ohio State, and Tennessee--all particularly showy.
This year’s parade, I hear, will also include other contingents of note, such as the Lawn Rangers of Arcola, Ill., and the Lesbian and Gay Band20from New York. They were among the nearly 1,400 parade units that applied.
Whatever. Parades highlight those great college bands that nowadays typically get short shrift on TV. We used to look forward to halftimes of televised football games to see and hear the bands perform. They still do, while the TV stays crammed with every commercial minute possible.
For inaugurations, it’s different, since the TV channels have so much time to fill during those seemingly endless parades. And they will go on, unless of course the weather is too frightful. For the second inaugural for President Reagan in 1985, cold winds were blowing with temps of 7 degrees. No parade.
True, the swearing-in ceremony and speech before the parade is the official highlight, but it’s typically dull and filled with all the party hacks and dignitaries.
Nevertheless, I was determined for just once to sit in at the swearing-in, for George Bush in 2005. So I drove easily to the Springfield VRE station with its ample parking garage. However, our packed train arrived downtown late, plus there was a 20-minute wait where everyone arriving had to pass through newly installed security checkpoints. Then it started raining. Knowing enough to come in out of the rain, I did.
Poetic justice: The doused political types having to sit there included one who had ignored my earlier effort to obtain a press pass for the event.
This time I’ll take a pass and avoid the predicted hordes that will squeeze somehow or another onto that patch of hallowed ground with such a storied history of demonstrations.
Much earlier in life, I stubbornly drove in to work as usual despite pleas for us government types to stay home and avoid confrontations that might arise with the March on Washington in August 1963.
Venturing out onto the mall at noontime before the speeches at the Lincoln Memorial began, I was awed by the mass of humanity moving toward it.
The mood was prayerful, subdued. I saw buses full of longshoremen arrive and unload quietly. Hundreds of thousands gathered without incident, then listened in awe as Martin Luther King delivered his immortal “I have a dream” speech.
Would that the masses coming for Obama’s inauguration be as praiseworthy.
....Note: You can view recent past columns of mine on Staffordcountysun.com. Hit the "columnist" button
But the weather turned awful. Workers departing Washington for the suburbs jammed Shirley Highway in Virginia as a developing blizzard suddenly made visibility and traction virtually impossible. Eight inches of snow would fall.
Leaving the District late that day, my carpool made its precarious way amid the 55 stranded vehicles we counted between the 14th Street Bridge and the old mixing bowl past the Pentagon. We fortunately made it home to Falls Church by 8:30 pm.
Things were so bad that many of the next day’s events were canceled. John F. Kennedy took the oath as the frigid dignitaries huddled, their applause muffled by their mittens. It was only 22 degrees at noon.
Seldom had Washington’s weather been so inhospitable for an inauguration. For the sake, at least of today’s visiting parade participants, let’s hope this time will be better. It has been on many such occasionsNevertheless, nobody will want to go there; it will be way too crowded, to paraphrase Yogi Berra.
Crowds for past inaugurals didn’t deter me and my family on a few occasions, but the predicted onslaught this time certainly will.
As I recall, when my family was considerably younger and venturesome, we trouped down to Pennsylvania Avenue for Nixon’s first or second inaugural parade. The price of bleacher seats being prohibitive then as now, we stood on tiptoes for a short while. But soon, many of the wealthier politicos in the bleachers began departing, giving us prime seats.
We were lucky, for the parade dragged on for another hour or so. Toward the end, with the bleachers virtually deserted, several dignitaries had yet to pass by atop their convertibles. Accordingly, it became fun for a few of us to begin hollering and jumping up and down, to wrangle a hearty wave and smile, and then a puzzling look from the official passing by.
A confirmed parade lover, I especially enjoy the bands blaring their favorite tunes. Favorites have included bands from Texas A&M, the University of Texas, Ohio State, and Tennessee--all particularly showy.
This year’s parade, I hear, will also include other contingents of note, such as the Lawn Rangers of Arcola, Ill., and the Lesbian and Gay Band20from New York. They were among the nearly 1,400 parade units that applied.
Whatever. Parades highlight those great college bands that nowadays typically get short shrift on TV. We used to look forward to halftimes of televised football games to see and hear the bands perform. They still do, while the TV stays crammed with every commercial minute possible.
For inaugurations, it’s different, since the TV channels have so much time to fill during those seemingly endless parades. And they will go on, unless of course the weather is too frightful. For the second inaugural for President Reagan in 1985, cold winds were blowing with temps of 7 degrees. No parade.
True, the swearing-in ceremony and speech before the parade is the official highlight, but it’s typically dull and filled with all the party hacks and dignitaries.
Nevertheless, I was determined for just once to sit in at the swearing-in, for George Bush in 2005. So I drove easily to the Springfield VRE station with its ample parking garage. However, our packed train arrived downtown late, plus there was a 20-minute wait where everyone arriving had to pass through newly installed security checkpoints. Then it started raining. Knowing enough to come in out of the rain, I did.
Poetic justice: The doused political types having to sit there included one who had ignored my earlier effort to obtain a press pass for the event.
This time I’ll take a pass and avoid the predicted hordes that will squeeze somehow or another onto that patch of hallowed ground with such a storied history of demonstrations.
Much earlier in life, I stubbornly drove in to work as usual despite pleas for us government types to stay home and avoid confrontations that might arise with the March on Washington in August 1963.
Venturing out onto the mall at noontime before the speeches at the Lincoln Memorial began, I was awed by the mass of humanity moving toward it.
The mood was prayerful, subdued. I saw buses full of longshoremen arrive and unload quietly. Hundreds of thousands gathered without incident, then listened in awe as Martin Luther King delivered his immortal “I have a dream” speech.
Would that the masses coming for Obama’s inauguration be as praiseworthy.
....Note: You can view recent past columns of mine on Staffordcountysun.com. Hit the "columnist" button
posted by Ben Blankenship at
2:37 PM
