We had a call out through the RTFA facebook group for someone to write a first hand experience of the inauguration.

Jason B. came through for us:

My day started at 5:30 am when a friend of mine who had also driven up from Atlanta called me to see if I was down town yet because there was already “a ton of people” out there. After procrastinating for another 2 hours, my parents, who had drove from Louisville, and I hopped on the Metro in Silver Spring and and headed into the city. Naturally the closer we got, the more crowded the train got, but the energy was amazing. Like everyone was on the same page. That energy seemed to get stronger after we got off the train and started walking with all those people. It looked like the pilgrimage to Mecca. The streets were packed! It was like Mardi Gras times 10…and minus 50 degrees. We made it as far as the Washington Monument and even though I couldn’t feel my toes I was just happy to be there. Bush Sr. came out and everyone booed him. Clinton came out and everyone cheered. Bush Jr. and Cheney came out and everyone booed hysterically. I booed Ray Nagan. When Obama came out everyone lost their minds! It was nuts. You looked out among the crowd and just saw a sea of American flags. That’s the image that I will always remember.

Thanks J!

RTFA: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4496829n

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Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin share their thoughts on the best and worst parts of current Vice President Dick Cheney’s career. Katie Couric reports.

Good point in the CBS comment thread: just because Biden has tons of experience with interviews doesn’t mean he’s the better candidate. Biden is a known critic of Cheney, so is this answer surprising? …but once again, I think this clip speaks to the preparedness of the two VP candidates.

It’s possible to be critical of Cheney’s actions without getting overly partisan.

For example, consider Cheney’s closed-door Energy Task Force which happens to have preceded the Enron scandal, California’s blackouts, inflation of energy costs unseen since the 1970s, and the inherent conflict of interest involved in being the former CEO of Halliburton, an energy services company. By the way: Halliburton has moved its headquarters from Texas to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, with the partial justification being that it will reduce costs by lowering their taxes.

As another example, consider the infamous Cheney decision to shoot down United Flight 93, which was the 9/11 hijacking airplane that crashed in Pennsylvania. According to the official 9/11 Report, Cheney deliberated over this decision in “the time it takes a batter to decide to swing.” Those are literally the words. While I do not disagree with the decision, I would like to believe that a world leader would be more considerate in a situation like that.

There are Cheney’s repeated attempts to deceive the US people into believing that Iraq was somehow involved with 9/11, even though there was no evidence to support this … even though Cheney’s office has now been convicted of criminal activity in attempting to fabricate the evidence and cover it up. It was Cheney’s office (if not Cheney himself) who blew Plame’s CIA cover, in retaliation for questioning the Iraq-9/11 link. …and Palin was caught red-handed repeating the Cheney rhetoric.

Finally, there is the duck hunting incident, and the attempt to cover it up during the days immediately following. It’s embarrassing, in the first place, but the attempt to keep the story from the media is par for the course, and damning.

…but that is seriously the worst Palin is willing to be critical of? This is scandalously wrong! As Biden points out, detention and torture is wrong, and so is Unitary Executive Theory. Palin seems to have no problems with any of this, and that in and of itself is troubling.

RTFA: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7280892.stm

Carlyle Capital Corporation, the fund manager backed by the giant private equity firm Carlyle Group, has not been able to meet several payment demands.

The company said it received margin calls from seven financing groups that totalled $37m and it was not able to meet four of those requests.

A margin call is a payment to guarantee a much larger debt or investment.

Carlyle Capital invested in assets backed by US mortgages, which have been hard to value since the credit crunch.

In a statement, the company’s chief executive, John Stomber, said the last few days had created a market environment that did not fairly value the fund’s assets.

He said that had caused “instability” and “variability” in the company’s financing arrangements.

He said Carlyle Capital was working with the companies involved to sort out the issues.

One creditor has issued a default notice and Carlyle Capital expects to receive a second such notice.

RTFA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJK6ApCcKPo&eurl=ht…

Dennis Kucinich, the only presidential candidate who voted against the Iraq War resolution, introduced articles of impeachment against Vice President Richard B. Cheney in the House of Representatives on April 24th. House Resolution 333 was drafted as a response to a Vice President who was “a driving force for taking us into war against Iraq under false pretenses and is once again rattling sabers of war against Iran…”

Wow – how did this story remain so quiet!?

RTFA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpD8csRt0lg&NR=1

Kucinich notes that Iraqi oil is protected from being privatized by the Iraqi constitution. He charges that the Bush administration must be investigated for what is an apparent attempt to illegally sell Iraqi oil.