Surreal and scary- those are the two words that best describe my experience at Barack Obama’s inauguration. Surreal for the sheer impact and meaning of the thing- the culmination of so long a wait and so much seeming to ride on the man’s shoulders. Scary for the same reasons- the weight of a nation on one man and the knowledge that he could be snuffed out so easily. There- I said it- I thought about the possibility of Obama being assassinated at least 157 times in the 3 days I spent in the capitol. Mostly it just didn’t seem possible that it could happen- that any of it had happened, despite all the moaning of the cynics and pessimists- that we had a reason to be happy after these long 8 years. You heard it during the campaign over and over again, floating on the mouths and faces of people, he made a good speech, but he’s all talk. OK, he won the primary, but he can’t win the election. He’s too smart, he’ll sell out, he’s too black, not black enough. People say they’ll vote for him, but they’re lying. Everything about Obama’s run for office from the beginning had been plagued by a nagging sense that it was all fairy tale, too good to be true, to crazy to believe in. My fear for his safety stemmed from that feeling that there was still this hurdle to go over, one more big splashy chance for it all to evaporate into thin air. At the same time, the knowledge that I was going to watch him get sworn in was ethereal, just out of reach, like something I could reach for and not quite touch. So I carried both of those emotions with me to Washington, DC, to witness whatever was destined to happen.

I got to Washington the day before the Inauguration in a little over 3 hours- a record time considering the bus was late and I barely got a ticket. I had heard all the hysterical news anchors talk about the 4.5 billion buses or whatever number were supposed to come to DC that day, so I was fully prepared to get in 12 hours after my departure time of 8:30 in the morning. I had packed several meals and was in full survival mode- cooped up in my seat with 3 movies. In fact I was so nervous- reliving in smaller part the emotional breakdown/ sickness that characterized my experience on election day- that I ate all my food within two hours on the bus and promptly passed out from exhaustion. Imagine my surprise when we arrived an hour later, half an hour early. As if you needed another reason not to take cable news too seriously. Another moment of surrealism. I almost wondered if I had gotten the dates wrong.

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RTFA: http://www.stopthespying.org/

The president is unconstitutionally wiretapping the telephone and Internet communications of millions of ordinary Americans.
Companies like AT&T want immunity for their illegal collaboration with the President’s program.

And Congress might let them get away with it.

Stop the Spying Now!

This one is pretty basic. Your conversations have been recorded. Yes – that’s what this fuss is about. You thought you had a constitution to protect you, but now you feel like an idiot.

RTFA: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295805,00.html

A woman accused of running a high-end Washington prostitution ring says the U.S. government may be targeting her because Muslim men used her escort service before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In court papers filed this week, Deborah Jeane Palfrey said she might have to divulge classified information to defend herself against racketeering charges. She said the information possibly including the identities of customers from the Middle East could have national security implications.

She is asking a federal judge to schedule a secret hearing to discuss the information.

Everybody is pulling the “national security” card. This reasoning appears to be a little contrived.