In 1861, Abraham Lincoln's rail ride to his Washington, D.C. Inauguration took 12 days, included 100 speeches and was a security risk with a nation on the brink of Civil War.
The historic theme of the 56th Presidential Inaugural began on Saturday when President-elect Barack Obama got aboard the Amtrak's "Obama Express" in Philadelphia and gave the speech above. He will go on to give two more speeches, a total of three for the day.
The train was to stop in Willmington, DE to pick up VP-elect Joe Biden. Biden is a regular rider on this route to Washington. Both he and Obama, apparently will be supportive of Amtrak policy (which might make rail riders in Chicago fume diesel after an Amtrak derailment delayed commuters for hours):
From an Amrak discussion board:
Found this on his website...
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/addition...nsportation.pdf
"Barack Obama has been a strong supporter of federal financial support for
Amtrak. Obama believes we need to reform Amtrak to improve accountability. In many parts of the country, Amtrak is the only form of reliable transportation. In the U.S. Senate, Obama is a co-sponsor of the Passenger Rail Investment and Innovation Act of 2007, a leading act to provide long-term federal investment to Amtrak. As president, Barack Obama will continue to fight for Amtrak funding and reform so that individuals, families and businesses throughout the country have safe and reliable transportation options."
But, I digress.
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CNN has a good page, with various video links to journey. The views of the crowds cheering the train, which includes three press cars and "about 50 everyday Americans," as well as Michelle, Malia and Sasha, of course, were truly inspiring. They, no doubt, are Hoping inspiration can bring Change.
www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/17/obama.train/index.html
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NO GOLDEN TICKET: They expect maybe 2 million to join Obama in Washington, D.C. but to get anywhere close, you have to have a ticket. But the ticket I got in the mail would probably not get me any where close as low-level financial supporter to Obama campaign. Though it felt better than the standard junk mail I normally get. You need to have a colored-coded ticket.
Mrs. Fuhrer, my co-advisor for Youth & Government, did get a real ticket through a relative who is a registered lobbyist. She didn't have to pay for the ticket, just her travel. And she may blog here from inside a big-time ball or something. If she did want to sell her "free" ticket, she could probably have paid for her daughter's first year of college:
CNN reports here on tickets fetching five figures from ticket brokers.
www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/10/inaugration.tickets/index.html
This site had pictures of all the tickets to the inaugurations from 1925 to the present for the US Senate.
YOUR BONO UPDATE:
Oprah Winfrey's taking her show on the road next week for Barack Obama's inauguration - and she's bringing an all-star cast of stars with her.
Fans on Monday will see an exclusive, one-time-only, music performance by Bono, Wi
ll.i.am, Faith Hill, Seal, David Foster and Mary J. Blige of a brand-new song celebrating Obama's inauguration and her show's trip to D.C.
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher will also appear on Monday's show - and other stars, including Scarlett Johansson, will share special messages about the event.
Actor Forest Whitaker and musician Jon Bon Jovi will join Winfrey on Wednesday as she broadcasts her show live from chef Art Smith's "Art and Soul" restaurant.
PARTY PLANNING:
Plan to bring in something (food stuff, educational stuff ...or better yet both) as we have our own inaugural bash in class on Tuesday.
3 comments:
As I watched early coverage of the "Express," Joe Biden was introduced by the Willmington, DEL Amtrak director. In making his opening remarks, the VP-elect said, "I would call and say I can see the (the train's) light, can I make it. He (I didn't catch the guy's name) would say 'I don't know.' There seemed to also be some minor engine failure...I guess I can say that now."
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CNN's David Gergen said it was nice to hear from the VP elect, and gave us this tidbit.
"It used to be that the VP would take the oath of office, then make a speech before the President's oath and speech," Gergen said. "That changed with Andrew Johnson when Lincoln's Vice-President woke up with a cold and took a shot, or shots, of Brandy. Lincoln had to get him off the stage."
Here's toasting to another Lincoln/Obama reference!
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Also a toast to the soon-to-be First Lady. Michelle Obama is celebrating her 45th Birthday. This from ABC News' blog, Political Punch:
Today, Jan. 17th, is First-Lady-in-Waiting Michelle Obama’s 45th birthday.
The Obama family will, of course, be together on their whistle-stop train trip from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C. this year for most of her birthday.
President-elect Barack Obama indicated to CNN’s John King in an interview yesterday that the Obamas celebrated his wife’s birthday a little early.
“We actually had a little birthday party last night,” Obama said, referring to the couple's Thursday night dinner at Equinox restaurant.
“If you're going to miss it, better miss it earlier than miss it late," he joked.
Mr. and Mrs. Obama were together for her birthday last year as well. Just two days before the Nevada caucuses, they held joint events in Las Vegas on her birthday and in Reno the day after.
“Even though I’m campaigning, ladies, I just want you to know, I’m taking her out to dinner tonight,” then-Senator Obama said at an event at Ranchero High School on his wife’s birthday.
The Obamas hit Las Vegas that night, and the future President later recalled his astonishment at the price of a glass of celebratory bubbly.
“I took her out to dinner," he said. "At a fancy restaurant. Because she has just been so spectacular putting up with me on this presidential run. And I thought that I was being slick, I got her a nice gift, a piece of jewelry and I had it arranged to take to the waiter before we go to the restaurant. And I said, you know, 'Bring us a glass of champagne,' because Michelle likes champagne...
"Everything went off without a hitch," he said, "the gift came out, the champagne, Michelle loved it, she was feeling good. At the end of the dinner, I looked at the check and I did not realize you could pay that much for a glass of champagne, I mean wow! If I had known, I would have had a sip of this champagne. It’s Vegas, huh?”
-- Sunlen Miller and Jake Tapper
Good to know that Obama is really taking the "Lincoln's Heir" seriously.
First of all, Hi Mr. Wolak. This is Kacy. I wanted to say hi and discuss a little bit about the Inauguration. I am generally very conservative (as you well know), but I am slowly but surely becoming a fan of Obama and I am ready and willing to give him a chance as President. I really enjoyed watching the Inauguration live (since college allows for nice schedule breaks like that) and Obama gave a good speech and the whole cermony was great to see. I don't really remember seeing Bush sworn in so it was nice to see this and have this experience. Well, that is all that I wanted to say. Bye!
-Kacy
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