I happened to turn on the TV this morning just as they were about to introduce the nation’s past-presidents at the Presidential Inauguration ceremonies in Washington DC. Not planning to watch the whole shootin’ shebang of an inauguration, I thought I’d hang around for a few to see how the presidents looked.
They looked … old. President Carter looked old the day he stepped out of office. President Bush I is walking poorly with a side-to-side sway. President Clinton’s hair is whiter than white. President Bush II has wrinkles galore.
But that’s a subject for another time, and for someone else to write about.
I paid attention to the crowd applause when each president was introduced, and graded the ovation on a scale of 1 to 10 (the one with the loudest cheers received the 10). Granted the coverage wasn’t equal for all of them, and the crowd was likely minority- and Democrat-heavy, but here’s the way I saw (and heard it):
Bill Clinton: 10
Jimmy Carter: 7
George H.W. Bush: 5
George W. Bush: 1
Of course, President-Elect Obama’s welcome was off the charts.
4 comments:
Your analysis doesn't surprise me. I really tried to avoid the entire Obama~mania thing. I'll get to see enough of it in "reruns" I felt sort of guilty, it is after all HISTORY. But I only felt guilty for a minute.
I really meant to say "THE" analysis, not just "YOUR" analysis. It made it seem as though you were biased and I didn't mean it that way.
Craig, I did not watch a lot if the inauguration. I am praying that our new president will make the right decisions. In my opinion, he already has strike one, closing Guantanamo. I HOPE I will be able to support some of his decisions. No, I am not bitter about the election results (I was not real excited about either candidate)but this new guy scares me. The main thing that scares me is the adoration of him. The whole world adores him and to me that is so odd. I believe the president should be respected, not idolized. Yes, history was made because he is the first black president, but I don't care about that. It seems that is what a lot of people care about instead of caring his ideals. I just want him to be an affective president. I want him to follow the job description of the president, not be an emperor. We shall see.
Well, I for one cried! It was all really touching. But ya know....he probably gets exponentially more adoration than he normally would because Dubya was such a flop.
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