Well, if we continue to do what “the folk” want (this time neo-lib vs. neo-con) we will get more of the same. We just disagree. It’s not unusual—most people love this shit. I just dont get it.

My complaint is that there are so many other things we need. You know that.

The people who need it the most get NO bang for this buck, like the people who wanted to see the HBO concert, but didnt have cable, or the abc “neighborhoods ball” (cool name for a “sold out” ball!), but, possibly couldnt get abc, without the new digital boxes, which the govt has inadequately funded.

My main complaint was not “security” but Pepsi buying the Obama logo! How (not ) cool!

This country continuously says “fu*ck the poor”. I am tired of it.

You know what else it needed to be spent on.

For Americans and their sappy celebrity culture, it seeems like a lot of bang for the buck.  I looked at about five minutes of the Inaugural—last part of Obama’s speech—and there was hardly a dry eye.  At the side of the video (this was on a web site) sappy messages of joy, hope and adoration poured through.  It was clear that the coronation absolutely thrilled the folk.

Much of the cost (besides the mere 45 million we’ve been discussing) appears to be due to Security Mind, which is something else the people enjoy and are willing to pay for.

When hysteria and paranoia can work together, everyone is deliriously happy!

On the whole, I’d say you’re seeing democracy in action.  As well as plutocracy.  And those of us who think we know better can enjoy making fun of it, or deploring it.  So what’s your complaint?

Anarcissie—I didnt say “just now”.  You think it is just fine how much money is spent on these ridiculous balls. Good. Try to get an invitation next time. Save up your money.

Once it gets past a couple million, it just boggles my mind. Maybe we need a bailout ball.

If you feel that way, defend the money spent.

We have become a plutocracy.

Become?  Just now?

Now it is President Obama. America thrives on its own mythology; television, or for that matter, nearly all media, demand some absurd narrative.
You know the old saying, hope for the best but expect the worst. I hope that things work out for Barry and he sees the light of a better path to guide this nation… but that is all it is, hope, without much evidence of that possible outcome, if any at all.
For all the talk about how remarkable this inauguration is, the most remarkable part was that Mr. Obama put together a campaign team that was able to send him to the POTUS promised land. Part of this was luck, but more of it was tenacious skill. Why didn’t Mrs. Clinton have her own David Axelrod, to explain the importance of the caucuses?
Face it, the opposition was punched out before they even knew what hit them. The media became biased for Obama? Of course they were! In the buck bucks world of infotainment, Barack Hussein Obama is the ultimate cash cow product. Its like no matter how many scream for campaign finance reform, it will not happen. There is too much god damn money being made.

Anarcissie—Contrarty to what you might think, I am not a big fan of Obama. ...that being said, I am critical of ALL of them—well,most of them.

MONEY just has to much power here! The whole world knows it, and, if that doesnt change, I dont see how you can think that much else will.

I am tired of the trappings of democracy, and, lectures from the rich, and the poor do without. Every gd peneny since the bailout is soaked from the blood of soldiers and workers. Its not fair and I dont like it. If you have fun watching it all.

Yes, I feel enormously better knowing that Obama’s spending on himself (love, pepsi) only grew slightly more than inflation. I shall certianly rest easy.

We have become a plutocracy.

The comparable figures are Bush, 42.3 million, Obama, 45 million.  (45-42.3)/42.3 = .0623, that is, an increase of 6.23 percent over the last four years, almost certainly less than the rate of inflation.

The real story here is that the media story was a complete, total, vacuous, malign fake, originated by professional right-wing liars, and we were fed it on TruthDig, as dumb as the folks out in Televisionland.  Doesn’t that annoy you just a bit?

Anyway, maybe I’ll watch a video of some of it later and get my 15 cents’ worth.

Anarcissie—I read it. It cost a little less than had been reported. It is still way more than has ever been spent.

Media Matters critiques the Inauguration cost story:
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200901170003?f=h_top

I’m surprised they didnt have Toby “Boot up your ass” Keith, just to appeal to Salazar’s fans..

Entertainment value? Let’s see, well Sunday saw fit to send the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl. The grudge match between Baltimore and Pittsburgh proved once again, that in the NFL, when two teams rely heavily on defense, it nearly always comes down to who makes the biggest offensive mistake. In this case, it was Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu intercepting a pass in the fourth quarter and running it in for a touchdown. Troy Polamalu was the name on the back of his jersey, even if you could not see it beneath all of his hair…
Oh yeah, BHO on HBO, I almost forgot. How exciting to see Garth Brooks with his Cowboy hat and wireless head set. Simply fabulous darling, simply fabulous!

Also, at HBO.com…if one is so inclined

Here, in my city, they are showing it free—Time Warner Cable. I guess that they had better…

But, most people who would be able to watch anyway, probably wouldnt even notice…

I thought that they had to show it on basic cable—-that is what someone said…

??????? No problem with this???

I do not understand

Do you mean to tell me that the music part (the only part worth watching, for me, unless they sing “We are the world…”) is only going to be on PAID HBO?? No….

Please tell me that that is not the case..what, 3 days of music on pay-per-view or what??

To bring a little bit of levity to this affair, now that the live HBO broadcast has begun, I decided to check today’s television schedule.  As I assumed, there would be no change in scheduling the NFL playoffs.  I just had not realized that the broadcaster going up against HBO to provide today’s “football fix” is none other than Fox;  so we probably know what the Lame-Duck-in-Chief is watching this afternoon!  Regardless of my personal tastes, I shall be very curious to see if the ratings numbers get published tomorrow.

OK—I am saving “rage” for bigger things. I will reserve disgust for this one…I know about all the studies on “implanted” consumerism, but, I really feel that we need to break out of it.

A small action towards it could lead to others. (Maybe kids saying, “hey, the big show is NOT so important, it is what he’s going to DO! not what he looks like, his hoops, etc”“.) As it is, they will see stars, Obama, and the bling. While some are watching it on a
“commuhity tv”. I see what Anarcissie and Stephen are saying—I just think that it DOES ,matter—-and who really knows how much…

The distinction between entertainment and reality has become a complete blur. That is why you can find people showing clips of “24” to justify torture. Pot boiler movies such as the recent “Vantage Point” reveal that that the latest (and coolest) gadget cell phone, can also be the deadliest. To so many in the corporate world the internet is just an enhanced shopping experience… and really, is that not what the Obama e-mail newsletter is all about? Obama has become a multi-billion dollar industry.
This reminds me that I have friend who works with f/x out in Hollywood. He told me about a time some effects went off prematurely, involving the Governator himself, Arnold.
He was worried he told me, that he if accidentally injured the future Governor, he would be damaging a billion dollar industry. “I would never work in this town again,” he told me soberly.
BHO=HBO… did I miss a meeting or what?

KDelphi, those “people” who “live for entertainment,” so to speak (that being Anarcissie’s key point, which I also support), have had their behavior conditioned by the commercial media.  That kind of conditioning has roots in our culture going back at least as far as patent medicine shows;  but it really kicked in with a vengeance when the same mathematical theory of optimization that was first put to the test during the Second World War (by Robert McNamara, among others) was applied to advertising practices.  Much of our addiction to consumerism has to do with the alliance between advertising and entertainment, to the point where the very prospect of an entertainment spectacle now makes “Mr. and Mrs. America and their 2.2 children” salivate lake Pavlov’s dogs!

Anarcissie is right.  We should reserve our outrage for bigger things.  The deliberate conditioning of the American public into a population of consumerist addicts is one of those bigger things.  We should rage against the disease, rather than a mere symptom, such as an “entertainment Inauguration” to fill broadcasting time between the Golden Globes and the Super Bowl!  (Don’t expect that rage to attract any attention over at Change.gov, though!)

Anarcissie—You know that I agree with most of that, but WHY?? WHY do we “have to put up with it” and WHAT “people” are these that want this crap? Wouldnt campaign finanace rerform take the wind out of this? I am not just talking about PE Obama—

WHY do they want it—because other presidents do it? Who stops it? How bad does the economy have to be before it backfires?-

Do they really want a monarchy? Do you think Carter was phony when he turned down so many luxuries and sent his daughter to public schools? (I am only asking about that aspect of Carter) Are we ever going to be able to elect a non-millionaire?

If we are going to do this, I’d rather be singing “God Save the Queen”! At least she doesnt have to be “sponsored” by BIG CORP, and, doesnt make decisions about things like war (well, Congres is supposed to , but they have pretty much ceded that)..at least other countries are up front about their “elites”

When Sarkozy was with Dubya , on Martha’s Vineyard, they were out on that yacht, off the “Bush family compound”. Some papprazzi took some pics, which showed Sarkozy in a bathing suit with sopme fat hanging over. The French president, apparently, didnt like that (it didnt look so bad to me!) But, boy, MSNBC “let him have it”! Matthews says, “Well, we have to let Saroky know that, here, we dont treat our politicians like royalty!!” very angrily…

I actually called MSNBC—the irony was too much! “So, we need to let Fremch President Sarkozy, who is on a Compound , with Bush, on Martha’s Vineyard, on a yacht,—-well, he needs to know that out politicinas are ‘just people’!!” Right…

I am just sick to death of it. And, you know, it has never been so much “in our face”, as the last 2 decades. At leaast if it was, I was not paying attesntion…

KDelphi:
‘Anarcissie—Didnt you check out the links? WE are not paying for it. Regular donors are not—-big multi-natl corporations buying commercials are paying for it. THAT is the problem.’

As I said to Stephen, that means we, or at least the working people, are paying for it.  But this seems to be what the people want.  It’s like a big football game, or a big movie.  It’s entertainment.

Mr. O, whether he is a different kind of person or the same old kind of person, is almost certainly not interested in entertaining us.  He’s out to entertain Mr. and Mrs. America and their 2.2 children and give them a day—an extremely corny day, I imagine—that they won’t forget.  That instinct is why he’s being crowned King of America, and not somebody from Truthdig.

Although I will pay no attention whatever to the Inauguration, I would not be pleased to hear that Mr. O had put on some kind of poverty and humility act because I would consider it to be phony beyond belief.  For the time being, we are stuck with the monarchical presidency, and we might as well tolerate the hoopla that goes along with it.  Unless, of course, one can derive some amusement from making fun of it.  Whatever—I‘m going to reserve my outrage for bigger things.

The Inauguration expense is ludicrous, regardless of where the money comes comes from.

I wonder if anyone caught this humorous gem on TV.  I saw it on the BBC World News this afternoon. They showed a clip with the Obama family and entourage standing by the train that brought them to DC. It seems that one of his children got too close to the tracks. At that point, Obama said: “Don’t fall through. That would really mess up our inauguration.”

I hope The Daily Show comes across that one. It would be a good way for them to start the new era in political humor.

Why not let Obama’s inaugeration day REALLY live in history, as the day that the first Af Am president, decided to donate the money given to him by corporations , to a local DC homeless shelter—-now THAT would be inspiring in a REAL way!

Some of Obama’s supporters seem to be much more sensitive about “racism” on his behalf, than he himself, is about the topic…

Die Hard—Do one better—plenty of people in DC, on the streets, would be very happy to have your peanut butter that day.

I am more than a little concerned that The Die Hard should assume that this particular line of criticism of the inaugural ceremony “smacks HARD of racism.”  Such reasoning follows the same path of those who assume than any voice critical of Israeli policy must, of necessity, be an anti-Semitic one.  The “Obama style” has shown itself to be one of direct, but reasoned, criticism.  I doubt that Obama himself would assume that puns such as the one at the other end of the hyperlink I provided at the beginning of this discussion about a “Splurge Administration” would be taken as racist.  The Die Hard should be careful about what flags he chooses to wave!

As to elitism (sour-grapes or otherwise), I know that the mere fact that I tend to both read and write passages more than a few paragraphs in length that almost never have anything to do with celebrity life automatically pegs me as an elitist.  On the basis of such membership criteria, I suspect I share the category with Obama.  That is a major reason I voted for him, having had more than my fill of the simplistic and specious rhetoric of the last eight years!

Finally, for those who have been trying to count the budget items, my aforementioned post also noted that, within the context of the economic crisis, we may well be talking about a number in the range of statistical noise;  but, as they say, “It’s not the money, it’s the principle of the thing.”  For Obama to stand before the nation (if not the world) and say, “Enough of this shit!” would ultimately be just a symbolic gesture;  but it would be a very powerful symbolization of what he meant by “change we can believe in!”  Personally, I think he should just take the oath of office at the Capitol and then take the kids to a shelter to pick out a puppy, after which the whole family can turn in early to prepare for the next day being a REALLY busy one!

Fadel—I agree with your points about the inaugeration, and, wish it would be so.(that the money were used for a “higher” purpose) But, the American people seem to need their royalty—

I have felt this way about ALL US inaugerations, this one is just alot more expensive and commercial!

As for the Judeo-christian aspects that have steadily become more audacious, as the years pass, I think that it is bordering on unconstitutional, and, could be offensive to anyone of another religion than Judaism or Christianity. I am an agnostic, and I dont like it at all.

That being said, I dont expect it to change. But, it would be nice if we didnt end up with FUNDAMENTALIST preachers at every damn inaugeral, trying to show how “religious” the new president elects’ are! It sesms that, rather than show “non-bias”, US presidents are “required” to show their christianity! It is not right…

sorry about typos—-it is 1 degree here, and my RA is screaming!! (arthritis)

There is indeed a disturbing level of vainglory in the American inauguration events; it’s vainglory bordering on crude chauvinism.

Moreover, it has a disturbing circus-like media aspect to it.

Additionally, Americans treat the installation of new presidents as if they were installing their own little emperors. No wonder then that all this gets to the heads of those new presidents and they start acting like little emperors or as God shadow on earth!

Especially during these difficult economic times, the vainglorious aspects of the inauguration hoopla border on social insensitivity to the plight of the average citizen.

If I were a wise version of Obama, I would forgo all these vainglorious activities and devote the millions of dollars spent on this occasion to rescue some of the millions of citizens who are facing foreclosures on their homes! 

Another disturbing aspect of the inauguration formalities is how much religion is incorporated in it. The president swears on the Bible, which even Bible scholars have determined that it’s a tampered with version of the original. Furthermore, there are two religious figures involved in delivering religious invocations. And there is always the invocation of the name of God in the speeches of the presidents. I find this very disturbing more so in a system that keep bragging about the separation of religion and state!

I really want to know how the many atheists or agnostics on Truthdig feel about this last point of my comment!

The Die Hard—If you had checked out any of the links I provided, you would have found that there are MANY “celebrities” who are HUGE donors! Many are playing at the pre-inaugeral and inaugeral.

We know that celebrities are in it for the money. Obama is not supposed to be.

If you want to live on peanut butter, and, donate , go ahead. People seem to be under the false impression that this is taxpayer money—-well, in a way it is. But, it is the big multi=nationals.

Some people in DC will not tell their grandchldren about it because they are homeless and wil be dead…

The people are always foregoing necessities so that the multimillionaires can party Same/same.

I have been angry about money in politics since before Clinton. Why should this be any different—oh, that’s right—it was supposed to be..

You would think with all the troubles facing this country and world, Obama would simply forgo all the unnecessary pomp to go about the business of solving problems. But wait I forgot! Obama is the latest product of the celebrity driven industry.
Are you not simply dying to know what your well-heeled stars are doing? What kind of puppy will the Obamas get?

Anarcissie—Didnt you check out the links? WE are not paying for it. Regular donors are not—-big multi-natl corporations buying commercials are paying for it. THAT is the problem. No, no new president could “chamge” that DC is all about money and nothing else. But, a GESTURE—at the convention, inaugeration, etc, could make a difference. Just a sign that this “different kind of person” “gets it” , just a little bit!!

THe one that bothers me the most is Blue Cross Blue Shield. I know that you think that none of this stuff matters, but, in my opinion, it does—-very much. The whole world knows that we dont have a democracy, and, that the uS is all about money. I am tired of it.

The Inaugertion is up to $150 million now, and it is obscene. HBO is buying up rights (hope you get regular cable—if you want to watch—there are good bands, at least). And, the Dems are releasing the rest of the Haves and Have mores bailout plan, which the majority of the population is against, with very few restricitons.

I know that they are throwing a little unemployment in there, but, 40% (I think) weil be more tax cuts. It didnt work before it wont work now. If the economy happens to “do a little better”, everyone will say, I guess, that Obama’s tax cuts work, where Bush’s didnt!

Apparently , you think that it has to be like this. (Youve said so before)It doesnt, and, isnt, in societies where the people are not so easily sucked in.

HOw about some money back into middle class peoples’ IRAs? I had family and friends who were praying for the first bailout money, and it has helped them not at all…Third World Country—when they cut social security and Medicare.

$50 million is less than 17 cents per person.  At the Federal level, it’s trivial.

People get ready, there’s a train comin’
You don’t need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin’
You don’t need no ticket you just thank the lord

People get ready, there’s a train to Jordan
Picking up passengers coast to coast
Faith is the key, open the doors and board them
There’s hope for all among those loved the most
There ain’t no room for the hopeless sinner whom would hurt all mankind
Just to save his own
Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner
For there is no hiding place against the kingdoms throne

People get ready there’s a train comin’
You don’t need no baggage, just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin’
You don’t need no ticket, just thank the lord

It is NOT $27 it is $50 million now, and, if that is chicken feed to you, you must have gotten your pension back from Madoff!

Movies are private enterprises, usually for profit. A public servant is not supposed to be marketed at all.

An Inaugeration should be for the entire population.

I know that most US politicians still are, but, this is just too much.

I find the marketing disgusting, while people die in the streets. The concert on HBO, the dolls, plates, coins—-he is becoming a tool.

Go ahead—send him and Bill some more money—youre paying it to the corporations , to charge you higher prices so that they can advertise, anyway.

$27 million is chicken feed.  That’s less than most mainstream movies cost.

This link is to Socialist Worker, which shows what certain corporataions donated:

http://socialistworker.org/2009/01/16/buying-clout-with-obama

“According to Charles Andrews writing for the MRZine Web site, as of January 6, Obama’s presidential inaugural committee had asked for and received more than $27 million in donations—and that number didn’t include donations of less than $200….”

I do not care how historic it is—-with the economy as it is, it is ridiculous not to consider what else could have been done with it. The same with the Conventions.

“..Almost $18 million of the total came from fewer than 400 people, who each donated the maximum of $50,000. In addition to Bill and Melinda Gates, others who forked over $50,000 include executives from “ExxonMobil, Sony BMG Music, military contractor mogul Henry Crown, Fletcher Asset Management, Stephen Spielberg’s DreamWorks, Coca-Cola, the Royal Bank of Canada and a bunch of corporate law firms,”.....”

From Campaign Finance INstitute:

Here is Washington Bureau, Media General:

http://www.mgwashington.com/index.php/news/article/corporations-sponsoring-floridas-own-inaugural-bashes/2304/

.

“....For instance, Blue Cross Blue Shield is donating $50,000 to an unofficial Jan. 19 “Sunshine and Stars 2009 Florida Inauguration Ball” at the prestigious Corcoran Gallery of Art, a sold-out, black-tie event that organizers hope will feature an appearance by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist.” ( Any power over the “health insurace for all that we’ll end up with?? Nah…)

Other corporate donors to the same event, according to a list voluntarily provided by organizers, include: CSX, Florida Power and Light, Progress Energy Inc., the Seminole Tribe of Florida; Medco; Southern Company; the United Space Alliance; and the Florida Association of Realtors.

In all, as many as 600 elected officials, lobbyists and others are expected to schmooze and celebrate at this unofficial gathering. Tickets ranged from $250 to $500, based on a desire to attend the entire reception, dinner, dance and dessert, or just the dance and dessert

I, too, received an email from Bill Clinton for “inaugeral goals”—I found it insulting.

“The committee has raised more than $27 million, most of it in single checks of $50,000 and $25,000, and has a goal of between $40 million and $45 million. The inaugural is likely to be the most expensive ever but will also include events for the public in what the inaugural committee calls the most open and accessible inauguration in modern times….”

Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman for the committee, says it is on track to meet its fund-raising goal. She did not have a breakdown of donations from small donors but said that many people donate without being solicited because they are “inspired by the goal to make the inauguration accessible.” (roll eyes here)

She also said that the committee’s online store, which sells inaugural paraphernalia, is doing a “robust” business, with 6,000 people having bought items ranging in price from $2 to $400.

Mr. Clinton’s fund-raising letter is essentially the same one sent out earlier under the signature of David Plouffe, Mr. Obama’s campaign manager.

The second letter, like the first, offers the chance to win one of 10 free trips to Washington for the inauguration.

Oh, I guess I should mention—I didnt send them anything. If you think it is a good idea—feel free to give Clinton and Obama money!

Public financing is the only answer.

According to Buzzflash the Reverend Warren compared himself to Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, and Mao Tse-tung in a gathering before a large crowd at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA, home of MLB’s Anaheim Angels.

When I read what Warren actually said I came to a very different conclusion. I think that he compared the mass-drawing power of Jesus for his preaching to the mass-drawing powers of Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, and Mao Tse-tung for their political speeches. Even so, it is pretty weird to attach THE icon of Christianity to three icons of repression and mass murder.

Inaguration always inspires me to listen to one of my favorite songs from 10 or 12 years ago.

“The State Lottery” by Propagandhi

Does it seem strange to you?
The confetti. The balloons.
The mile-wide grins and the victory dance to welcome
in the heir to a state of disrepair?
Because it sure seems strange to me: they’re acting like they won the lottery!
I mean, shouldn’t they feel terror at the task that lies ahead:
to feed and house the people that this system’s left for dead.
And could I have hit the nail much harder on the head?
It’s profits before lives.
They are motivated by greed.
First they taught us to depend on their nation-states to mend our tired minds,
our broken bones, our bleeding limbs.
But now they’ve sold off all the splints and contracted out the tourniquets
and if we jump through hoops then we might just survive.
Is this what we deserve?
To scrub the palace floors?
To fight amongst ourselves?
As we scramble for the crumbs they spit out,
frothing at the mouth about the scapegoats that they’ve chosen for us.
With every racist pointed finger I can hear the goose-steps getting closer.
They no longer represent us so is it not our obligation to confront this tyranny?

The article does not make clear what the private contributions pay for. The federal government should reimburse the municipalities, at least D.C., for the additional police costs.

Unions, as representatives of workers, should not be limited if the rank and file wish to participate. Corporations should not be allowed to voluntarily contribute. They should be taxed, or assessed, by the government as a ready source for cash.

It is a big day in America.

Stephen Smoliar:
‘Anarcissie, the problem is that any costs to those “financially strapped municipal and state governments” will probably fall back on the taxpayers!  I have just tried to look at this all through different lenses.  Extended thoughts are at:

http://therehearsalstudio.blogspot.com/2009/01/payi ng-whole-orchestra-of-pipers.html

I was just kidding.  I know that the rich pay for nothing and the working people pay for everything.  Politicians and bureaucrats take the money in taxes, fines, fees, surcharges and so on, and the owners and managers of corporations take it in profits and corporate welfare.  We pay them to rob us, and then we celebrate the theft and lionize the thieves.  But sometimes I like to take a little rest from my cynicism.

Marie, they will boogie their brains out in the biggest party and hangover of the year.  This party pales to nothing compared to the treasury robbery of 350 billion taxpayer dollars gifted without restrictions to the banks. Nice try though…

In case you missed it, this is an historic event. Never before in this nations history has an African-American been elected to the Presidency. That aspect alone is worthy of enormous attention. Add to it the fact that he is a brilliant man and gifted, charismatic speaker replacing an incompetent criminal warlord and you have the makings of a justifiably large celebration.

Do you think that if they down-played it the public would simply lose interest? Are you suggesting we curtail the expenditure of tax-payer monies for security and the like? Or perhaps you cancelled your Christmas this year due to the economic crisis…

Like it or not, millions of people will show up. 
Being cognizant of that and preparing accordingly is simply prudent.

It’s just a celebration of the State. I’m not even going to pay attention except to breathe a sigh of relief at 12 noon when I know Bush is officially out—and good riddance.

Anarcissie, the problem is that any costs to those “financially strapped municipal and state governments” will probably fall back on the taxpayers!  I have just tried to look at this all through different lenses.  Extended thoughts are at:

http://therehearsalstudio.blogspot.com/2009/01/paying-whole-orchestra-of-pipers.html

I think it’s great that the Coronation, er, Inaugural is paid for by rich people.  It shows who’s in charge.

If we’re going to have a monarchical presidency, we need the trappings, and someone’s got to pay for them—why not the people who own, control and benefit most from the government?  Why should the taxpayers shoulder this burden when they’re not invited to the party?