The Little Things: Inauguration Day

Everyone in the whole world is talking about the inauguration day and most of them are repeating themselves, but I have just a few things to add to the mix, and I'll try be as original as possible.

____First of all, I thought Rick Warren did a pretty good job with the prayer. It was a bit long, but he certainly did not seem to be using the occasion to push his own religious or political agenda. He did however make me (and all my friends) laugh hysterically at the way he said "Malia and SASHA!" This spiraled off into a game of who could say "SASHAAAaa!" with the most pizazz.
____The John Williams piece was beautiful, as expected. Simple gifts was beautifully arranged. I particularly enjoyed watching Yo-Yo Ma. He looked like he was having so much fun playing up there. The last three notes were crunch-tastic.
____So the speech... It was moving, it was nice, but honestly I felt like he's done better. I followed the campaign pretty closely from Iowa on, and my favorite speeches of his come mostly from the primaries (My tops were the Iowa victory speech, the now-famous "yes we can" speech, the South Carolina victory speech, and the election night speech). What I DID really notice and appreciate most from the speech however was the declaration that America is a friend to every nation who seeks peace and dignity. This stands in stark contrast to the "our way or the highway" (and by highway we mean lots of bombs) Bush era idea that only democracy was a valid system for a prosperous and peaceful country.
____None of the talking heads commented on it, but I definitely heard the crowd singing "Nananana, Nananana, hey hey hey, Good bye!" at Bush's helicopter as it circled capitol hill one last time. Poor guy. I mean, I do hope he knows that he let us down, and it was kind of a funny moment for spontaneous song, but he's retired now. Can't we banish him to Texas with a little bit of dignity? At least until somebody puts him on trial? (C'mon Fitzgerald, I know you've got it in you)
____Oh and the next day Obama and crew actually did stuff! So good job! Know who didn't do a good job the next day? Every 24hour news channel. Okay we have a new president. We can either talk about the new policy changes he just signed (like closing Gitmo, putting a choke collar on lobbyists, redefining the Freedom of Information Act, and putting a pay-freeze on some of his staff) or... "OMG Lets do a feature on Michelle's dress!! Did you hear the kids were wearing J. Crew?"