Yes, it could be really cold. Yes, it could snow. Yes, streets around the State House will have to be blocked off. Yes, it’s probably a logistical nightmare. And yes, the legislature is annoyed.
It’s all worth it.
Think about it: what is the message sent by a new Governor delivering an inaugural address in the House Chamber, to an audience of 200 legislators and maybe a few dozen lucky Friends Of Important People who cram into the upstairs galleries? It’s that the people who work in the State House are the important ones; they’re the ones to whom the Governor has the most to say; they’re the ones who get to be in the room while everyone else watches on TV. It’s that, sure, during the campaign I visited your communities and talked directly to you at rallies and fundraisers, but now that I’m Governor I need to get my priorities straight: I’m on the inside, you’re on the outside, and that’s how it’s gonna be.
That’s what Deval Patrick ran against, and he won. So it makes perfect sense to me that he wants to deliver his inaugural address outside the building, directly to thousands of ordinary folks who show up to watch. Sure, the legislature still gets good seats (apparently up on a big outdoor stage near the podium). That’s a perfectly appropriate show of respect for fellow elected officials with whom the new Governor needs to work constructively (in addition, he’s having lunch with them — all of them — today). But it is an excellent, excellent idea to start sending the message on Day 1 that this Governor wants to continue the conversation with the people that he conducted so successfully during the campaign.
they do it in DC every four years, and the weather hasn’t always been all that great, including at some truly historic inaugurals (like Kennedy’s in 1961, when it was sunny but bitterly cold with 8 inches of snow on the ground from a storm the previous night). Here is an excellent collection of inauguration-related weather trivia.
We’re NEW ENGLANDERS for cripes sakes! What, have we gone f*&ckin soft? I think it’s great. I froze my ass off at Clinton’s first inaugural, and I was so far away his head was the size of a pea. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.
they do it in DC every four years
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Precisely, and there have been other seriously cold inaugurations, e.g. Carter’s. I was out there as a parade usher and it was as harsh as anything I’ve experienced up here. Boosts the sales of hot cider and bourbon, that’s all.
Now you’re talkin…
We’ll be lucky to go much below 50 degrees by Jan 4, the rate we’re going this year.
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But no, it’s all a natural cycle…rolls eyes
2005 was the warmest year on record for the US. 10 of the last 14 years are the warmest on record.
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SOurce: An Inconvenient Truth. If you have not yet seen the movie, do so.
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If you cannot bring yourself to watching the movie, starting in the second week of Jan I’ll be delivering “An Inconvenient Truth” for free in the Boston/Metrowest area – book me now đŸ™‚
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In the first week of Jan I’ll be in Nashville getting trained by Al Gore and others to deliver his talk…
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Mark
Heat Miser or Snow Miser?
Heat Miser needs to lose a few pounds
Last time I checked, we’ve had three Super Bowl victory parades in the last few years and no one got all flustered because hundreds of thousands of people stood around in the cold and a large number of streets were blocked off for the parade route. If we can live with the inconvenience to honor a football team, we can live with it to welcome a new governor.
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Note to the legislators:
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a) Lots of layers
b) Send someone to REI for those packets of hand and foot warmers
c) Lay off the ‘antifreeze’
Accuweather.com
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Get over it.
Is he going to say, ‘I am pleased with you, my good people…’?
THINK of the message sent that our about to be former Governor Romney (in case you forgot his name)( sorry Peter,)
He’s leaving on the 3rd, out the back door, or maybe they’ll let him use the front stairwell, but they probably will already be working on set up by then.
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No grandiose exit…..how’s that gonna play for his Presidential dreams?
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I say it’s great, and we may never know if there was another subtle message being sent here.
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The Statehouse is after all, “the People House,” and the people have the right to be a big part of it’s ongoing history.
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Those 200 men and women will get access to him every day for the next 8 years. (Yes, I’m a true optimist).
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We are looking a a few hours on his first day.
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Those of us here in Worcester that have worked for Deval for the entire time – 18 months or so, have always thought of him as our guy….we always got to spend time with him, wherever he showed up. ( I have a great LULA elevator story).
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After election day we were all sitting around a saying how we won’t get to have that closeness to him anymore because NOW he is – EVERYBODY’S Deval.
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We miss it, but we sure are proud we had a long arm in it happening, even when it was DEVAL who? We KNEW it would come to pass……
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So I say, if HE can stand the snow and the cold, so can we, because it is no longer, “TOGETHER WE CAN” – It’s “TOGETHER WE DID”! And we ALL have a right to have a piece of Massachusetts history!
For some reason, the Billionaires for Bush were unable to secure seats – or even standing room – in the State House, so we are happy the Swearing-In will be outside.
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We shall stay warm and happy in our furs as we mourn the passing of Mitt Romney as our Governor… and rooting for his presidential ambitions for ’08, of course!
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See you there, darling!
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Toodles!
Yes he ran against the legislature and won. Maybe the legislature is annoyed. Problem is for Patrick, he is in no position to test, he’s already made too many rookie missteps.
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A governor needs to work within the system. Its been here long before him and will be here long after him.
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If you think your going to re-invent the wheel your all in for a big disappointment. That does not mean Patrick will not be successful. I believe he will be far more successful than Romney. But if Patrick goes straight to the masses too many times, its over for him.