Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

  • Shop
  • Subscribe to BMG
  • Contact
  • Log In
  • Front Page
  • All Posts
  • About
  • Rules
  • Events
  • Register on BMG

Day at the Inauguration

January 20, 2009 By chrissmason

6:55AM    My father and I are standing in line, waiting to get into the inauguration. We have tickets from our congressman. We arrived here at 6am and have been in line for about an hour. The line stretches about two miles around blocks and into a tunnel. There are thousands of people. I am posting from my iPhone.  

We are keeping ourselves warm by doing the wave and talking to new friends. There are people from all over the country. The folks behind us are from Hawaii. We are chanting and cheering as thousands more people walk past us to join the line. Venders are walking up and down the streets selling everything from Obama hats, shirts, and posters to hand warmers. It is a chilly 20 degrees.  Everyone is fired up, ready to go!

7:55AM   Still in line at the same spot. The streets are filled with people. I heard one police officer talking into his radio about watching for a group trying to charge the gates. I hope that doesn’t happen. There are hundreds of thousands of people around me and everyone seems to be in good spirits.  

8:55AM   Still in line. The “line” is total chaos. It’s a huge mob of people. Security is tight and moving slow. Freezing! But excited!

9:25AM   Made it through the gate and past security! We are now right in front of the Capital building about 200 yards from the podium. We will be able to see Obama with our own eyes. This is amazing!

2:25PM   We are back at my friend’s apartment. The inauguration was awesome. I lost cell service around 10:00AM and wasn’t able to update since then. Great Day! And Rick Warren spoke for 4 minutes and 43 seconds, raising $4,197 for LGBT equality! Thanks Rick.

Photobucket

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0
0

Filed Under: User Tagged With: obama

Comments

  1. joes says

    January 20, 2009 at 10:07 am

    It is 10 am, and your long wait was due to the restricted access through security.  Now that you are “in”, you may not be able to see behind you.  But the crowd has filled in the Mall back to the Washington monument, and the area from there back to the Lincoln Memorial has been partially occupied.  There must be enough body heat and excitement to keep everyone warm, even the people from Hawaii.

    • dcsohl says

      January 20, 2009 at 12:50 pm

      The Washington Monument is 1 1/3 miles from the podium. The Lincoln Memorial is another 0.8 miles beyond that.

  2. laurel says

    January 20, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    did anyone in the crowd near you respond to warren in any way?

  3. chrissmason says

    January 20, 2009 at 6:36 pm

    cheered as Jimmy Carter was announced, was silent when Bush I was announced, cheered loudly for Clinton, and booed VERY loudly when W was announced. I don’t know if you can hear it on TV. The boos were very loud and lasted a while. I have it on video and will post it on youtube. A few people booed when Warren was announced, some people clapped, but mostly people were just silent, as they were for Bush I.  

    • laurel says

      January 20, 2009 at 6:52 pm

      the pic had promised to broadcast it on the mall screens today since they totally fukked up and cut him from the televised program yesterday.  did they make good on that promise?

    • tudor586 says

      January 20, 2009 at 7:37 pm

      It’s being reported that he got only a smattering of applause as Di Fi introduced him.

    • sabutai says

      January 21, 2009 at 7:42 pm

      Was the upswelling of joy and catcalls as Executive One flew over the mall, and its inhabitants flew out of our lives.

Recommended Posts

  • No posts liked yet.

Recent User Posts

Predictions Open Thread

December 22, 2022 By jconway

This is why I love Joe Biden

December 21, 2022 By fredrichlariccia

Garland’s Word

December 19, 2022 By terrymcginty

Some Parting Thoughts

December 19, 2022 By jconway

Beware the latest grift

December 16, 2022 By fredrichlariccia

Thank you, Blue Mass Group!

December 15, 2022 By methuenprogressive

Recent Comments

  • blueeyes on Beware the latest griftSo where to, then??
  • Christopher on Some Parting ThoughtsI've enjoyed our discussions as well (but we have yet to…
  • Christopher on Beware the latest griftI can't imagine anyone of our ilk not already on Twitter…
  • blueeyes on Beware the latest griftI will miss this site. Where are people going? Twitter?…
  • chrismatth on This site (will be disabled on) December 31, 2022I joined BMG late - 13 years ago next month and three da…
  • SomervilleTom on Geopolitics of FusionEVERY un-designed, un-built, and un-tested technology is…
  • Charley on the MTA on This site (will be disabled on) December 31, 2022That’s a great idea, and I’ll be there on Sunday. It’s a…

Archive

@bluemassgroup on Twitter

#mapoli

pauldiegocraney Paul Diego Craney @pauldiegocraney ·
42m

Great reporting by @cmwadenews, big news.

https://www.eagletribune.com/news/boston/charitable-donations-could-impact-millionaires-tax/article_e540cc5c-c8b7-11ed-b57c-9778fc3c7c2a.html #mapoli

Reply on Twitter 1638864736879083520 Retweet on Twitter 1638864736879083520 Like on Twitter 1638864736879083520 1 Twitter 1638864736879083520
lisakashinsky Lisa Kashinsky @lisakashinsky ·
49m

Morning, Mass. ☁️ It would be pretty easy for Gov. @maura_healey to take the T to work — and former Gov. Mike Dukakis thinks she should. It made him “a better gov.” Plus:
— Delegation doesn’t want to ban TikTok, yet
— More fams in emergency hotels #mapoli https://politi.co/42ANvj2

Reply on Twitter 1638863068993142785 Retweet on Twitter 1638863068993142785 1 Like on Twitter 1638863068993142785 3 Twitter 1638863068993142785
mysteriousrook Ed Lyons @mysteriousrook ·
52m

What ideological laziness about MBTA. Mr. Howard (typical of a Twitter activist) thinks the problem is that we don’t believe enough in transit. 🙄 The piece has no ideas and no new information, which is normal for him. Some activists don’t change. #mapoli
https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2023/03/20/mbta-subway-red-line-delays-slow-zone-speed-limit-miles-howard

Reply on Twitter 1638862312449744896 Retweet on Twitter 1638862312449744896 Like on Twitter 1638862312449744896 Twitter 1638862312449744896
milesgrant Miles Grant @milesgrant ·
1h

I’m glad the school district budget makes clear inflation exists, meaning a 1.8% “increase” is really a cut (local media rarely/never says that) #MApoli

MASC-SchoolCommittee @MASCSchoolComm

In Marblehead, 33 school jobs could be cut https://www.itemlive.com/2023/03/22/in-marblehead-33-school-jobs-could-be-cut/

Reply on Twitter 1638858392734187524 Retweet on Twitter 1638858392734187524 Like on Twitter 1638858392734187524 1 Twitter 1638858392734187524
the_horserace The Horse Race @the_horserace ·
1h

This week on The Horse Race, what happened to #mapoli Twitter? Also, we dive into the state of polling, nationwide and here in Massachusetts. Then, the gig worker debate is picking up steam at the State House. We’ll look at what both sides want.

https://on.soundcloud.com/8P4Br

Reply on Twitter 1638858129294217217 Retweet on Twitter 1638858129294217217 1 Like on Twitter 1638858129294217217 1 Twitter 1638858129294217217
fibci2 Fibci @fibci2 ·
1h

At one of the top hospitals in the nation, Massachusetts General Hospital in #Boston, you enter the building called Yawkey & you are ordered to wear a mask immediately because there’s covid inside but there’s no covid down the hall in their cafeteria. Science! #mapoli 🤦🏻‍♀️

Reply on Twitter 1638857320003149825 Retweet on Twitter 1638857320003149825 5 Like on Twitter 1638857320003149825 26 Twitter 1638857320003149825
Load More

From our sponsors




Google Calendar







Search

Archives

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter




Copyright © 2023 Owned and operated by BMG Media Empire LLC. Read the terms of use. Some rights reserved.