Thousands of Americans packed the streets of Washington D.C. and millions of Americans sat glued to their television screens on Inauguration Day 2013.
All to watch an event they had already seen before.
We, the people, were in this same position just four years ago. A nation so captivated by the 2009 Presidential Election that we came out in droves to watch Barack Obama become the first African-American president in this country’s history.
So this time, we, the people, watched the presidential motorcade make its way to the United States Capitol Building. Again.
We watched Joe Biden and Barack Obama take their oaths of office. Again.
We watched the president deliver a speech so revered that our children’s children will probably see it in a history textbook someday. Again.
And as we watched the prayers, parades and pageantry a question slowly began creeping into my mind.
Why are we doing this? Again.
The theme of the 2013 inaugural ceremony was “Faith in America’s Future.” If that’s true, then why are we so willing to party like it’s 2009.
An article by Slate said the amount of official inaugural balls was cut down from ten in 2009 to just two in 2013 and while the price tag of this year’s inauguration ceremonies is being held close to the vest, one number is important to remember.
$170 million.
That isn’t the cost of the latest long term N.B.A. contract, or the amount of money that Taylor Swift’s latest album made (although it’s probably pretty close).
It’s the amount that was spent on the Inauguration in 2009, $50 million of which came out the federal government’s pocket, and when I say federal government’s pocket, I’m basically referring to your pocket.
Fun fact about the 2009 inauguration ceremony: Former president George W. Bush declared a state of emergency so additional funds and assistance could also be provided by F.E.M.A.
The cost of the inauguration in 2009 must be mentioned because fundraising was said to be down for this year’s ceremony by comparison, meaning the federal government had to reach deeper into its pocket.
And really Mr. President, a cash bar? If tickets for the inaugural ball were priced between $500-$1,000 shouldn’t the people at least be able to drink for free?
It’s not like I’m against freedom or democracy or any other American ideal that was mentioned during the minute-by-minute play-by-play of the inauguration. It’s just hard to get behind an event where the First Lady is wearing a dress that costs more than how much money is in the majority of college student’s bank accounts.
Before of all of the aforementioned night-time activity, there was a get together held early that morning between the Obamas, the Bidens and congressional leaders of both parties that was called the pre-inaugural coffee.
Over the past four years, the American people have been led to believe members of both parties, democrat and republican, have a hard time agreeing on anything. But when I turned on my television on inauguration morning, I learned people like House speaker John Boehner and Senate majority leader Harry Reid were sitting down in a room to have coffee. A cup of joe with Joe if you will.
These leaders of Congress, who less than a week earlier couldn’t decide if the Northeast portion of the country that was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy should get relief money, were now being asked to decide between regular or decaf.
A bad coffee joke aside, the overall pageantry of the inauguration ceremony was truly something to behold. All the musical performances were uplifting and inspirational. Correction: all the musical performances that were honestly performed and not pre-recorded were uplifting and inspirational.
Those performances weren’t the reason attendance was down in the hundreds of thousands, instead of the over one million people who were in the same position four years ago. This was a story we had seen before and the attendance numbers along with television ratings suggest Americans didn’t believe this event was as can’t miss as the first. The New York Times reported that ratings among all television stations went down compared with 2009.
The sequel can never match the original. It’s a phrase commonly used in Hollywood, but on Inauguration Day 2013, it applied just as much.
Now is as good of a time as any to reevaluate the purpose of having a lavish ceremony to commemorate something that really doesn’t change. Inauguration Day fell on January 21, but how was it any different than January 20 or January 22. Barack Obama was and still is the president. A party with a multi-million dollar tab doesn’t change that reality.
In today’s America, where nearly eight percent of the country remains unemployed and the national debt has risen by millions of dollars just in the time it takes to read this article, is having another inauguration ceremony for somebody who is already the president the right thing for we, the people?
The truth is, these are extremely trying times in this country’s history. What better way for the candidate that ran under the banners of hope and change, who then became the president that ran for reelection inviting us to move forward, to set a new precedent.
It was an opportunity missed. A moment not seized.
Four years from now, Americans will line the streets of our nation’s capital and sit in front of their television screens to hear an oath and a speech from a brand new president.
There will be inaugural balls to attend and dresses with insanely large price tags. We will get caught up in it all again.
Maybe the United States will be in a completely different and better situation than it is in right now. Maybe price tags won’t quite matter as much.
Maybe the individual who wins the election in 2017 will go on and win again in 2021.
And the challenge to that person would simply be this: On a day when the whole world’s attention will be squarely on you, will you have the ability to do what needs to be done?
President Obama said it best, “We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself Mr. President.
