Watching inauguration at home (Jan 23)
By Chuck Doud
The Madera Tribune
Mrs. Doud and I watched President Obama being sworn in on television, and were we ever glad we weren’t there in person. Had we been there in person, we would have been shivering behind 1.5 million other shivering people, trying to get a glimpse of the big oath-taking on one of the giant TV sets on the Capitol Mall.
You can have all that discomfort. The thrill of being there for the big event couldn’t have held a candle to sitting in our living room, drink- ing coffee and nibbling on toast while Obama and Justice John Roberts muffed the oath.
If we had been there in person we wouldn’t have known the oath had been muffed, because we would have been shivering too hard to care. On television, in front of the couch, not only could we see the flub, but we could see it very often when the television channel we were watching played it over and over again about 50 times.
The implication was, “What kind of president is this guy going to be if he can’t get the oath right?”
The next day, when Obama took the oath again, this time in the White House where it was warm and there weren’t 1.5 million people standing there shivering, there was no bungle. The chief justice and the president got it right that time, which shows you what a Harvard Law School education can do for you. Hooray, the country is saved.
We went to a college football game once, in which our favorite team was playing the host team in one of those high stadiums. We were seated so far up, we could see the passengers’ faces in passing 747s.
We knew a game was being played on the field, but it could have been lacrosse, for all we knew. I think if I go to another big football game, I’ll take a portable TV so I can see what’s happening down on the field.
For football and inaugurations, give me TV every time.
