They were featured briefly on NPR. This was a bit much — the Messiah, the King, is having a hymn sung to him about this blessed event by a boys' choir and a girls' choir, an ode to the coronation or to the “immaculation” as Limbaugh calls it, sung in classical choir style, featuring words from one or more speeches Obama has made, ending grandly with “Yes, we can! Yes, we can! Yes, we can!”

It's a bit much. Really. He's just a mortal. I'd prefer the excess be channeled less celestially, if more coarsely, into celebrating the end of Bush.

Have a nice hibernation.

Is it over yet?

Yeah yeah yeah…catharsis…I know…

But if we keep focusing on the fact that Barack doesn't get skin cancer as easily as other presidents did, will we ever be able to move beyond melanin content and onto important issues…like if the man is up to the muster of digging us out of the hole Bushco placed us in?

Let that be his legacy and not his nappy hair for chrissakes.. Focusing on “black this” and “black that” is not doing blacks any service except keeping the focus on them as “different”. Which is the polar opposite of what they supposedly want?

Imagine the good that could be done with the money from some of these events? Educational grants for underpriveledged kids? Milk for the poor? Vaccinations?

We are a nation of lunatics who will party like stupid fools until the lights snap on and reality is knocking at the door with a warrant..

Are we out of Iraq yet? How's Russia doing? Sarah may really get a closeup at them in Alaska soon. Any more banks folded today? Is the Mexican border secure? How's our food supply? Do we have enough vaccines? Have we brought jobs back home? Do people still have their homes? Property values? Bank solvency? Consumer confidence?

*shakes head* *goes back to sleep*

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…………………………

The parade is divided into five divisions for each of the five military services in order of seniority: Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard.

The most picturesque Ball from a television point of view is the one in the Building Museum because of the huge granite columns in the middle of the room. It is one that the newspaper run a picture of the next day. The second most picturesque is the one at Union Station due to the ceiling. The least picturesque ball in the one at the D.C. Armory. The building is a dump but a ball is held there every time to keep the District of Columbia happy.

Since the President has to attend all official balls, they are held close to each other. They are all within a few blocks except for the D.C. Armory. They used to be spread more over town but security limits moving around town. The official balls are considered bad events to attend and most people only do it once.