aking history






My Daily Read has a special lift-out today to mark the inauguration of Barack Obama as 44th President of the United States.

What a momentous day.

Photographs in this lift-out show crowds of people thronging Washington Mall with the Capitol at the far end. Another photograph shows the Capitol in close up; such a white, white building, draped with red, white and blue and stars and stripes. To the right of the photo a battery of cameras and press photographers; in the centre ordered rows of dignitaries and the balcony on which the new President stands. Below are the music-makers of the day, the band, the standard bearers and the conductor standing ramrod straight.

I turn over the pages and read an article in which Quincy Jones writes about the long journey of his people culminating in today’s event. There are other articles, one from Maureen Dowd and there are commentaries from other writers here in Australia, including Waleed Aly.

To mark this special occasion I put aside my normal contempt for television and climb the stairs to Neighbour Heather’s apartment where we perch on stools in front of her kitchen television and watch the inauguration. It looks to be a bleak, cold day in Washington DC and people are well rugged up, with hats, gloves, boots and long winter coats to the fore.

I wait with interest to see how this will all pan out in the long term; in spite to today’s euphoria I can’t help but think it will be a long, tough road ahead.