It takes two to tango (or, thoughts on the inauguration)

I was there. Something no doubt we will all here 20 years from now, but I WAS THERE. Without a ticket, I trekked to the Mall with a friend, and we witnessed (via Jumbotron) Obama's inauguration. Living in Alexandria, I had no excuse to not go, and as the friend who accompanied me put it best - this is our "Woodstock."

And it was. The feeling was incredible. The entire "witnessing history" is a mix of hyperbole and cliche, but this was really something. And I like to think I have seen quite a few "somethings" in my life. The mass of humanity, the 28 degree weather (16 with wind chill), the random strangers with whom we talked, the guy who looked remarkably like Ben Stiller who had come from Colorado... the 6 ft tall guy in the goofy fur hat who blocked my view, but helped (as a landmark) my friend make it back from the porta-potty. It was an experience. The sense of community. It made me proud to be an American again. There are a lot of things we have done in the past 8 years that do not make me proud, but my faith in my country was redeemed on Jan 20 - NO WHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD would a man like Barack Obama be elected to the highest post in his nation. NO WHERE ELSE.

But I sensed something else as well - a desire for retribution. I jokingly cheered when Dick Cheney finally made it to the dais... and was immediately the center of all local attention. For the record, I voted for Obama, and have no affection for Cheney, Rumsfield, Wolfowitz, Feith, or any of that crowd. But the response - while not altogether unexpected - still alarmed me.

I was alarmed because of what it presaged for our country. The Republican party ran the country into the ground through a populist orgy of spending and tax cuts while railroading their partisan "foes." Tom DeLay's (remember him?) justification? He "won" the election. The same phrase uttered by Nancy Pelosi this week. After Obama attempted to build bipartisan support, the stimulus package was rammed through with few changes on a nearly straight-partisan vote (some Dems joined the GOP in voting no). And thus Pelosi passed a $800+ Billion package through the House. (by way of context, $800 Billion is FAR more than has been spent on both the Iraq and Afghanistan "wars" combined since 2001). Listening to the radio this morning, I heard the GOP referred to as the "Grand Obstructionist Party" and worse. While I do not believe the GOP should be dictating the terms of the bill - they did come out below the Dems (though it was Obama who really "won" the election)- their ideas should be given consideration. The constant mutual vilification serves no one, and because Tom DeLay did it does not make it right. Are the Democrats in power no better than Tom DeLay? Because we all saw where he led the Republican party.

I believe Obama is making concerted efforts to be post-partisan - as do most Republican lawmakers, interestingly. It is his fellow Democrats in Congress who are more interested in investigations of Bush & Co. and excoriating the past than in building the future. Rather than the Republicans' special interest groups running the show, now it is the Democrats' special interest groups calling shots. One group is no better than the other. The Republicans' deserve no special treatment based on their operation of the levers of government, but Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid would be wise to remember no single group holds a monopoly on truth. President Obama said the very same thing. Unless the Democratic leadership recognizes this fact, they will be doomed to the same fate to which their GOP brethren currently find themselves subjected.

Obama won the election, not Pelosi or Reid. His lead should be followed - not theirs.