Inauguration Day

How is it correctly pronounced, "inaugyooration" or "inaugeration?"  I've heard both and even one reporter, in the same report, say "inaugerate" and the "unaugyooration."  I think I say "inaugyooration," but the more I think about it, self-consciously, I am not so sure.  Hmmm......

Regardless, I have some thoughts on this Jan 20.  I wonder how many folks know that the original Inauguration Day was Mar 4, so designated by the Constitution.  It was only changed to Jan 20 with the passage of the 20th Amendment, ratified in '33.  George Washington didn't take the oath of office until the end of April, getting a late start to NYC (then the capital) and also being held up on the way there by towns wanting to honor him with festivities.  In 1849, Mar 4 fell on a Sun, so the pious Zachary Taylor wasn't sworn in until Mon, to keep the Sabbath holy.  Outgoing Pres James Polk's term expired at noon on the 4th; that has led to some folks calling David Rice Atchison, the Sen Pres Pro-Tem at the time, a President for 24 hours.  Actually, I think his term as US Sen had also expired and wasn't sworn in until Mar 5, too.  Most historians and Atchison himself pooh-poohed the idea.  A couple of other Presidents were sworn in on the 5th, at least publicly, but had taken the oath in private ceremonies on the 4th.  The first President to be sworn in on Jan 20 was FDR.  It was so cold that day the President sat on a hot water bottle (or maybe it an electric heating pad?) to keep his bejabbers warm!  The night before JFK's Inauguration Day, DC was blanketed by a heavy show, 11-12 inches of the white stuff.  Of course, Washington drivers are notorious for not being able to handle any snow, but almost a foot of it?  Many of them left their cars, stranded, on Pennsylvania Ave, the parade route, and had to be towed before festivities began.  The army had to be called out to help clear the route in time.

The first President to be sworn in in Washington, DC was Thomas Jefferson in 1801.  Actually, it was nip and tuck whether he'd make it in time.  The Electoral vote was a tie between TJ and Aaron Burr, the designated VP candidate of the Republican Party.  But he refused to concede the Presidency to Jefferson (and I'm not sure that was Constitutionally viable anyway) and the US House was called upon to select the President.  With so many Federalists (the opposition party) disliking Jefferson, only on the 36th ballot, with some helpful persuasion of the anti-Jefferson Alexander Hamilton, did the House finally settle on TJ over Burr.

Having Donald Trump as President of the US is, to me, an embarrassment.  Before anyone starts jumping up and down, I'd also be embarrassed to have had Clinton as President.  I was embarrassed to have her husband, after "L'Affaire Lewinsky," be the President.  For that matter if I were a resident of Minnesota, I'd have the same embarrassed feeling to have Al Franken as one of my two US Senators.

I'm not embarrassed that W. Bush or Obama were Presidents.  I was very disappointed in both and think both of them were bad Presidents, but that's different from being embarrassed.

I heard a great term for the Inaugural festivity boycotters today; "morons" they were called.  I think, without much doubt, the boycotters are trying to draw attention to themselves more than anything.  Oh, they might not admit it, but I think it's "Hey, look how cool I am!  I'm boycotting the Trump Inauguration."  Maybe not, but I think so.  Can you imagine the names any boycotters would have been called in '12?  Note I didn't include '08, for a reason.  Obama, like Trump should be now, should have been given a chance.  He was given that chance and turned into a lousy President, doing a lot of harmful things.  So, why not a boycott to protest Obamacare, the disastrous foreign policy, the divisive politics he fostered?  Nope, you know the names......

As much as I dislike Trump, a man much wiser than I told me something the other day.  He noted some folks were hoping Trump would fail, hoping that the country would be harmed because of Trump's policies.  "Why in the world," he said (or something like that), "would anyone wish the country to get worse?"  If Trump can make the country better (I'll give him his chance, but I have strong doubts; I'm very willing to admit I was wrong if......), who wouldn't want that?  Well, I think we all know some folks who wouldn't.

Happy Inauguration Day!  Let's hope for the very best......