The upcoming inauguration of Willem-Alexander as King of the Netherlands has
united his people in their hatred of the
Koningslied, especially the
lyrics written by committee.
posted by saucysault
on Apr 21, 2013 -
54 comments
There was no way to anticipate that the reliably malfunction-free Beyoncé arriving in New Orleans for her turn at immortality would be a vulnerable one. At the presidential inauguration ceremony last month,
she sang the national anthem over a
prerecorded vocal track,
leading to a minor scandal,
putting her on the defensive. Beyoncé, bionic, isn’t used to having her reputation impugned. Vulnerability is not her bag.
She is, though, up to the challenge — in this case, the conundrum of how to make
her Super Bowl XLVII halftime show, which she had been planning for months, not only a spectacle in its own right, but
also a conclusion to the messy affair. [more inside]
posted by DynamiteToast
on Feb 5, 2013 -
67 comments
Richard Blanco,
a poet, teacher, and
engineer, was
chosen to be the nation's
fifth inaugural poet.
He is the author of the collections of
poetry "
City of a Hundred Fires," "
Directions to the Beach of the Dead," "
Place of Mind," and "
Looking for the Gulf Motel."
He is the first immigrant, first Latino, the first openly gay person and the youngest to be the U.S. inaugural poet. The poem
he read was "One Today" (
full text/
analysis)
posted by Potomac Avenue
on Jan 22, 2013 -
28 comments
"The government of the United States is in no sense founded on the Christian Religion."
~
George Washington / "I do not find in Christianity one redeeming feature."
~
Thomas Jefferson / "The Bible is not my book, nor Christianity my religion."
~
Abraham Lincoln / "A just government has no need for the clergy or the church." ~
James Madison / "I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end... where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice." ~
John F. Kennedy / "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus --
and nonbelievers." ~
Barack Obama
posted by 0bvious
on Jan 20, 2009 -
270 comments
"The Mass Observation movement was founded by a group of 1930s' British intellectuals who believed the most revealing way to document an event was to document the peripheral activities surrounding it. The Mass Observers carried out their greatest project on May 12th, 1937, when they dispatched more than 200 observers throughout London to monitor the coronation of
King George VI." This coming Tuesday, the folks at
Januarythe20th.com are attempting to create a day of Mass Observation in the United States.
posted by TheWash
on Jan 16, 2009 -
18 comments
Inauguration 2009 Sermons and Orations Project The Library of Congress invites you to submit digital audio or video recordings of speeches made between January 16 and january 25, 2009 on the occasion of Barack Obama's inauguration. The speeches will be archived in a collection for future scholarship, much like the
Day of Infamyand other collections capturing signifcant American moments.
posted by Miko
on Dec 24, 2008 -
4 comments
A candid exchange on Fox New about yesterday's inauguration's pomp and splendor between Judy Bachrach from Vanity Fair and Brigitte Quinn from Fox. (apologies for the link, it was the only one I could find)
posted by threehundredandsixty
on Jan 21, 2005 -
89 comments
Inaugural protest pics (series begins at that photo):
Kevin Smith attended the inaugural protests and took some (IMHO) really good photographs that you weren't likely to see on any of the mainstream media outlets. Outside of the subject matter itself, I enjoy his photos and wanted to share these given this sets timeliness. In particular, I like
this one and love
this one. Non protest pics can be find by using the first link and then navigating back through his archives.
posted by jperkins
on Jan 20, 2005 -
82 comments
Protest Warriors Clash • Gil Kobrin of the
Protest Warriors went down "under a hail of black boots" belonging to anti-Bush peace activists. "It wasn't much of a contest. ProtestWarrior's contingent numbered 13, the other side in the hundreds. If they won any hearts and minds, no one said so." Meanwhile, DC activist group
Anarchist Resistance issued their call to action: "There's nothing left to salvage in this empire that is the U.S. government. It's time to bring it down." AR is listed as a resouce by the Internet Liberation Front who
Kos reported "hacked and defaced six Republican websites" yesterday. Some commentary on civil disobedience by
Thoreau &
ActUp.
posted by dhoyt
on Jan 20, 2005 -
88 comments
"I don't see how you can be president at least from my perspective, how you can be president, without a relationship with the Lord," said George W. Bush yesterday. (Really?
I do.) While
giant crosses are banned from next Thursday's inauguration, Jesus
likely won't be, despite Michael Newdow's protestations. By the way, the benediction
is scheduled to be delivered by
The Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, who also got the honor in 2001. Back then, he
said to millions of bowed heads gathered to mark the beginning of the Bush presidency: "We respectfully submit this humble prayer in the name that's above all other names, Jesus, the Christ. Let all who agree say, 'Amen.'" After gay rights, is discrimination against atheists
the next great civil rights battle of our time? Or should we just
shut up and move to France?
posted by Saucy Intruder
on Jan 12, 2005 -
90 comments
Kid Rock To Play Bush Inauguration ... The Bush Twins have invited
Kid Rock to play their inauguration bash after their father is sworn in to a second term. Rock also played the Republican National Convention. This is a guy who stuck his head through an American flag at the Superbowl and has lyrics that say all women are whores and extol drug and alcohol abuse. (The link has actual lyrics from Rock, so if you are offended by cursing don't follow it.)
posted by nathanrudy
on Jan 4, 2005 -
173 comments
Priate Radio Calling for inauguration protests CNN is reporting that a guerilla radio station is calling for massive protests of the inauguration of President George W. Bush. After some googling, I found
a press release from WSQT on indymedia concerning the transmissions. It seems that they are somehow related to
DAWNdc a local leftist activist organization.
Here is how they are reacting to the sudden attention.
posted by pemdasi
on Dec 23, 2004 -
12 comments
Inaugural Protesters Abused "'Agents provocateurs' . . . allegedly punched a protester and more than one allegedly fired pepper spray at close range in the faces of peaceful demonstrators." Why do I get the feeling this is going to be a long and painful 4 years? The
economy,
bankruptcy laws,
limits on abortion rights, failure to regulate
carbon dioxide; we're only a few months into this administration and already things look bad.
[and yes, I've included links to Salon stories; uh oh!]
posted by Outlawyr
on Mar 16, 2001 -
17 comments
Live audio description of Bush inauguration If you get PBS and if your PBS station broadcasts in stereo, you will likely be able to hear only the second-ever attempt at audio description of a live event - the inauguration of Bush. (The other live-described event was Clinton's inauguration.) This of course is audio description, ostensibly for blind viewers. Set your TV or VCR to SAP and compare the approaches of the standard announcers, who call the event assuming the viewer can see, and the describers, who don't. (No sexy Web page for this event.)
posted by joeclark
on Jan 14, 2001 -
9 comments
