Cancel The Inauguration
By Dave Gibson (01/12/05)
President Bush should cancel plans for this year's inauguration. We are at war and while young American men are dying in battle, the usual display of extravagance will be rather obscene.
Several Democratic Congressman have posed a bogus challenge to the 2004 election results. The actions of the Congressional Black Caucus and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) are deplorable and obviously politically motivated. The knee-jerk reaction of any Bush supporter would be to have the loudest, biggest celebration in the history of Presidential inaugurations.
However, the Republican party should take this opportunity to show that there actually is a difference between the two parties. The President and his supporters could display a great deal of class, by forgoing the usual frivolity and defer all of the attention to our brave troops.
Bush's inauguration though, will not be a somber affair. The 55th Presidential Inauguration Committee has the usual pomp and pageantry planned for January 20th. The day will see nine official balls, a parade, a youth concert, and a lavish fireworks display. While much of the festivities will be paid for through private donations, the cost is estimated to reach between $30 and $40 million dollars (not including taxpayer funded security costs).
I believe that I am not alone in wishing that the obscene amount of money spent on a party, could be re-directed to help the families of fallen soldiers.
There is precedence for a very subdued, wartime inauguration. In 1945, while the nation was sacrificing so many of their sons--President Franklin Roosevelt did not feel comfortable participating in a decadent affair.
Roosevelt canceled the traditional plans and took the oath of office in the White House, gave a very short speech, and held a very modest luncheon. The 1,000 guests were treated to a lunch of cold chicken salad, rolls with no butter, pound cake, and coffee. Afterwards, Roosevelt simply went back to work.
Roosevelt knew, it was obscene to party as if he was a sultan--while directing men into the jaws of death. Unfortunately, most of us never learn the lessons which history has to offer.
More than 10,000 American soldiers have been injured in the Iraq War. Many of those men are now lying broken and battered in military hospitals. As of this writing, 1,350 U.S. servicemen have been killed in that conflict. It is simply distasteful to throw a party celebrating a political victory, when so many American mothers and fathers are burying their sons.
The nation returned Bush to the White House and rejected the liberal agenda. The election is over and it is time to get back to business. There is no reason to gloat, though there is reason to show respect to those young men and women who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.
May God send us statesmen with a sense of history!
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