LBPOSTSports.com columnist Ryan Thies travelled to Washington D.C. to attend the inauguration. 

10 things about the Inauguration (that you may not have seen on TV)   

1. The biggest laugh of the morning was caused by the PA Announcer.  Of the approximately 2 million people that were there, only about a thousand VIPs actually had seats.  The rest of us were packed in so tight that no one could move, let alone sit down.  So we all couldn’t help but laugh when the PA Announcer asked the crowd to be seated, twice.

2. While the entire Senate was entering the jumbotron found Joseph Lieberman, and the (obviously Obama-supporting) crowd let the Senator know how they felt about him supporting McCain with a chorus of boos.  Meanwhile John McCain (with his BFF Lindsey Graham) was shown on the jumbotron and no one made a peep.  Hell hath no fury like a Democrat scorned…

3. On a similar note of (perceived) betrayal of liberal values, Clarence Thomas was responsible for the next loudest boos.

4. In 3rd place, the Bronze Medal of Boos if you will, was… Lynn Cheney.  Weird.  I mean, I get that Dick Cheney was the intended recipient but when Lynn entered, Dick was nowhere to be found.  And ultimately when he did come out, he was in a wheelchair and no one wanted to boo the old man in a wheelchair.  So it was Mrs. Cheney who took the brunt of it.

5. The one other unexpected boo-recipient? President Bush (W., not his father).  The boos weren’t as loud as the other three but there was an unmistakable booing of the (then) current President.  I’ve gotta be honest, I get where the anger is coming from and all, but I still don’t support booing the President of the United States.  It just seems disrespectful to the office.  Now when the crowd broke out into “Nah, Nah, Nah.  Hey, Hey.  Goodbye.”  Well I actually thought that was kinda funny.  And after the whole thing was done, a crowd of people watched Marine One take President Bush away for the final time.  Their smiles and waves were sarcastic, and priceless.

6. Just so I don’t focus entirely on the booing, there were a few people that got louder cheers.  The Gores and the Clintons each got a lot of love.  Obviously so did Obama’s motorcade.  But besides the President-elect himself, the loudest cheers were for Sasha and Malia.

7. I was one of the many people who was unsure about Rick Warren at a Democratic Inauguration, but I must say that Pastor Warren’s prayer was quite moving.

8. I was asked in a previous DC Dispatch about homeless people (or the lack there of).  I will say two things about that: 1) For the first time ever, I saw no obviously homeless people on the streets. 2) This is my first time doing DC in Winter, so it may well be that the city’s homeless problem is more obvious during the Summer.  If someone were not in a shelter during this time of year they would not make it very long sleeping on the streets.

9. CSULB apparently is a feeder-school for DC. In the last 2 days, I have received four comments about a CSULB sweatshirt- including “Go Beach,” “Go Niners” (twice), and “That’s my alma mater!”  Add in Steven Spielberg’s presence at the Inauguration and Long Beach has been well represented.

10. Obviously the new President is a symbol of America’s embracing of our multi-culturalism.  And those of us lucky enough to live in Long Beach already know the great things that can happen when you embrace diversity.  This isn’t just a great event for African-Americans, or Democrats – this is a great event for all of us.  Be you man or woman, gay or straight, Black or white or both, this was a moment that we can hold onto for a lifetime.  But as long as this last election-season felt, as long as these last few months have felt, as long as these last eight years have felt – we need to remember that Tuesday January 20th, 2009 wasn’t the culmination, we need to remember that right now is just the beginning….


President Obama has lots of wars to deal with, not the least of which is the Beer Wars.  According to this sign, the new administration has backed Miller.  I can’t wait for the Senate Confirmation Hearings.


Of course Budweiser has set up their campaign headquarters at this liquor store.


What do you get if you cross street vendors selling Obama merchandise and liquor stores selling Obama liquor? This guy


This bar represents the best of the Obama persona: bringing rivals together


Just as everybody becomes Olympic-themed when their city is hosting them; this week in DC every store tried to hitch their star to the Obama wagon.  Mind you, this burger stand is on the House of Representatives-side of the city; there is a very good possibilty that Barack Obama has never been within 2 miles of this place.  Yet they know how he likes his burger, go figure.


I mentioned the street vendors before- between every beer deciding they were Obama-approved and street stands like this one, it seems that Obama is a billon dollar industry


Of course, this city knew this is a celebration and this other liquor store knew how to party