The Inaugural Bawl

January 20, 2005 will be a big day in the U.S., as George W. Bush will be sworn in for the second time. Every four years on this date, our most recently elected President is sworn in. It should be a time of celebration for every American, for it signals that our system still works.

There are nine different balls in Washington for this celebration, eight of them in the D.C. Convention Center. The ninth will be held in the National Building Museum.

A tenth, the Democratic Inaugural Bawl, will be held wherever there is a Democrat that can’t get past the shock of having lost the election. Make no mistake: There are lots of Democrats that fall into that category.

This time, the election wasn’t close, and the political opposition can’t claim that Katherine Harris or the Supreme Court stole the election from them.

Or, can they?

From charges of rigged election computer programs that changed Kerry votes to Bush votes in Florida, to bad vote counting and phantom voters in Ohio, and the Iraq-is-Vietnam crowd, and the U.S.-is-stingy faction ... There’s almost no end to the whining, moaning and gnashing of teeth over the results of this election.

In order to make some point or other, one group plans to boycott on the 20th. That’s right, they aren’t going to buy anything from anyone on that dark day, in the hopes of … what? Do they think it will have any effect beyond punishing the businesses and employees that they hurt? Of course not. It’s just one more symbolic gesture that the Left so frequently mistakes for meaningful action.

Another group plans to protest President Bush’s intention to honor a two-century-old tradition of having a prayer offered. Isn’t it interesting that these people, who don’t want a prayer during the Inauguration ceremonies, are going to the Inauguration where they may hear the prayer instead of staying home where they wouldn’t be subjected to it?

The National Guard may have to be mobilized in Florida to deal with the outpouring of grief from those affected with PEST (Post-Election Selection Trauma), when GWB raises his right hand. Others will be appalled with where he puts his left hand.

On a day when the entire nation ought to put political bickering aside and celebrate the governmental process that keeps the United States in its position as the greatest nation on Earth, there are still those who think their petty political motives are more important than anything else.

Maybe at some point before the political season begins for the 2008 election, things will settle down. But don’t hold your breath.