in · au · gu · ra · tion

Function: noun : an act of inaugurating; especially : a ceremonial induction into office. (Marriam-Webster Online)

The country's 55th inauguration has a money-raising goal of $40 million dollars. Reds want to party. blues want to slam and slime, and there will be the usual whiners and haters trying to get some media attention. Me? I love to party but being a clear color I look at the practical side of what $40 million means. It's not a bonus check that goes to the president, but a large pump of money to workers in the D.C. area - from those that put up the seats and sell snacks and other goods, to hotels, food industries, caterers, taxis, most anything and everyone in any kind of large or small business will get a piece of the action.

Is this wrong? Should the president just cut a $40 million check and give it to the U.N. to distribute to whomever they see fit? Or perhaps directly to the countries impacted by the tsunami? If that's the case then the Hollywood glitzy awards (Oscars, Globe, etc.) should be cancelled - let the awards simply be sent via mail. Why all the pomp and ceremony? We're talking many millions of $$$ here - just on themselves, let alone all the partying afterwards - how dare they when there are poor suffering people in the world.

Some have been critical because we are still at war. Aside from President Roosevelt at the height of WW II, no other president in history has scaled back his inaugural events - be he red or blue. Bush's ball will be a first - some 2,000 free tickets to be given to service members and their families who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan - not handed out by the White House, but by the DoD.

Didn't a blue president (Clinton) have an inauguration for his second term that lasted a whole week? I think a second term blue president can party for a day. Maybe someday there will be a clear presidency? I won't hold my breath. In the mean time, party down!