|
|
|
Four years ago today, I was on roaming the National Mall in that biggest-ever crowd. This time I watched it at home, so the feeling wasn’t quite as intense, though the logistics were much easier.
I was a little surprised he chose a reading from Jefferson on which to base his speech, not one by Lincoln, but the speech worked. By flying the banner of equality and paying tribute to civil rights movements from “Seneca Falls to Selma to Stonewall,” he cemented his own place in that historic narrative. Because it was a second inauguration, the day seemed to say not,”the new Americans are here,” but “the new Americans are here to stay.
That includes gay Americans, most obviously. That was underlined for me on CNN just after the ceremony, when (openly gay) Anderson Cooper in the booth handed over to (openly gay) Don Lemon in the crowd, who proceeded to interview two (openly gay) guys, one black and one white, about how proud they were that the president put Stonewall right in there with Selma and Seneca Falls.
Beyond that, Beyonce sang the best national anthem I’ve heard in a long long time. But I still like Marvin Gaye’s better.
