http://www.democrats.com/view.cfm?id=6193Remember the Inauguration Day Eggs
W. David Jenkins III
Michael Moore has done us all a large favor. His latest work, "Stupid White Men," contains something I needed to remember. Something we all need to remember. A day we need to relive whenever we feel like we're losing our grip. The day that redefined a collective sense of community between many of us in the face of something we never thought could take place in America. Something many folks refuse to admit took place.
January 20, 2001. The day "The Coup" became reality.
The first chapter in Moore's book recaps that dark and rainy day a little over a year ago. I remember feeling somewhat satisfied with the weather in D.C. that day. It seemed so appropriate and, at the same time, foretelling of things to come. It was as if Nature decided to cast a vote seeing that our votes, especially those in Florida, had been blatantly tossed aside. Nature took it upon herself to stand up for most of us and rain on the thief who would soon lift her garment in search of another dollar. And she followed him for months. Some of you may recall that many of Dubya's outdoor appearances were plagued by rotten weather early on in his "residency." Like the old margarine commercial used to say, "Never fool with Mother Nature!"
Do you remember where you were on that day? Do you remember how you felt? I remember hearing how Washington D.C. was going to have to add extra security on Inaugur-Auction Day. I remember hearing about the masses of expected protesters that were coming. I remember channel surfing and net surfing looking for hope. Looking for signs that the rest of America was as angry as I was. I remember seeing a sign reading DemocraticUnderground.com but the clip was so quick, I had to call a friend to make sure I'd seen what I thought I'd seen. I remember spending the months of the campaign going through Bush Watch and then zipping over to Voter.com and wonder what the heck was wrong with people? All these polls showing Bush either a little ahead or neck and neck with Gore. Of course this was before I knew what a "freeper" was and what they do to polls. And now, here I was with so many others, staring at my television in disbelief. Do you remember how sick and angry you were?
Then came that magic moment. I had switched to C-Span because I was growing sick of the commentators yakking it up or cutting away every time Dubya's motorcade came across one of the many thousands of robbed voters who booed him. C-Span was showing just sound and pictures, no talk. Then it happened. I had to look twice to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing. But there it was. So beautiful and so appropriate on this dark day.
The egg. That wonderful angry egg.
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