Unlike the majority of my friends – and seemingly, the majority of 20-somethings in the country – I departed The District the Friday before Inauguration Day for a warmer and congestion-free locale. My my decision to flee the impending mob scene hinged on several factors, including no interest in dealing with the road-choking flood of tourists in a city I’ve called home for almost my entire life, but primarily because I did not support President Obama in the election and thus felt I could not participate in the libation-fueled bacchanalia that marked the long Inauguration celebration weekend with the zest and revelery the occasion demanded.
To be sure, the 2008 Election was a referendum of Bush 43, an election that marked a clear shift from the policy and ideology of the last 8 years – policies that divided a nation so deeply that all a Democrat needed was a picture of him or her with Obama (including the word “change,” of course), juxtaposed with a image of their opponent and GWB to make their case. And even though I am a registered Republican – yes, I’m one of those 8% who didn’t vote for Obama - I can’t argue that the vehemence towards the GOP is entirely unfounded. But I do find fault in the horrendous disrespect shown towards POTUS as an institution and an office during the Inauguration ceremony on January 20.
The treatment of former President Bush has been galling in its relentless nature; the attacks have been vicious and, more often than not, a product of a “blame first, ask questions later” culture that even held the Bush White House liable for problems that existed before his presidency. Indeed, some of Bush’s policies and decisions are rightfully criticized, but I hoped that Obama’s inauguration would be largely free of the Bush-bashing that marked GWB’s presidency.
As I sat down to watch the inauguration ceremonies, however, I learned – primarily via Twitter - that not only were some attendees throwing shoes at an effigy of GWB, but many more also roundly booed 43 as he approached his seat. Even Chris “Thrill Up My Leg” Matthews and other pundits remarked that the booing was “bad form.” Indeed, when one considers the years of campaigning and brokering of goodwill with a promise of change that vaulted Barack Obama into the Oval Office, it seemed to me that those attending the historic occasion would rather focus on the victory, rather than boisterously mocking a man who the country – like it or not – voted into office for two terms. Instead, the continued vitriolic treatment of Bush on what should have been a day of hope was saddening and shocking, even for someone desensitized to such actions.
As Jeffery Shapiro noted in a WSJ piece late last year, shocking lack of loyalty or respect for the office of the President, one of the most venerated symbols of freedom and strength, is rather disconcerting. Regardless of political ideology or affiliation, the POTUS deserves – at the very least – a modicum of respect. The position demands it. And Inauguration Day should have been viewed by all as a celebration of a new beginning, not as the last gasp opportunity to throw stones at a man who is no longer the face of our nation.