US Presidential Inauguration Ceremony

I watched the whole Inauguration Ceremony yesterday and I have to say that I was impressed. I've never watched one before so I was looking at it with fresh eyes. One of the things that impressed me the most was the tradition and "pageantry" of the event. I like tradition. Don't know why. There's an old world charm to it. Sometimes I like a break from tradition too, I'm not a stickler for it generally, but in this case, it was special.

The day couldn't have been more beautiful if it had been made specifically for the event. It was cold but sunny at the same time which made the whole thing conservative (because of the winter clothing), but really cheerful and bright (because of the sun). People were dressed so smartly. Everyone had beautiful coats on, and the hats! Everyone had on fantastic hats, especially the men. In my opinion society should not have stopped wearing hats. There's something very charming and glamorous about the whole "Mad Men" attire and yesterday all the men were dressed just like that. Nice.

The rows and rows of America's equivalent of royalty impressed me. All the ex-Presidents, all the Supreme Court Justices, Senators, Governors, and so many elite, hoity-toity families there - it was like seeing the royal family in full. The Marines and different branches of the army that were there were very impressive as well because of their super smart uniforms and extremely correct posture.
The highlights for me were:

• Obama's speech. He's just so eloquent, I'm always impressed. How about the fact that he used Abraham Lincoln's Bible? Very cool.
  

• The quartet. The song they played was so very beautiful. They are the best in the world, and there was no doubt about that when they played.

• Reverend Joseph E. Lowery's prayer. He was there when Martin Luther King had a dream, and yesterday he was there when the dream came true. That just blows me away.
  

• The very traditional and strict way the US Navy Sea Chanters sang the National Anthem. Very cool.
  

The lowlights for me were:

• Pastor Rick Warren's prayer. Who does he think he is? His prayer was so insencere it shocked me. I don't understand who made the decision to have him there. Wouldn't it have been better for the country to have someone get up there to say the prayer - prayer! - who is pure of heart? If he thinks his prayer made its way up as perfume, he's got another thing coming. IMHO, I think it would've been much better to get a humble, non-famous pastor from a simple church - or chapel - who dedicates his life to helping and bringing comfort to others, someone pure of heart and not chock-full of himself and his political agenda. Someone who can get up there and pour out his soul to God in prayer and ask humbly for help and blessing for Obama and his staff. They were obviously just making a show of the whole thing and that irked me to no end.
  

• Elizabeth Alexander's poem. What was that? First off, I took a look at her credentials. She is more decorated than my Christmas tree. So, let me ask you this, if she's all that and a bag of chips, why was her poetry reading so lame? She read it to us like we were mentally challenged Chinese children in pre-school who didn't understand English. EACH - DAY - WE - GO- ABOUT - OUR - BUSINESS .........OR - NOT. There was something about wooden spoons and a lot more incoherent babble. I've never seen a woman talk down to an entire nation before, but I guess this is not the first time. Maybe she didn't feel that way, but it sure sounded that way. Furthermore, she is an apalling poetry reader. I've never heard a poem read so porely by anyone, let alone someone considered a poet of her calliber. Looking back I believe the style of poem she chose is partly to blame. It was difficult to piece the thoughts together because of the way she read it, and because she used so many random scenarios to say, what exactly? I don't know. Something about praise and wooden spoons. It was a confusing mess and left me - and I'm quite positive - millions of others totally perplexed.

Well, there you have it. The highlights and lowlights. Tell me if you differ from opinion in the comments.