If it were YOUR inauguration...

What events would you plan?

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

free flowing booze, wild women, raucous crowds...and then I get the hell out of Dodge. It would be funny to see what would happen with a "common man" celebration. Heck they got enough security in place, enough to lock down the entire bunch.

cleaning up the mess that has been made of this world. No time to party, theres work to be done.

If it were my inauguration, I would hold a very simple ceremony on the capitol steps. No pageantry. Then return to the White House for a simple reception where members of the cabinet and congressional leaders from both parties were invited.
Late in the afternoon there would be another reception, a reception line if you will at some location accessible to the public where anyone could enter and shake hands with or speak their 2 cents with the President. Secret Service would go nuts over this of course.
There would be no balls and parties.
Only if every mouth was fed and every body sheltered and the people of the United States were protected by health care, would there be any partying.
There is no reason to celebrate the inauguration of a president in this country at this time. we are at war, people are hungry and homeless. The inaugural balls do nothing but exploit the arrogance of the political leaders in this country and it is time new leaders that truly care for the people and the country step forward.

in hand from some really needy charity, all of whom would be represented by the visitor's entrance to the WH...

and I don't mean the Warrenton County Womens Ausillary of the Knights of Columbus or the Atlanta BBB.

I mean the Cross of Christ Community Supper, The 4th Street Mens Shelter, ActUP, IWW (are they still around?) that sort of thing.

The bigger the verified donation (not pledge, dammit) the more I will listen to their silly needs.

No donation, no ear.

You would be a good president. :hug:

Stand behind the counter in an apron dishing out ham & eggs, pancackes, etc. to hungry people. Talk to them and listen to them. Make notes.

Drive the Secret Service nuts by walking the whole parade route, stopping to talk and listen to citizens. Make notes.

Get sworn in with my hand on a copy of the U.S. constitution.

But that's just me.

Nobody gets into the Inaugural Ball without a $1000 receipt from a designated list of charities that help the poor.

The exception would be a special Inaugural Ball for county chairs of my campaign from around the country. I would spend the most time there, and they would tell me about how the state of the union looked from their local perspectives.

I would celebrate by granting amnesty and monetary compensation to all Guantanamo prisoners. There is little likelihood that any of them were more than foot soldiers of terrorism, and a release and a generous cash settlement would probably do more to improve their attitude (and give them a head start on resuming normal life in their countries) than anything that might happen in prison. I would further announce that I would seek the repeal of the Patriot Act and an end to the category of "enemy combattant." I would declare that Constitutional rights belong to all human beings, whether U.S. citizens or not.

I would announce a phased withdrawl of American troops from Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries and use the money currently allocated to defense of "our" oil to a crash program to make the U.S. less dependent on oil.

up the mess.

and drinking games with 'biLLy beer'

followed by a bbq (including quarter kegs of beer)and then i would ask jimmy buffet to perform for a reduced rate as a patriotic gesture.

we would have a tree planting ceremony in which I would encourage all Americans to plant a tree (wait, is it too early in the year to do that?).

I would walk the parade route, shaking hands with people, because everyone and their dog wouldn't hate my guts, like this guy.

I would have a normal swearing in.

I would have a small gathering, especially in times like these, for my family and friends.

I'd want to give a really rousing, inspirational speech, urging all Americans to fight poverty and work for peace.

And yeah, I'd probably party like it was 1999, but it'd be SMALL and SIMPLE. You don't need fancy shit to have a good time.

would join together in their own communities to do community service. In the evening in DC there would be a celebration of the arts, free concerts etc... and a gigantic outdoor festival celebrating each state. There would be buses to take people to all the different venues. It would be a national First Night of sorts.

Those would be the three concerts. Each 90 minutes. One at 2, one at 4 one at 6. Then nothing. EVERYONE GO HOME!
The Professor

And I'd take the oath in the White House. No one but immediate family, the Chief Justice, and TV cameras/radio microphones. And that's it. No fancy balls, no parade, just get it over with and get back to the job.