Noted in all the media coverage of President Obama’s inaugural ceremonies, activities and festivities was the tired storyline, “Corporate interests wield influence via inaugural.” Reporters and editors and activists trotted out the quadrennial line of attack that business interests were using their vast resources to curry favor by sponsoring celebrations and crudités, circumventing lobbying rules in spirit if not in law. This AP story was typical: “THE INFLUENCE GAME: Inaugural is lobbying schmooze.”

The coverage always and incorrectly boils down to a view of the Washington world as purely exchange-driven, that groups and people only spend money in D.C. for pecuniary reasons. Hardly even examined was the idea that the inauguration of a new president is a big deal, a moment in history, and people — even people associated with business –want to take part.

And the coverage also always seems to focus on business as being the major actor/offender. Labor spends millions? Eh… Environmentalists or other activists whoop it up? Hey, it’s green inaugural.

We were going to let the issue slide until happening upon this typically ugly news release from Public Citizen, the Naderite group, which appeared to be the framework for many of the stories, “The Presidential Inauguration, Brought to You by the Few, the Wealthy.”

And if trial lawyers are shelling out big money? Not much media attention at all..

We compiled this list not to condemn the lawyers for their contributions. They supported Barack Obama for president, support his goals, and wanted to take part in the inaugural activities. Good for them.

But didn’t their support warrant a bit more attention beyond special-interest legal publications?

Auguries for a complete collapse of the Metro on the day of the Inaugural were in abundance last week, and the recent, frequent failings of the mass transit system have been documented on the blog, here, here and here.

Well, it was a record, Million Passenger Day (probably a million), and Metro hung together. From the D.C. Examiner, “Metro soars past ridership records.” Stations near the Mall were overwhelmed at the end of events, but that happens on the Fourth of July, too.

Our own experience was pretty good. Metro ran buses straight down Connecticut Avenue to Dupont Circle, and after the first three passed by full, another one stopped with plenty of room. So an hour to NAM-HQ? Not bad.

By the time we left, 7 p.m., the Red Line trains at Metro Center were at maybe 20 percent capacity. The bus ran late, but, eh…

So all in all,  acceptable performance. Really, no need to request FEMA disaster aid.

The President and First Lady walked along Pennsylvania from about 7th to 11th, and the Vice President and his party walked from 12th and on.

In all sincerity, exciting moments.

Soon after the President’s limo and then the Vice President passed, the crowds started abandoning the parade route. It has certainly been a long, cold day for people outside — and the parade was running 90 minutes late or so.

It’s clear that the Obama Administration has decided to make a sharp break with the Bush Administration with respect to the iron rule of punctuality. And that’s OK.

Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov

Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I’m Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be contributing to the blog.

A short time ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States and his new administration officially came to life. One of the first changes is the White House’s new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.

Millions of Americans have powered President Obama’s journey to the White House, many taking advantage of the internet to play a role in shaping our country’s future. WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration’s efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement.

Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration’s online programs will put citizens first. Our initial new media efforts will center around three priorities:

The first inaugural speech to invoke the great American standard, “Pick Yourself Up,” Jerome Kern music, Dorothy Fields lyrics.

From the text of President Obama’s speech: “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

From the lyrics of “Pick Yourself Up,” famously performed in the 1936 film, “Swing Time,” starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. (YouTube clip.)

Nothing’s impossible, I have found.
For when my chin is on the ground,
I pick myself up, dust myself off,
Start all over again.

Don’t lose your confidence if you slip.
Be grateful for a pleasant trip,
And pick yourself up; dust yourself off;
Start all over again.

Work like a soul inspired
‘Til the battle of the day is won.
You may be sick and tired,
But you’ll be a man, my son.

Will you remember the famous men
Who had to fall to rise again.
So take a deep breath;
Pick yourself up;
Dust yourself off;
Start all over again.

Wonderful song, excellent sentiments…

Diana Krall performs it.

UPDATE: And how much more Presidential than a reference to Jay-Zee and “Dirt Off Your Shoulder.”

Today we bear witness to history.  It’s not just the fact that the first African-American will be sworn in as our President and the leader of the Free World.  It is unfathomable to us today that there were Americans who would actually fight to their death to preserve the wretched institution of slavery.

It’s not even the fact that Barack Obama won the election in a landslide, and expectations for the success of our charismatic, young leader are high.

It’s because America is unique.  Our freedoms have been hard fought, the result of the blood and lives of our ancestors, and our men and women who continue the fight today.  Those freedoms are preserved by a uniquely American tradition as old as the Republic – the peaceful transition of power.

From one president to the next, the power and authority provided by the vote of our people is passed.  No guns.  No tanks.  No riots in the streets.  Just a simple oath every four or eight years, and it is done.

Americans of every gender, race, religion, and political party celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama as our 44th President.  At the National Association of Manufacturers, we embrace his message of hope and renewal for our country. And we commit ourselves to working together to bring our economy back, create and preserve American jobs, and strengthen America’s stature around the world.

We recognize the road ahead will be challenging.  But Americans have always risen above challenges and shattered barriers to success.  The NAM is proud that throughout our nation’s history, manufacturing has been a significant part of the solution and our nation’s progress.

As we witness the unfolding of history today, we are reminded of the wisdom of President Obama’s predecessors. 

Franklin Roosevelt, the President who faced the most daunting economic challenge in our nation’s history, offered this vision. “We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.” His leadership saved the nation from financial ruin, when many thought the task impossible.  This vision is as applicable today as it was 75 years ago.

Abraham Lincoln is the President who is often cited by our new President as one who provides him guidance and inspiration.  “My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of the earth,” said the President who began the process of healing our nation after the Civil War.

There is no doubt the path ahead for our new President will be filled with very serious challenges.  Our economy is in crisis and our nation is in a recession not seen for generations.  Manufacturing has not been spared, and the downturn has led to less production, lost jobs and closed facilities.  But manufacturing is the engine that drives the U.S. economy, and it is the sector that can – and will – lead our nation into economic recovery. 

The D.C. Examiner was the only paper with today’s issue in the newspaper boxes downtown*, so we acknowledge its efforts by posting its editorial of the day, which, even better, captures our sentiments about today’s historical events exactly.

An inauguration both historic and healing

By Examiner Editorial
- 1/20/09
Long after the speeches for the occasion have been given, the solemn oaths of office administered, and the immense crowds have cheered our new president all along the parade route from Capitol Hill to the White House grounds, today will be remembered as among the most important in American history. The departure of one chief executive and the welcoming of another is always a significant event.

Yet the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama as America’s 44th president elevates the moment of 2009 even beyond its usual quadrennial majesty. An amazing and inspiring man in his own right, he is our first African-American chief executive and thus a special bearer of our national hopes and dreams. His swearing-in ought to therefore mark a healing of wounds borne far too long, even from before the founding. The revolutionary generation of Washington, Jefferson and Adams gave us the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. With them came a vision of liberty, equality and opportunity that has since made our nation in so many ways a genuine approximation of the city on a hill dreamed of by our Puritan ancestors. But the founding also bequeathed to us the shame of slavery, and the scar of inequality that remained after its abolishment in 1865. We have struggled mightily in the century since, and never more markedly than in the most recent decades of our existence, to shed the vestiges of inequality and thus bind up our still painful wounds.

And what a very long road we have traveled to come to this day when every American can finally say that it could be any one from among us taking the oath of office. Americans of every political stripe – and people from every corner of the world – can fairly rejoice in seeing a black man swear to “faithfully execute the office of President of the United States” and promise to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States” – after winning a democratic contest in which he was judged only by the content of his character, not the color of his skin. So much blood was spilled, so many tears shed, and so many prayers sent heavenward along the way to bring us to this day. It hardly seems possible to conceive that we have come to so remarkable a moment without the blessing of that “providence of God” that Lincoln invoked in his second inaugural and throughout his momentous presidency.

May the same providence now guide and strengthen President Obama to the tasks we the people lay before him, and may God bless these United States of America.

An exciting, monumental day.

*Not a veiled criticism of the Post or Times, by the way. Newspapers sold in the newsboxes would be quickly emptied out for souvenirs — 75 cents could get one a dozen papers for resale — so the issues are being sold in stores only.

Revising…

We’ve played around with this post several times, since the D.C. traffic cameras (and our html skills) are operating inconsistently. Above should be a frequently updated photo of 9th and Pennsylvania Avenue, along the parade route. Below is 14th Street, looking north from Pennsylvania.

We recommend TrafficLand.com for many D.C. camera shots, including the Capitol and parade route.

Words of wisdom in the Wall Street Journal from former Reagan speechwriter, Peggy Noonan, who is still moved by the sight of the city when landing in Washington, D.C.

What is required for full enjoyment of an inauguration, from opening prayers to speeches to marching bands is, in the great 19th-century phrase, the willing suspension of disbelief. If you don’t put your skepticism aside, you will not fully absorb and experience the drama. You must allow it to be real for you. Those two young people on the stage did not really take poison and die, but Romeo and fair Juliet did, and that is the reason the audience, which knows the actors still live, says, with genuine feeling, “Oh, no!”

To believe, suspend disbelief. We have been through this before, the flags and fine speeches, the brass donkey paperweight, the glass elephant, the rise and fall of administrations, the coming and going of figures great and small. It’s good to put that aside for a few days, to remove yourself from politics, partisanship and faction, to suspend your disbelief, to be grateful that the signs and symbols endure, as does the republic, and raise a toast: “To the president of the United States.”

NPR this morning is interviewing scores of people this morning embracing the day, the moment, the mood with enthusiasm, not skepticism. It helps that they’re not part of the permanent Washington scene.

This afternoon’s Inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial (see below) will feature amplified music and huge Jumbotrons displaying the performances.

Springsteen will perform; remember his contributions to the No Nukes concert and recording of three decades ago?

Electricity in Washington, D.C., is provided by Pepco. From the Illinois Commerce Commission:

Ninety-one percent of D.C. power comes from coal-fired power plants and nuclear power.

Pepco does place great emphasis on “green power” and environmentally sensitive technologies.