Yes He Did

Yesterday I put aside my natural kneejerk cynicism for long enough to watch Barack Obama's inauguration and allow myself to be filled with the kind of hope which is - yes - audacious. It's beyond one man, even a man as powerful as the President of the United States, to be able to heal all the complex problems of global politics and economics, but equally such problems will never begin to be addressed without great leadership and it seems that great leadership might be what we are finally getting. At the very least he has managed the first part: making people want him to lead them. Not grudgingly allow him to lead them, but actively, desperately, hopefully want.

After the ceremony - the speech (appropriately sober and inspiring though not as gloriously moving as his acceptance speech), the godawful poet who came after him, and the brilliant civil rights activist who spoke after that - the lunch (I blame freezing cold and then overcharged central heating for the senatorial bodycount) and the incredibly dull parade, we watched Aretha and her hat sing again on YouTube:



Then at a friend's suggestion, the equally incredible Nina Simone singing a very appropriate choice of song some years before:



And then a brilliant excerpt of a speech by James Baldwin some time before that:



Which kept us all in contemplative mood.

Contemplative and uncynical as I was, I still couldn't help a few stray thoughts from crossing my mind. Like relief that Michelle Obama had chosen a decent outfit this time, and a mental note that Barack Obama's coat was rather gorgeous, and also the briefest hint of suspicion that he might be wearing a thermal vest or two. His shirt did look a bit padded. Also, that the chap who did the prayer at the start of the inaugural lunch sounded a lot like Darth Vader.

Afterwards, we all had dinner and the Obamas headed off to TEN balls. They had to pose for pictures and do a first dance for each one, like getting married over and over again, and indeed Michelle had changed into something not unlike a wedding dress by then. I hope she was wearing comfortable shoes. Barack can almost dance, although he moves his hands in a funny way when getting down, which is a relief. The President should not be *too* groovy. But they look so sweet together that I am in danger of developing a serious couple crush on them. So happy! So in love! I bet she is not averse to telling him off when necessary either. She should get her own nuclear codes (which is not what I always say when I have a couple crush.)

You can see extracts from the ten balls over here. You'll notice that Etta James's At Last is played more than once, and it is indeed a very good choice of song for the occasion. But I'm sure you people can choose better. What's the best possible song to dance to for your first shimmy as First Couple? And the worst?