Blogging the inaugural

Wow -- Trent Lott is back, in spades. I know that people I talked to in the permanent government had been shocked a few years back at Bush's failure to support him in his crisis. They have never looked at Bush the same way since then. His failure to stand up for an ally was a HUGE mistake. It cost him a lot of trust among people he needs to work with. It's nice to see Trent taking charge again.

Rhenquist is back, too. He doesn't look nearly as bad as press accounts would have us believe. Maybe the court confrontation isn't as imminent as we thought.

AAARRRRGGH! Tried to post, but lost everything instead. Must remember: save, save, save. Probably isn't too bad. It was mostly incoherent impressions.

When Bush was taking the oath, FOX's camera's had Santorum's face hovering over his right shoulder. Hmmmm.

Nice speech: short and to the point. Hugely ambitious. We will root out tyranny even in the darkest corners of the world. Everywhere people stand for freedom, the United States stands with them. Our power is not unlimited, but it is considerable. We won't do everything everywhere, but if people stand up for freedom we will respond.

Ties advance of freedom to his "ownership society" domestic policy -- nice.

Freedom requires character and self-governance. This depends on moral values which are based ultimately in religion. He's laying down a marker here. Bush and the Republicans have benefited greatly from the backlash spawned by the secularist onslaught against religious values in America. Now he's riding it for all it's worth.

Invokes the words of Lincoln, Jefferson, Wilson, and the Liberty Bell. He's tapping the messianic theme in American political culture.

Lots of religion speak. Twice the invocation referred to "one nation under God." A poke in the eye of the secularists.

Bush isn't pulling back one inch. This is a call to arms. Will the nation, or even his party, respond? Stay tuned.

Inside the capitol when the leadership posed for pictures, Lott, not Frist stood closest to the President. I know that this is like the old Kremlinologists analyzing May Day lineups, but it is interesting.

Lott presides over the luncheon. He's getting more TV time than the President. Hmmm.

Lots of things to think about.