As I watched Obama's inauguration I had very mixed feelings about the whole spectacle. At first I felt that the inauguration itself was a huge sham; inaugurations in general seem somewhat silly. It's nothing but some over publicized spectacle meant to boost public moral and rally the troops, which serves it's purpose, but romanticizes the whole act. Even though the inauguration doesn't need to be a public matter, people like to see it; in a way it validates the voter's effort to support him throughout the long and arduous campaign. I guess its just too phony for me, but then again, who am I to determine whats important?
While watching the inauguration I gazed around the room looking at the people who had all flocked to see him speak. Very few actually looked at the screen; most of them were talking, playing around, cuddling, or sleeping. There was one sight in particular that stuck with me: I saw one student from my grade, a huge Obama fan, who had pulled up a chair right in front of the tv, clad in a HOPE shirt from Obama's campaign, fall asleep the second the big speech began. It speaks for our generation; (from what I can tell) we are a bunch of kids, obsessed with the image of change and HOPE that Obama speaks of, only we don't understand or care enough about what he is acutally saying to even stay awake long enough to hear him speak.
I have yet to hear a single intelligent or well thought out comment on Obama and his rhetoric from anyone my age, yet every time I make a single crack at him or any of his policies people rush to his defense. I, like most children my age, know nothing of his policies nor the greater impact they will have on society. We know only his image and how it makes us feel good about him being president which is dangerous. Obama could very well be just another solicitor trying to sell us something and we wouldn't know it. This I feel is a very negative trait and it speaks for more than just our political perspective. It shows how receptive and easily manipulated we are by the elite. All we know is that he represents change and hope the same way we know that we are "lovin'" McDonalds.