The Immaculate Inaugaration

[SomeRandomDude]

Have any of you thought of how much of that money is necessary to PROTECT the man from ignorant racists who would like nothing better then to have a shot at him? Have any of you thought of how much of that money is necessary simply due to the sheer number of people who want to be present at this historic event? You can't simply have 2 million people show up in your city without preparations to accomodate their needs, like available bathroom facilities. I'm sure a large chunk of that money is dedicated to things that not Obama, his incoming administration, or his campaign can control or even begin to predict.

You call him out for spending this much money on his inauguration, but have you thought about WHY it's going to cost that much?

I actually agree somewhat here...

That's... unnecessary. The things that could be done with that kind of money being well spent... BOTH of them, I mean, not just Obama. Is it customary to make it such a gala event as to spend half the anual resources or a mediu-sized city?

And here.

Both have legit points. The security will have to be tight because of racists rednecks with guns, and also, this is history in the making, though I'd prefer it'd been a different black person, fact is, the first black president's innaguration is something a lot of people want to see. But then again, the extra stuff has gone WAY over the top, like, concerts, for example. I mean, you seen some of the acts they've got coming in? (and not even good artists...)

So this is of course going to be more expensive than probably any other innauguration, but they probably did go a bit overboard.

[DáinIronfoot]

I live just outside DC and have been through there many times. They have plenty of infrastructure already. I find it difficult to believe they need an additional $150,000,000. That's a LOT of zeros. I know there will be a ridiculous number of people there (believe me, I do NOT look forward to driving to work that day), but....

Yes, they have to protect the man, but most of the forces protecting him are ALREADY being paid to do so, and most of the additional security measures are already budgeted elsewhere as well. So what's the $150mil for? Entertainment is probably a huge chunk of it. Port-o-johns only cost so much.

[Elf_Lvr]

Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss.

All the extra stuff is just the sort of extravagance that some of the world hates America so much for. Obama isn't making any friends by making this such a huge deal.

Heck, it's a amazing historical event. If he did it in a bomb shelter somewhere, it'd still be special. There's absolutely no reason to try to "supersize" this event - it's already a big deal for a historical reason.

Perhaps Obama's PR just thinks that America can't deal with historical significance and just needs bright lights and flashy colors.

Whatever.

[Anonymous Prodigy]

Or maybe his PR just have their heads up their collective #$&*@!.

[Gil-Estel]

Or maybe his PR just have their heads up their collective #$&*@!.

aint it a dirty word...collective...brrrr....

[sickofpalantirs]

stupid c********* @$$#$

[Gil-Estel]

[DáinIronfoot]

Hey hey hey...none of that! We've got kids around here!

Oh, wait. Those are just Hobbits.

[Gate Troll]

stupid c********* @$$#$

I find your logic amazing. 

And entertaining... 

[Jerba]

I live just outside DC and have been through there many times.

You live just outside DC? Is there a playgroup for LOTR? I live in Alexandria.

[Gate Troll]

Forgive me I was off by $20 million. The actual total cost was $170 million.

[FM]

Well, it sure worked, I really thought he'd snuff it before the inauguration, and the man is still alive. Now let's see if he does a better job than the last one (which shouldn't prove to be too hard).

[Gate Troll]

Actually Bush wasn't a bad president. Its just that the media bashed him for so long that the public believed them. 

[Gil-Estel]

What made Bush a good president? This is a serious question.....

[turin08]

There is no way you can paint Bush as a good president. Just look at your economy and your world reputation. They are both in ruins.