Did Clinton's 2 Inaugrations call for as much Security as this one is?

[Heddi]

I was in High School in 92 and just out in 96---very apolitical at the time (didn't even vote until 2000)---liked Clinton, all that jazz.

Don't remember much about the Inagurations---it must have been the one in 1992---we had to watch it in school, and I remember Maya Angelou reading a poem.

But correct me if I"m wrong, but I don't remember news reports at the time talking about misles being deployed for the inauration....or 1st Amendment Zones and all that stuff that they're doing for THIS inaguration...

And yet there are what.....59 MILLION americans who believe in their heart of hearts that all of this SECURITY is because the Terrorists Hate Our Way Of Life (tm).....when, to me at least, it's because THE WORLD HATES GW BUSH.

I know that all presidents are targets...and I know that inaugurations are very tight and secure events. But this is unprecidented my (short) life.

Why don't people see the REAL reason for the security---not to protect the AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE or THE NATION'S CAPITOL...it's because the Despot King KNOWS HOW MUCH HE IS HATED.

is this, like, common sense? I swear I think I'm the only person I know who can grasp this fact....

[merwin]

1. Bush doesn't want egg on his face... or on his limo :-)

[bryant69]

2. I don't know

I mean certainly it's a dark sign and one we should consider--but we were hated by some long before George W. Bush.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[smurfygirl]

3. no it didn't

Has anyone noticed how the terror threat level hasn't gone up but Bush is acting as if China's red army will be showing up to his parade?

It is all bizarre and looks more and more like he wants to be presented as a dictator instead of the leader of the free world. What a hoot this all is.

[Chico Man]

4. Hi Heddi..

Sounds like you are about the same age as me.

I remember breathing a huge sigh of relief in 92. It was an exciting year for a lot of people around me at the time.. (I was in 10th grade). I also remember starting to realize the patterns of deception that the republicans seemed to favor in 96.. who would of thought their desparation and anger at the time would have solidified into the beast we know today.

I'm sure there was plenty of security for both inagurations. However, The focus is now not on the president and what he has to say, but the security itself. That is pretty sad to me.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

5. You know

9/11 changed everything.

[papau]

6. Carter walked in 76 to show no fear of Americans post MLK/JFK/RK deaths

now we have a 1 mile trek in a supper armoured car via bullet proof glass walkways to and from the car, and with 6000 police and 7000 miltary along 1 mile route. Plus Every roof will have Secret Service. I forgot to memtion that our military has deployed anti-aircraft missiles within range of the Capitol as part of security enhancements for tomorrow's presidential inauguration (calling it a NORAD deployment - LOL).

I guess Bush does not trust Americans.

:-)

[Heddi]

8. I think you hit the nail on the head: Bush does not trust Americans

it's not the TERRORISTS he's worried about. It's you. It's me. It's the lady down the street with the NO WAR sign in her front yard.

He knows he didn't have a mandate. He won by a very slim margain (if he won at all, which is a different thread all together).

He saw what he took as complacency after the 2000 election fiasco. Then 9/11 happened and it DID CHANGE EVERYTHING....but not in the way he hoped.

He's tried the fear mongering, the war, the alert levels....but the American Sheeple aren't buying it like he wanted them to. They either started out disillusioned from the start, or grew increasingly tired of the FEAR! FEAR! SCARE! BUY! BUY! BUY! every day.

They're told on Major Holidays to be vigilant! Look for suspicious activities! Increasing amounts of chatter! but, while you're at it, go otu and have a good time while keeping an eye out for swarthy people carrying almanacs....

He's afraid of US. WE are his enemy...not the fictional Goldstein that hides around every corner.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. I don't think he's afraid of us. I think he's afraid of the potential

Timothy McVeigh types out there that may feel betrayed by the Iraq war. There really aren't any Dem groups that are militant enough to cause trouble. An egg in the face is probably the worst he's going to get from a Democrat.

[Heddi]

13. It doesn't have to be a dem group, or even a Dem

There are many people disillusioned about the war.

There are many people who have lost loved ones in Iraq. Their grief crosses all political bounds. They need not be republican or democrat to know that the war is a bad thing, especially when it impacts them so directly and so profoundly.

He *IS* afraid of Americans. Be they Tim McVeigh types who are just nutty and looking for an excuse, or Tom Jones from Main Street who is so grief stricken over the loss of his soldier son that he just can't take it.

He's not afraid of some foreign terrorists taking over DC, that's for sure.

It's the citizens of the country he runs that he's afraid of. That's why there's such a long list of "potential weapons". He's even pissed off the fundie crowd by banning Crosses and Crucifixes. I've never seen a muslim carry a crucifix in their pocket, but maybe I just don't hang out with the right Muslims.

Yes, he'll get egg on his face in a literal sense. I think his biggest fear is that of a disgruntled patriot who feels the ultimate betrayal, who feels misled, who is realizing the lies and brainwashing and propaganda.

THAT is who he fears. WE are who he fears. Not democrats. Not liberals. THINKING AMERICANS. We are, and always have been his greatest enemy.

[russian33]

7. don't you know 'everything changed after nine eleven'

:)

[Heddi]

9. I remember 9/11 happening on my TV that morning. I turned to my husband

we were both ashen. We had just moved to Seattle, and had all our family on the East Coast. His sister lived in DC at the time.

We were scared...seeing planes flying into buildings...people jumping to their death...

I turned to him and said "it's happened. Everything's going to be different now" and I didn't know what "different" meant.

That night, while watching what was turning into a week of non-stop, 24-hour news coverage, they found the rental car used by Mohammed Atta. Inside the trunk, they found a flight manual in Arabic, and a Koran.

We both looked at each other and just stared in silence. We knew then. You HAD to know then. Whether LIHOP or MIHOP or whatever...something was fishy. From that early on something was fishy and I had an awful taste in my mouth ever since.

A few days post 9/11, burned out on the constant news coverage, we were sitting at home, drinking copious amounts of wine and smoking even more copious amounts of marijuana. I told my husband, "You know, he can do anything now. We're going to go to war. We're going to go to Iraq. It's never going to end. It hasn't even really begun yet" and about 3 days later, I found DU.

9.11 did change everything, but fr me, not in the way that most people mean it.

[andyhappy]

10. 911 changed everything blah blah blah

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. Clinton walked freely along the inaugural parade.