# My first Bush bashing - inauguration costs and DC
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [January 17, 2005, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170 "2005-01-17T08:39:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/21 "2005-01-17T18:04:07Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#):
>
> Spare me. If it were Kerry getting sworn in, there would be no calls for simplicity here. Folks here would instead be clamoring for tickets and renting tuxes.
I’m opposed to pomp and ceremony on a purely non-partisan basis. I’m with both **Liberal** and **Diogenes** (and how often do you hear _that_?). The President is a bureaucrat, not a monarch. Let’s get back to treating him like one.
---
### Author:  [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/22 "2005-01-17T18:11:18Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#):
>
> Not the greatest fan of Bush either, but if it’s about him, then it’s also about all the other Presidents who have celebrated in this same fashion. I blame tradition.
(a) Note that the OP wasn’t pitting the idea of there being an inaugural, but rather the fact taht this year, FOR THE FIRST TIME, the federal government is asking DC to help pay for it, and suggesting that they use funds EARMARKED FOR ANTI-TERRORISM!
Whether the inauguration in general deserves pitting is another question entirely, so I’ll just point out:
(b) Bill Clinton’s two inaugurals, just to use **Mr Moto** ’s example, did not take place during a war, nor did they take place shortly after the largest natural disaster in living memory
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### Author:  [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/23 "2005-01-17T18:11:54Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#):
>
> Well, that’s what I’m talking about. The oath can be taken in the Oval Office first thing in the morning with no press, no crowd, no speeches and no ceremony other than the bare oath itself. It would take les than five minutes, cost nothing and everyone could get back to work.
Yeah, and how much did JFK’s funeral cost back in 1963 (inflation adjusted) when we could have just put him into the ground and been done with it?
The idea is to have a ceremony that befits a head of state, and virtually every head of state has had one. You’re just hating because it’s Bush. Just admit it.
> [@](#):
>
> Bush seems to think this is all about _him_.
Give me a break. I really hate to do this anymore, but it’s true. Clinton’s Inauguration #2 was about as expensive as Bush’s. Most of the people enjoy the pomp and pagentry, which is why it continues.
Also, I’ve seen estimates on public funding between $2.8 and $28 million (with the rest covered by private donors), so If I were you I’d take any number that you see with a big grain of salt.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/24 "2005-01-17T18:15:13Z")
For the record, I used to do the same bitching about Clinton’s inaugurals. It’s a longstanding peeve of mine that these things are long and boring and expensive and the religiosity of the events rubs me the wrong way as well.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/25 "2005-01-17T18:19:58Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#):
>
> Yeah, and how much did JFK’s funeral cost back in 1963 (inflation adjusted) when we could have just put him into the ground and been done with it?
That’s exactly what we _should_ have done.
> [@](#):
>
> The idea is to have a ceremony that befits a head of state, and virtually every head of state has had one. You’re just hating because it’s Bush. Just admit it.
Screw that. He’s a civil servant. He deserves no more pomp and circumstance than the guy who delivers my mail. We’re supposed to be egalitarians, after all.
And I bitched about Clinton’s inaugurals too.
> [@](#):
>
> Give me a break. I really hate to do this anymore, but it’s true. Clinton’s Inauguration #2 was about as expensive as Bush’s. Most of the people enjoy the pomp and pagentry, which is why it continues.
See above. I have long been an opponent of these things.
> [@](#):
>
> Also, I’ve seen estimates on public funding between $2.8 and $28 million (with the rest covered by private donors), so If I were you I’d take any number that you see with a big grain of salt.
That’s $28 million that would be better spent on the familes of the troops in Iraq.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/26 "2005-01-17T18:21:53Z")
Well fine then, **Diogenes**. Bitch about inaugurations in general, if you so choose.
That’s not what you’re doing in this thread, however, and it’s disingenuous for you to suggest otherwise.
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#):
>
> Why do we even need an inauguration ceremony? What purpose does it serve? Why not just have the little fucker show up for work like everybody else? Is there some reason we need to watch the guy swear to a magic sky pixie that he won’t break any laws?
>
> I hope he gets the fuck egged out of him again.
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#):
>
> Bush seems to think this is all about him.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/27 "2005-01-17T18:31:00Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#):
>
> Well fine then, **Diogenes**. Bitch about inaugurations in general, if you so choose.
>
> That’s not what you’re doing in this thread, however, and it’s disingenuous for you to suggest otherwise.
This president is behaving particularly shamefully.
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### Author:  [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/28 "2005-01-17T18:44:18Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#):
>
> Well fine then, **Diogenes**. Bitch about inaugurations in general, if you so choose.
>
> That’s not what you’re doing in this thread, however, and it’s disingenuous for you to suggest otherwise.
And you’re not actually responding to the point of this thread, which is not a rant about the inauguration in general (that’s a rant for a different thread) but about a very specific issue.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/29 "2005-01-17T18:50:53Z")
I did reply to that issue in my first post to the thread.
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### Author:  [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/30 "2005-01-17T19:30:01Z")
Bit of a hijack, but man…[pity the poor marching bands](http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=INAUG-SECURITY-01-10-05&cat=WW).
If you’re in a marching band performing at the inauguration, you have to:
[ul]
[li]First, go to the Pentagon…yes, the freakin’ Pentagon…in the early morning where you will pass through a metal detector while bomb-sniffing dogs search your bus.[/li][li]Then, get driven from the Pentagon to the Washington Mall, where you will spend most of the day in a tent under guard.[/li][li]If you have to go potty during this time, you will be escorted to and from the bathroom by security personnel.[/li][li]Finally, march in front of the President…except you can’t make any sudden movements _or even make eye contact with the Pres_ while you pass in front of him.[/li][/ul]
I gotta admit, if the pomp and circumstance is this much trouble then a quiet, dignified ceremony in the Rose Garden is looking better and better.
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### Author:  [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/31 "2005-01-17T19:41:23Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#):
>
> The idea is to have a ceremony that befits a head of state
Nope. The idea is to have a ceremony that befits a President, not a King.
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### Author:  [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/32 "2005-01-17T19:59:02Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#):
>
> Spare me. If it were Kerry getting sworn in, there would be no calls for simplicity here. Folks here would instead be clamoring for tickets and renting tuxes.
What? Screw you. I’d tell Mr. Ketchup to keep that shit simple too. Any other assumptions you need dispelled?
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/33 "2005-01-17T20:03:37Z")
I just call them like I see them.
I’ll willingly concede that some (not all, surely) posters here would decry the extravagance of a Kerry inauguration. However, I don’t think for a second you’d here that complaint echoed by the general media.
I don’t recall any outcry over the Clinton inaugurals, nor did I complain myself.
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### Author:  [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/34 "2005-01-17T20:17:17Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#):
>
> I don’t recall any outcry over the Clinton inaugurals, nor did I complain myself.
Do you recall the organizers of Clinton’s inaugural trying to stiff Washington D.C. on the bill? That being, you know, what the OP was complaining about.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/35 "2005-01-17T20:42:38Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#):
>
> Albom makes some good points. While Bush wraps himself in the flag and pretends to salute our troops overseas, these same troops are squatting in the desert, eating sand, and praying this is the night they don’t get killed. Of course, this is the same thing they do every day they’re over there.
>
> While Bush dances at nine different “official” balls, millions of Americans are going to spend their time looking for a job to replace the one they had that went overseas or just disappeared. Something tells me he’s not going to be thinking about them.
>
> Given Bush’s _L’etat est moi_ attitude, if the constitutional amendment limiting the president to two terms is repealed to allow him to run for a third term, I am leaving the country.
>
> Robin
Damn, sounds almost exactly like the last of the Russian Tsars, right before the revolution.
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/36 "2005-01-17T20:50:26Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#):
>
> The idea is to have a ceremony that befits a head of state
The idea is to have a head of state that befits the ceremony.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [January 17, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/37 "2005-01-17T23:50:17Z")
> [@Orbifold](#):
>
> Bit of a hijack, but man…[pity the poor marching bands](http://www.knoxstudio.com/shns/story.cfm?pk=INAUG-SECURITY-01-10-05&cat=WW).
>
> If you’re in a marching band performing at the inauguration, you have to:
> [ul]
> [li]First, go to the Pentagon…yes, the freakin’ Pentagon…in the early morning where you will pass through a metal detector while bomb-sniffing dogs search your bus.[/li][li]Then, get driven from the Pentagon to the Washington Mall, where you will spend most of the day in a tent under guard.[/li][li]If you have to go potty during this time, you will be escorted to and from the bathroom by security personnel.[/li][li]Finally, march in front of the President…except you can’t make any sudden movements _or even make eye contact with the Pres_ while you pass in front of him.[/li][/ul]
That’s fucked up about eye contact. Are they afraid bin Laden has a Kryptonian on the payroll who’ll burn down the President with heat vision? Has General Zod escaped the Phantom Zone?
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### Author:  [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/38 "2005-01-18T00:26:59Z")
> [@Mr. Moto](#):
>
> I just call them like I see them.
Right :rolleyes:
> [@](#):
>
> I’ll willingly concede that some (not all, surely) posters here would decry the extravagance of a Kerry inauguration.
Ooh, that’s big of you!
> [@](#):
>
> However, I don’t think for a second you’d here that complaint echoed by the general media.
I’m sure they would. If Kerry won, they’d switch sides almost as quickly as the election results were announced. Oh, wait, we’ve got that whole “liberal media” thing going on, right? Oh, and Jews control the banking and entertainment industries, too…
Stick it, Moto.
Sam
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/39 "2005-01-18T00:49:16Z")
> [@Liberal](#):
>
> I think it’s more like je suis l’etat. But yeah, point taken. And I agree with Diogenes. Give him a cubicle in a cheap, rented storefront and auction off the mansion (and its contents).
Sorry. My French is nonexistent.
Robin
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### Author:  [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-first-bush-bashing-inauguration-costs-and-dc/285170/40 "2005-01-18T00:49:41Z")
We’re constantly told these political events are a windfall for the host city (hotels, restaurants, tax receipts, etc.). I don’t recall the mayors of Boston or NYC complaining about local expenditures during this summer’s conventions (BS fests)…quite the opposite in fact.
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