Ed Tant

Here I am in the press area during the inauguration in a photo taken by “Maggie the Unknown Reporter.” Code Pink peace activist Medea Benjamin (above) reminded Obama to remember his antiwar roots. A U.S. Marine listened while his Commander-in-Chief spoke. Children waved flags while street vendors hawked Obama posters, calendars and other merchandise. Below is a stunning “Gigapan” shot by David Bergman which can be seen at  Inauguration View. Faces in the crowd, including mine,  can be “zoomed in.”

Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009. I was there with pen and camera. Washington weather was cold and windy, but the mood of the huge crowd on hand was warm and sunny. In my photo above, President Obama takes the oath of office as First Lady Michelle Obama looks on with pride. Record-breaking crowds filled  the National Mall as millions thronged Washington from the steps of the Capitol Building all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. It was the largest crowd ever  at an inauguration and the largest throng ever to assemble in Washington on a day that will live in history and in the lives  and memories of the multi-racial multitude who were there when history happened.

Written before taking the train to President Obama’s inauguration

BARACK OBAMA CHOO CHOO

(To the tune of Chattanooga Choo Choo)

By ED TANT, January 2009

Hey, looka there! It's the Barack Obama Choo Choo!

Making its run,

Heading for Washington.

You can have fun

Aboard Barack Obama's Choo Choo!

Sun, snow or rain,

We're all aboard the Love Train!

You roll to DC's Union Station up on Capitol Hill.

Obama's swearing-in is gonna be such a thrill!

A multi-racial tribe'll

Be smiling 'cause they're liable

To see their man just place his  hand on Lincoln's Bible!

When you hear the whistle blow "oh, say can you see"

Obama's White House train's a'rolling to history!

Keep the train on track now,

To take our country back now!

We know "this land was made for you and me"!

There's gonna be a great big party up in DC!

Black folks and white--they're gonna party all night!

Hey, yes we can--rock and roll under the Capitol Dome

When Barack Obama's Choo Choo carries America home!