WHEN DID THE PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION TURN INTO MARDI GRAS???

So is any- one else sick-to-death-already of hearing about the inauguration festivities, and how the cost could top the $150,000,000-mark?

I think it's totally, disgustingly, incomprehensibly inappropriate to be throwing a $150 million party while we're all simultaneously questioning what Barry-O will accomplish toward healing the economy in his first 100 days in office. Frankly, I can't believe anyone really cares... from the looks of all this ridiculous red carpet-style hootenanny, it's more about getting your swerve on with rock stars... parties... fashions... the limelight... celebrity. And a whole lot less about the gravity and responsibility of the office.

And all this absurd nonsense about emulating Lincoln? I saw on the news this morning where the inaugural dinner is a replica of the menu at Lincoln's dinner... uh, do we really think, for one split second, that President Lincoln would have approved of this horsecrap??? I'm sure he would have been stirred to his patriotic core by Hannah Montana. And excuse me for saying so, but I think what we have here are a bunch of mules in horse harness, shamelessly parading themselves around and congratulating each other on their achievements-- all the while, squandering precious taxpayer dollars...

I remember an article where GW was rebuked for spending $40 million on his inauguration four years ago... they told how many Hummers and tanks could have been purchased and sent to Iraq, along with a lot of other wartime necessities, for that price. It seemed a mite tacky to the press, because we were in a time of war. Guess what? We've still got war, people... plus an economy that, if you listen to the news hype, is hanging on by a thread... American industry in peril to the point that the domino-effect of its downfall could collapse our entire economy... and a financial framework in dire need of government handouts, for no other reason than the same brand of wantonness and indulgence that's running the show in DC tomorrow.

And if getting the new Pres sworn in is really about this kind of extravagance, I have but one suggestion: Let's just wait and do the deed down in New Orleans in a few weeks instead! Seriously. We'll kill two birds with one stone. A crowded sea of rowdy revelers... Check. An estimated ONE porta-potty per 6,000 attendees... Check. And more boobs on display than you could count. Check-Check.

Sounds like Mardi Gras to me!