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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 2001)
Inauguration signals a return to normalcy By Ted Anthony The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Crumpled se curity tape whipped in the wind. The battalions of beefy police offi cers were gone. There was no line for the portable toilets, Pennsylva nia Avenue had reopened to traffic and a new president was ensconced in the White House. Under a dusting of snow Sunday, things were beginning to look nor mal again in the imposing corridor between George W. Bush’s new home and the Capitol — and, by ex tension, in the entire country. The New York Post pronounced it a “New Day for America.” But is it? After the battles of the campaign season and the tension of Election Day, the presidential inauguration is a symbol of continuity in American government, a signal to other nations and to ourselves that we’re still strong, still resolute, still, as Ben jamin Franklin put it, hanging togeth er rather than hanging separately. “It helps to remind people that the institutions have endured, and they’ve endured things a lot more troubling than anything that hap pened in the last few months,” said Andrew Busch, a University of Den ver political scientist. This was no ordinary election, though; it was the closest in 124 years. And Bush’s debut was no or dinary inauguration. It was—prob ably inevitably — streaked with a sense of the torturous path that brought him to the White House. And the citizens who watched it from behind the barricades? Though legions came merely to soak up the pageantry, others hardly seemed ready to move on. “As long as he’s in the White House, it’s not over,” proclaimed Joe Konizeski, a Washington attorney wearing a bandit’s mask and carrying a sign: “I wanna steal an election, too.” Added his companion, Ann Ti tus, an advertising copywriter: “Our voice was taken away from us. This has to be the time to be heard. ” Among the thousands of protest ers only eight were arrested, but their attitude annoyed many on lookers — Bush supporters, mostly, but also folks who say the battle was fought hard and resolved peacefully. “How long do we sit and talk about a hanging chad?” said Daniel Hamel, 23, of Wisconsin, freshly discharged from an overseas assignment with the Is Looking ton Between the Ages of Anyone Can Try Out! No Previous Modeling Experience Required! Do This To Start (Or Advance) Your Modeling < Career Or Just for Fun and Money! 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We’ve sworn in others who didn’t win the popular vote, like Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877. Some, like John Quincy Adams in 1825, acknowledged the mixed feel ings in their inaugural addresses. “Less possessed of your confi dence in advance than any of my predecessors, I am deeply conscious of the prospect that I shall stand more and oftener in need of your indul gence,” said Adams, chosen by the House when the Electoral College couldn’t determine a winner. Bush, in his address Saturday, did not refer to the election impasse that ended with the Supreme Court effectively naming him president, though he praised Al Gore for “a contest conducted with spirit and ended with grace.” In a luncheon afterward, he sought to reassure Americans that the narrow victory and cleaved Congress would not render his tenure ineffective. “People say, ‘Well, gosh, the elec tion was so close, nothing will hap pen, except for finger-pointing and name-calling and bitterness,”’ Bush said. “I’m here to tell the country that things will get done, that we’re going to rise above expectations.” Ultimately, the mixed tenor of the Bush inauguration depicts America in miniature. For some, it’s a time of celebration; for others, an opportu nity to speak out. Some demand the redress of grievances. Others wave flags, shed a tear or two and dismiss protests as poor form. “It’s such a large part of American ceremonial culture that any time you see it, you’re reminded that it’s part of a chain, that this is about something bigger than the individ ual who is actually taking office,” said Busch, the political scientist. “They’ll remember that George W. Bush is the 43rd president now, and someday there’ll be a 44th.” The strange election ordeal under scores this. We pushed the limits, and we didn’t break. On Saturday, from the cheering families to the loudest of demonstrators, we celebrated that. Just before the inauguration, a homeless man wearing an American flag bandanna left the pile of news papers he was selling and clambered up onto a ledge. He pulled a dispos able camera from a torn pocket and took a shot of the crowd. One tiny celebration of many, it passed in an instant. “We come together and we move on,” said Hamel, the Marine. “We’re OK. We’re definitely OK.” George W. Bush moves into the White House WASHINGTON — With a pledge to lead America with “civility, courage, compassion and charac ter,” George Walker Bush became the nation’s 43rd president and vowed to heal the wounds opened by the close and bitter election that carried him to power. A crowd stretching out from the West Front of the Capitol witnessed an inauguration that marked the opening of the first Republican-con trolled White House and Congress since the Eisenhower era. Also on Saturday, seven members of Bush’s Cabinet won quick Senate approval. Bush was sworn in shortly after noon and ended his first day on the job before midnight when he went home to the White House after mak ing the rounds of inaugural balls with his wife Laura. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney, along with family, friends and members of the new adminis tration, attended prayer services Sunday at the Washington Nation al Cathedral. Along the parade route down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House, police in riot gear stood five deep between Bush’s motorcade and protesters, who hurled insults at the newly in stalled president. An egg was thrown from a group of demonstrators toward Bush’s limousine. A few blocks later an or ange was tossed toward his car. Po lice pinned down two protesters who jumped security barriers and got within 30 feet of the limousine. While the inaugural protests were the largest since the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations that marked the start of Richard Nixon’s presi dency, the police said only eight people were arrested. In one of the new president’s first official acts, Bush formally submitted his Cabinet nominations to the Sen ate. Among those quickly confirmed and sworn into office were Colin Powell as secretary of state, Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary, Paul O’Neill as treasury secretary and Spencer Abraham as energy secretary. Bush signed an executive order es tablishing ethical standards for his new administration, and moved to halt Clinton’s blizzard of executive orders and rules. Among the targets were new Medicare guidelines and environmental protections. He also ordered a temporary fed eral hiring freeze until his new Cabi net members are in place. Saturday night, the new presi dent and first lady crisscrossed the capital city to attend eight official inaugural balls. At each, Bush ac knowledged that dancing is not one of his accomplishments. “I’m proud to report, I think we’ve accumulated more than ten minutes of dancing,” he said at the last ball. “So to help you all cele brate, we’re going to dance, and then I’m going to bed. ” They were back at the White House at 11:38 p.m., an hour and 8 minutes ahead of schedule — something un heard of during the Clinton years. 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