KEY POINTS:
For a hugely important event in a capital of power, the inauguration is unfolding in an amazingly relaxed, friendly, polite, good-natured and unpretentious way.
People are regularly chatting to complete strangers, taking pictures for them, trading jokes from group to group, getting photos of themselves with troops and
police.
It's a gigantic street party with no snootiness to be seen.
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The man soon to be the ex president of the United States hasn't quite been out of sight and out of mind.
Outside the White House today a protester posed as Death with a sign "thanking" George Bush and Dick Cheney for "eight prosperous years of murder and mayhem, torture and destruction. You boys sure know how to throw a blood bath".
And in the Dupont Circle people were taking turns throwing shoes at a big blow-up Bush doll next to the sign "give Bush the boot".
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The media was making a splash of its own today. Reporters were being filmed in different languages outside the White House and in the Mall. CNN drew a large crowd for a discussion between commentator Roland Martin and reporter/analyst Solidad O'Brien. TV trucks were lined up on Madison Drive.
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In DC they are expert at moving from A to B in super efficient fashion, whether it be a flock of blue-clad security people on bicycles; a march past of sheriffs in camel trousers, brown jackets and hats and short back and sides; or a wailing motorcade for a VIP of cops on bikes with sidecars. Today a convoy of about 10 towies got through an intersection without any traffic police assistance but a chunk of arrogance. The first two vehicles, instead of turning a corner, blocked the path of vehicles waiting at the lights, meaning those drivers could only sit and fume as the rest of the towies crossed in front.
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There has been huge demand for merchandise on Barack Obama with T-shirts ranging from out-of-a-bag street sellers at US$10 to the slick official lines (US$30).
The best buttons are official ones being handed out to the crowds. One is in subtle black, white and grey showing a close-up of Obama's face and his words: "I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible."
Then it says: "With your inauguration, a new day dawns. We are inspired by your vision and ready to make a difference...YES WE WILL!"
It illustrates both the sophistication of the operation around Obama - he is already a design icon - and the quasi-religious overtones of his phenomenon.
On Martin Luther King day here today commentators were drawing the full circle on MSNBC saying that Obama's victory fulfill's King's "I have a dream" speech.
At the Lincoln Memorial concert Obama's star wattage outshone all the other A-listers combined. He received booming cheers from the crowd when he was shown on the big screens.
John McCain was right: Obama is the world's biggest celebrity.
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Today the big screens were showing a concert from somewhere hot and sunny featuring Bloc Party and the Kaiser Chiefs. In the new Cool America see some Cool Britannia.
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The prize for the tackiest attempt to cash in on Obama goes to the man selling "Obama condoms" in the Mall with the winning line "Remember the election with your next erection".
He wasn't getting any takers. "Are they for real?" one man asked in slight disgust.
When I asked how many he had sold, "over a million" came the reply.
Yeah, right.
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He's played Ray Charles and now he's auditioned to play Obama. At the concert, Oscar winner Jamie Foxx did a superbly accurate impersonation of Obama which got the President-elect laughing. Movie directors will have taken note.
