Taking Off the Yoke

Gung hay fat choy! Bring on the Year of the Ox. Now that’s what I call a proper New Year’s kickoff! January 1st had nothing on January 20th! Yee-hah!

As far as I’m concerned, the only touch missing from those terrific shots of beaming and carousing multi-ethnic crowds was the Louis Armstrong soundtrack:

I see trees of green........ red roses too
I see ‘em bloom..... for me and for you
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

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The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky
Are also on the faces.....of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands.....sayin’.. how do you do
They’re really sayin’......i love you.

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more.....than I’ll never know
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world

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I also loved the rhyming tease in Rev. Joseph Lowery’s benediction:

"We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right."

And, speaking of music, it sounds like old irascible Pete and the Boss diggin’ up bones the other day were quite a hit, especially when they got to these “lost verses” [ed: "censored verses" more to the point]:

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

My semi-daily constitutional today took me back to the International District, home of the Bush Hotel and outlets for, among so many things, Mediterranean specialties and produce (bok choy?), in this case jalapenos to garnish the vegetarian chili at the Exorcism Dinner we hosted for a few close fiends (sic) tonight. I was astounded to notice spargle (white asparagus – common treat in Europe, infrequently seen here) from Peru was actually cheaper than green asparagus from Mexico. I’m taking this as a possibly auspicious portent (uwajimayan oracle?) that we should reserve judgement on a multitude of things over the next at least year or so. As someone (who?) once said, the unexpected is always at hand.

In no way am I subscribing to "don't worry, be happy," but I am definitely upbeat on two scores here. The first is getting a significant portion of the populace engaged, doubtless many for the first time, both in the sense of volunteerism, i.e., taking better care of each other, and as participants in our own governance. The second is my sense that there is a huge psychic dividend in being rid of Cheney and Bush, et al. If even a decent fraction of that psychological payback could go towards positive goals, we might be talking serious progress on global warming, poverty, and any number of military confrontations.

And on the issue of transparency and accessibility, how about this:

By the time Obama was halfway through his speech, shortly after noon [EST], a switch had been flipped somewhere on the Internet, and WhiteHouse.gov became Obama territory. "Change has come to America," the Web site declared, and the smiling face greeting visitors on the intro page was no longer the familiar old smirky Texan, but rather -- as Obama put it four years ago -- that of "a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too." That place, it turns out, is in the White House. Only in America.

Do check it out - grin material indeed.

Ally, ally oxen free!