Charlie Rose

Joan  11/11/2008 12:54 AM Report

Inauguration Ball 2009

by Kenyada

Wed Oct 29, 2008 at 02:58:06 PM PST

I don't know, maybe it was one too many re-runs of The Twilight Zone; maybe it was one too many posts at 538. All I know is that one night I found myself in a huge ballroom, somewhere in the middle of Washington, D.C.

Kenyada's diary :: ::

Guests began arriving early. There are no place cards and no name tags. Everyone knows everyone else here. Now, there’s a grand foursome - Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz sharing laughs with Martin and Coretta Scott King. Looks like Hosea Williams refused the limo again, keeping it real. And my goodness; is that Rosa Parks out there on the dance floor with A. Phillip Randolph?

Seated at a nearby table, Frederick Douglass has a captive audience in W.E.B. DuBose and Fannie Lou Hamer, and Medgar Evers has just joined them. Marian Anderson was asked to sing tonight, but she only agreed to do it if accompanied by Marvin Gaye, John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix. Look, there’s Harriet Tubman. No one knows how she arrived, but there she is. And my guess is that, when the time comes, no one will see her leave.

There’s Jackie Robinson swiftly making his way through the hall as the crowd parts like the Red Sea to the unmistakable sound of applause. "Run, Jackie, run!" Along the way he is embraced by Jessie Owens. Three beautiful young women arrive with their escorts – Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney. Ms. Viola Liuzzo flew in from Michigan, exclaiming, "I could not miss this."

Richard Pryor promised to be on his best behavior. "But I can’t make any guarantees for Redd Foxx and Moms Mabley," he chuckled. Joe Louis just faked a quick jab to the chin of Jack Johnson, who smiled broadly while slipping it. We saw Billy Eckstine and Nat King Cole greet Luther Van Dross. James Brown and Josh Gibson stopped at Walter Payton’s table to say hello.

I spotted Congressman Adam Clayton Powell of Harlem having a lively political discussion with Eldredge Cleaver. Pearl Harbor WW II hero Dorey Miller shared a few thoughts with Crispus Attucks, a hero of the Revolutionary War. And there is Madam C.J. Walker talking with Marcus Garvey about exporting goods to Africa.

General Benjamin O. Davis flew into Washington safely with an escort from the 99th Fighter Squadron - better known as The Tuskegee Airmen. At the table on the left are three formidable women - Shirley Chisholm, Sojourner Truth, and Barbara Jordan - gathered for a little girl-talk... about world politics.

As usual, all the science nerds seem to have gathered off in a corner, talking shop. There’s Granville T. Woods and Lewis Latimer needling each other about whose inventions are better. Someone jokingly asked Benjamin Banneker if he had needed directions to Washington. And George Washington Carver was overheard asking, "What, no peanuts?"

Dueling bands? Anytime Duke Ellington and Count Basie get together, you know the place will be jumping. Tonight is special, of course, so we have Miles, Dizzy, and Satchmo sitting in on trumpet, with Coltrane, Cannonball, and Bird on sax. Everyone’s attention is directed to the dance floor where Bill "Bojangles" Robinson is tap dancing. Right beside him is Sammy Davis Jr., doing his Bojangles routine. And behind his back, Gregory Hines is imitating them both. Applause and laughter abound! The Hollywood contingency has just arrived from the Coast. Led by filmmaker Oscar Micheau, Paul Robeson, Canada Lee, and Hattie McDaniel, they find their way to their tables. Dorothy Dandridge, looking exquisite in gold lamé, is seen signaling to her husband, Harold Nicholas, who is standing on the floor with brother Fayard watching Gregory Hines dance. "Hold me back," quips Harold, "before I show that youngster how it’s done." Much laughter! Then a sudden hush comes over the room. The guests of honor have arrived.

The President and Mrs. Obama looked out across the enormous ballroom at all the historic faces. Very many smiles, precious few dry eyes.

Someone shouted out, "You did it! You did it!" And Obama replied, "No sir, you did it; you all – each and every one of you – did it. Your guidance and encouragement; your hard work and perseverance..." Obama paused, perhaps holding back a tear.

"I look at your faces - your beautiful faces - and I am reminded that The White House was built by faces that looked just like yours. On October 3, 1792, the cornerstone of the White House was laid, and the foundations and main residence of The White House were built mostly by both enslaved and free African Americans and paid Europeans. In fact, most of the other construction work was performed by immigrants, many of whom had not yet become citizens. Much of the brick and plaster work was performed by Irish and Italian immigrants. The sandstone walls were built by Scottish immigrants. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that The White House is, ultimately, The People’s House, with each President serving as its steward. Since 1792 The People have trimmed its hedges, mowed its lawn, stood guard at the gate, cooked meals in the kitchen, and scrubbed its toilet bowls. But 216 years later, The People are taking it back!

"Today, Michelle and I usher in a new era. But while we and our family look toward the future with so much hope, we know that we must also acknowledge fully this milestone in our journey. We want to thank each and every one of you for all you have done to make this day possible. I stand here before you, humbled and in awe of your accomplishments and sacrifice, and I will dedicate my Presidency, in your honor, to the principles of peace, liberty and freedom.

If it ever appears that I’m forgetting that, I know I can count on you to remind me." Then he pointed to me near the stage... "Kenyada, isn’t it time for you to wake up for work? Isn’t it time for all of us to wake up and get to work?"

Suddenly I awake and sit up in bed with a knowing smile. My wife stirs and sleepily asks if I’m OK. "I’ve never been better," I replied, "Never better. It’s gonna be a good day."

David Chowes  11/10/2008 07:51 PM Report

Simply put: whole program was quite insightful and enlightening.

Gina  11/10/2008 05:47 PM Report

Hey, I am the only one allowed to rant around here, people. I am important!

sd  11/10/2008 04:20 PM Report

"The magic of America is that anything is possible," I heard a pundit exclaim on television shortly after Barack Obama was declared president-elect of the United States of America. And I must admit that for most of my life I believed that America was bottomless when it came to possibility. Half of my extended, Italian family immigrated to the U.S. and not to Canada (where my parents wound up by chance, not choice), so through the years, after hundreds of family visits, vacations, and stays there, I’ve felt a close bond with Americans and things American. I’d even considered moving there a number of times. But always holding me back from fully embracing America was what I perceived as its profound and irredeemable racism. I could never get around it. As much as rugged individualism and the entrepreneurial spirit, or whatever attribute best describes Americans, racism was too deeply ingrained in their culture and in their psyche to ever recede.

Click here to find out more!

For the last eight years the ugliest side of America surfaced – aggressive, imperial, irrational – and many of us who admired if not loved America have followed its story with revulsion and sadness. On the other hand, electing Bush and his morally bankrupt administration for a second term seemed to expose what looked like the dark and vicious heart of America, and racism was part and parcel of that. And up until the last moment, when the announcement came that Obama would indeed win the presidency, I feared the worst, imagining a White House with curmudgeonly John McCain and the preposterous Sarah Palin steering America through its current, self-imposed quagmire. The idea that tens of millions of white Americans would freely vote for an African-American of modest origin, son of a Muslim, and liberal, seems absurd. Even now I giggle every time I roll it around in my mind. They did it. The Americans actually did it. The whole world was watching their next move. Many were betting that it couldn’t happen. People in my office placed wagers and most of them, cynical to the core, put their money on McCain. Even I was skeptical about Obama’s chances. It won’t happen, I thought. It can’t. They’re too far gone.

But just when you think America can’t go one better, it does. I thought that 9/11 represented a transformative moment, a paradigm shift, that demonstrated not so much the vulnerability of American homeland defence, as the fragility of the American psyche, and that America would inflict upon itself its most serious wounds and ultimately implode. And perhaps with the recent financial meltdown this almost happened, and may well yet get worse before its gets better – but already one gets the impression that the Americans will not go down without a fight now, and that far from imploding they’ve picked a new quarterback to lead them through their toughest season since the Great Depression. I was wrong: 9/11 was a hurdle. The Americans stumbled but regained their balance and equanimity in the person of Barack Obama.

However things turn out, this represents the true paradigm shift, and counters 9/11 in a way that military force never could. One only had to witness the cheers not just in America but around the world to appreciate how transformational the election of Barack Obama is. In one fell swoop, America has not only redeemed (if not reinvented) itself, but it has reaffirmed its status as the single most important nation on earth, the one most others, whether happily or not, look to for leadership – leadership the world sorely needs now.

It’s been a glorious spectacle for all people to behold. It restores to many non-Americans the idea of America as much as the place – and that anything is possible in America. Perhaps this will be a fleeting sentiment, as the new president steps into what amounts to a tsunami of difficulties. Arguably only Abraham Lincoln, elected as the Civil War was exploding, or Franklin D. Roosevelt, who took office in the throes of the Great Depression, faced bigger challenges. But somehow, with the cool and elegant Obama calling the plays, one gets the feeling that America will not only survive in one piece but it will win the game.

cf. toromagazine.com

Exe  11/10/2008 12:11 PM Report

My poor Murray,

Poorly informed you say? And yet you refer to Obama as a senator although he only served as senator for one year and didn't do much even then? And the fact that you are belittling Lincoln and praising Obama is mindbogglingly ludicrous. Furthermore, Obama attended elite, private schools throughout his entire life.

Edward  11/10/2008 11:16 AM Report

I hope Obama can help our country improve internally (esp. economic, healthcare) and externally (foreign relations, war). I am very optimistic that our country can move forward, not so much because of one man, but because there seems to be a climate for change.

As for Lincoln / Obama comparisons; that seems to me to be premature. We can only hope he can really help lead the changes required. I do wonder how many Americans cast their votes based on a good understanding of the issues versus a romantic notion of a 'savior'.

Thanks Edward (an optimistic pragmatist)

murray abraham  11/10/2008 10:25 AM Report

My poor Exe, FYI Lincoln had been only a one term congressman and had lost several congressional races before he was elected President. (He never was a Senator.)

Obama attended public schools first in Jakarta and then in Hawaii. He then attended various Colleges and Universities, including Harward Law, with student lowns he only recently was able to pay back thanks to his book sails.

As for the rest of the crap you peddle in your comments, they clearly show you are at best poorly informed. We all have the right to our own opinion, we are however not entitled to our own facts.

Exe  11/09/2008 06:03 PM Report

Gina, get a grip on yourself, you maniac. Admiring Lincoln has little to do with racism. Furthermore, the election of a half-white, half-Kenyan man has nothing to do with Black Americans. Obama was educated at private schools and two Ivies; his father was a Black Kenyan-not a Black American. His ancestors were not enslaved by white men. I feel sorry for sentimental fools such as yourself. Furthermore, he bought the election by manipulating the system and the populace.

Gina  11/09/2008 05:39 PM Report

By the way? This comment below is not mine.

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Comment by Gina on Sunday, Nov 9 at 05:02 PM

I have an opinion and I am very important around here!

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Whichever one of you gutless sore losers wrote that line further proves you're a weak, shameless loser who is probably a loser even in your own personal life. And I would not take into consideration anything you have to say much less trust your crap analogies on how a government should or should not be run. You're probably just as corrupt as the last administration....Although I have more respect for President Bush in his welcoming the President-elect Obama to the White House than I have for some of you idiots barking from the peanut gallery on this board.....

Gina  11/09/2008 05:28 PM Report

Exe, haha, you must be kidding. I have not heard any comparisons of that nature but Obama never compared himself to the great Lincoln if others did and you listened to it. At least you admit Lincoln was a great President otherwise I would be calling you an abject racist. But since you spoke highly of Lincoln of which by the way American history Presidents is a forte' of mine I shall let you get away with your small minded ignorance. I am so happy to know that most people in this country are fair, decent and honest folk which obviously is unlike you. Instead of working together it is always that bad apple in the bunch who like to stir up things just to keep the negativity going. But in this case you lose.....

Gina  11/09/2008 05:02 PM Report

I have an opinion and I am very important around here!

Exe  11/09/2008 04:42 PM Report

Gine, you sound like a fool. How typical of your ilk to dismiss a simple, logical comment such as, "Comparing an inexperienced nobody like Obama to Lincoln is disturbing." I think even Charlie and his effeminate pseudo-intellectuals would agree that this inexperienced so-called "senator" is not comparable to Lyndon B. Johnson, much less Lincoln.

Gina  11/09/2008 12:50 PM Report

If John McCain can take this loss like a man? Some of YOU sourpusses can take his lead and rise above it (again) for the betterment of all in this country instead of acting like crybaby SORE LOSERS!...You're never happy unless your tearing something or someone down to make yourselves feel better. It's adolescent and boring. The entire country came out in RECORD numbers to send a message by "vote" to your types........GROW THE HELL UP!

Gina  11/09/2008 10:34 AM Report

Iwant to talk about John McCain for a moment and acknowledge him in respect because I think he deserves it. His speech was beautiful. He took the loss like the man he is, an honest, respectful and decent man who did not come to the podium with anger and bitterness over his loss which I know was a bitter pill for him to take. But he stood up, admitted defeat and came into the fold to support his President-elect and I have all the more respect for him for doing that. My favorite moment was when he began his speech and his supporters booed and ranted against Obama's win, but John McCain stopped them immediately and would not hear of his supporters booing the new President-elect and he continued on. John McCain set the tone ABOVE being an angry, embittered loser. He stood up like a man and began his process to moving on. John McCain has my respect!! I believe he is 76 years old? He can run again at 80 as long as his health is upholding. There is nothing to deter him because this is America. Men and woman are living long in today's world. John McCain, my regards to you and your family and the "best" to you.......

Hopeless Optimist   11/09/2008 10:31 AM Report

I think it would be nice AND logical, if Barack Obama would publicly thank President Bush for being who he is, and thus helping to elect the first non-white President of the USA and most powerful human being in the world. Without President Bush embracing the role of a "the boogieman" in the interest of National Security, this parting of the sea, hallelujah epiphany, weight lifting phenomenon would not have seen fruition based on intelligence or emotion.

Gina  11/09/2008 10:18 AM Report

I wanted to talk about John McCain for a moment and acknowledge him in respect because I think he deserves. His speech was beautiful. He took the loss like the man he is, an honest, respectful man who did not come to the podium with anger and bitterness over his loss which I know was a bitter pill to take. But he stood up, admitted defeat and came into the fold to support his President-elect and I have all the more respect for him for doing that. My favorite moment was when he began his speech and his supporters booed and ranted again Obama's win, but John McCain stopped them immediately and would not hear of his supporters booing the new President-elect and he continued on. John McCain set the tone ABOVE being and angry, embittered loser. He stood up like a man and began his process to moving on. John McCain has my respect!! I believe he is 76 years old? He can run again at 80 as long as his health is upholding. There is nothing to deter him because this is America. John McCain, my regards and the "best" to you.......

Gina  11/09/2008 10:10 AM Report

Motherlode - You have been negative about President-elect Obama long before he became the new President. I would expect nothing less than your long dribbled diatribe to continue no matter WHAT success as a President he has. But I consider the source since you were one of the first to come out in support or LOVE for Sarah Palin based on the criteria that she LOVES to hunt and shoot.....This country voted for President-elect Obama in records numbers and that means that there are more people in the great country who recognize that we needed a fresh change from OLD GUARD and that's what we got....It's a good thing. If you cannot rise up above your bitterness to join in for the betterment of this country...Then get out of the way!

Gina  11/09/2008 10:03 AM Report

Exe - It is your ignorance that is disturbing and you should be disturbed about that.....

Exe  11/09/2008 02:13 AM Report

Comparing Obama, an inexperienced nobody who has achieved nothing, to Lincoln is disturbing.

MotherLodeBeth  11/08/2008 02:16 PM Report

It will be interesting to see how Charlie Rose and others who so LOVE President elect Obama, react when in two years little has changed and they realize the Moses-Messiah Obama hasnt done much because of powers bigger than he. ... All during the campaign he PROMISED so much and now he faces a huge mess that took years to create and will take years to fix....Yet so many people only heard the promises and not the comments on Friday or even Tuesday night that it wont be a year or even one term, but a slowwwwwwwwwwww sleep climb..... Wonder how many of those who believed it would be quick will now feel let down.

Jeanne Kay  11/08/2008 01:57 PM Report

Interesting program with Jeff Zeleny, David Remnick, Michael Beschloss, and Alan Brinkley and a rerun of the Emanuel brothers. David Remnick's acute and dispassionate observations were especially worth the hour spent viewing that program. All the obvious symbolism aside, how much will the Obama Administration support substantial change? His initial news conference parade of the new "economic team" says as much by what groups were NOT represented as by the corporate and the old government administrators amply represented.

Gus S.  11/08/2008 09:56 AM Report

Charlie, you are great interviewer--insightful and informed. However, your unchecked Obama lovefests are ruining your credibility. Obama was elected only a few days ago, and you (and your guests) are already equating him with Lincoln and Roosevelt.

The novelty of a black president is over. Let's wait for him to actually make decisions with impact before we judge.

Per Nielsen  11/08/2008 12:58 AM Report

I just finished listening to this broadcast and I have a problem with the historian (Alan Brinkley) and his recollection of the mantra of the Obama campaign: "Yes WE can!".

Mr. Brinkly kept referring to it as "Yes YOU can!" How totally misunderstood, since it is the WE-part that is important.

I hope the history books will not be written by Mr. Brinkley.

(I'm a foreign citizen residing legally in the USA for 30 years. While I cannot wote, I am every bit as interested in American politics as a true American.)

Kate M Williams  11/07/2008 11:56 PM Report

I love watching Charlie Rose.

Tonight I am watching a rebroadcast including Alan Brinkley. I hate it when people like Brinkley say Obama is the "first non-white" to be in the White House. Obama is white. He is half white and half African. So it is not true that he is "non-white". I love it that Obama is going to be in office so people can learn more about being a person of mixed heritages.

Thank you for reading this. Kate