It pains me to rain on Obama’s parade in any respect. But a few days ago I felt compelled to complain about his inaugural committee’s decision to feature a group of Southern belles wearing plantation garb in Tuesday’s inaugural parade.
Now I feel compelled to complain about this committee’s decision to sell HBO the rights to this afternoon’s “We are one…” inaugural concert, which is currently being broadcast from the Lincoln Memorial. Because, even though HBO is allowing non-subscribers like me to watch, tens of millions of Americans who do not have digital (cable) TV will be completely tuned out of this entertaining celebration.
(And that CNN is prohibited from carrying this event means that the hundreds of millions of people Obama inspired around the world will be tuned out as well.)
This is a damn shame! Especially given the nearly $1 billion Obama raised from ordinary Americans over the past two years to fund his campaign.
Indeed, instead of selling the rights to HBO for $2.5 million, I cannot understand why his inaugural committee could not have absorbed the cost of broadcasting this “people’s concert” on network television so that as many people as possible could tune in.
Not to mention the insult to Lincoln’s legacy of having a corporation hold exclusive commercial rights to this historic “public” event on the steps of his memorial….
Frankly, requiring everyone to go to HBO to see this inaugural concert on TV makes a mockery of Obama’s claim that he wants to hold on to his blackberry so that ordinary folks can stay in touch with him.
NOTE: I appreciate that Obama was probably not personally involved in the decision to invite the Scarlett O’Hara wannabes to march in his parade or to sell exclusive rights to this concert to HBO. But, by the same token, George W. Bush was probably not personally involved in the decision to out CIA agent Valerie Plame or to humiliate Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib … etc.
More to the point, as President Truman said of all decisions made on behalf of any president(elect), “the buck stops here“!
Related commentaries:
Southern belles in inaugural parade…?
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John Hay says
As an Australian who has blogged full time for Barack since February and still does, I agree that this decision was hard to understand. The Obama people don’t seem to understand the influence the rest of the world had on the outcome.
We have been left out also.
Let’s hope I can pick up the concert on You Tube to feature on my site for others to enjoy.
John
http://www.tellingthoughts.com