The Man in the Glass Booth

Usually before a major cultural event I try to avoid the hype by ignoring most of the TV programming and journalistic input; this is how I get through Super Bowl week and the buildup to the Oscars (made even more difficult by the local traffic restrictions here near the Kodak, rendering the area impassable). For this reason I've been mostly avoiding the frenzy regarding tomorrow's historic Inauguration of Obama (one more day! one more day!). But one can't totally disavow the pomp for an event that is so agreeable, so I hunkered down last night to watch the HBO coverage of the Pre-Inaugural Concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

The program alternated between serious and portentous orations that might have embarrassed the 16th President's ghost, and pleasant musical interludes from a bevy of notables. The highights for me were Garth Brooks' spirited renditon of "Shout", and the concluding hymnal "America the Beautiful," a stunningly wonderful song that does our nation proud. I also enjoyed Renee Fleming's renditon of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone," an anthem that used to be ubiquitous in every High School graduation ceremony of my generation, but probably sounded totally new to most of the millions who attended.

The occasional camera shots of Obama and Biden, with their families, were ingratiating, especially the candids that caught Malia obsessing with her camera, and one of Biden's grandkids dozing off. It was nice to see Obama singing along spiritedly, without any apparent self-consciousness or apparent sense of the enormity of his future importance. What wasn't apparent from the camera angle, which I was surprised to read about this morning, was that the entire Presidential entourage was enclosed in a bulletproff booth. This necessary precaution, of course, underscores everyone's security fears, and it does remind us of what horrors could also lie in the future, as experienced by the Ghost of Honor Abraham Lincoln, and Obama's closest historical parallel, John Kennedy.

This has been a celebratory weekend, and not only because of the Obama ascendancy. Last week there occurred an event so startling in its hopefulness that it could almost serve as a metaphor for what we can expect from a new capable administration. When Captain Sully Sullenberger (sic?) managed to guide his stricken plane over the crowded streets of the Bronx and onto a miraculously safe landing on the Hudson River he reminded us what true professionalism was about.

It wasn't only his incredible poise and skill that saved so many lives; it was a confluence of many other skilled and capable people who banded together to remedy a potentially horrible situation. The co-pilot, the flight attendants, the ferry pilots, the commuters, and even the calm and cooperative plane passengers all performed their roles superbly. It said something very inspirational about the human spirit. Though as a cynic is has been easy for me to decy all our human weaknesses an d foibles, it must also be said that in times of crisis we are also able to act with ennobling grace. Though I'm sure it is a universal human trait, it is particularly true of New Yorkers, whom I have seen band together wondrously when there is a shared disaster.

I recall a similar event in 2005, when I arrived in New York after a sea cruise, just in time to experience the massive blackout that crippled the city, and of course, its airports. I was stuck in a hot crowded terminal without any electricity whatever, watiing forever for some airlines to activate. But I knew I'd be there for a long while and would have to cope. As time moved on the situation got better, not worse, as a sense of cooperation suffused all those gathered. It was an infectious generosity. At one point I went over to the only source of food, a small snack kiosk, and once there decided, what the hell, to buy food for everyone who was sitting with me. This is not remarkable, except that I am a true cheapskate, so somehow I felt moved into the unknown territory of altruism.

But what was most impressive about the miracle of Flight 1549, from LaGuradia to the Hudson River, is that it demonstrated what can happen when those in control are actually competent. Even the biggest disaster can be avoided by the smooth and thoughtul rendering of one's duties. This was not what happened in the previous appalling administration of George W. Bush, to whom competence was a very low priority as compared to ideological toadyism. But to the New Guy, if his own campaign and pre-Presidential behavior is any indication, skill and professionalism will be respected once again.

Hallelujah, and Hail to the Chief.