Liveblogging Pre-Inauguration Festivities, deux

Rob @ 10:49 AM: The motorcade is leaving the White House headed to the Capitol.

Rob @ 10:47 AM: Cheney just wheeled out of the White House - what an ironic turn of events. Michelle and Mrs. Bush preceded Cheney. Obama and Bush about to come out. Watching via the C-SPAN Inauguration Control Room.

10:35 AM: Very cool, AP has streaming coverage of the inaugural that you can watch from your computer:

10:30 AM: Someone in the comments mentioned there was a shoe-throwing protest at the White House yesterday. Cute.

10:12 AM: Joe just phoned in. He left his house at 8am this morning, and is still in line to get into the mall area - and mind you, he and his family are among the 300,000 people who have tickets. He says it appears the crowd control is poorly organized, there's no one directing the crowds, telling you where to go, being there to ask questions to, etc. And best of all, they didn't open up the mall until 9am. Why not until 9am? Not clear. Joe said it reminds him of when we were at the Democratic Convention in Denver this summer - you have never seen a more poorly organized event than that convention. As Joe notes, it's as if these people never had to organize a convention, or a swearing in, before. The town does this every 4 years - we know how to do it, there are people who know how to do it. Apparently they're not working today. Oh well.

10:10 AM: Interesting... I just noticed that the ACLU bought "Close Gitmo" ads on our blog for the swearing in. Very interesting move. Downright cheeky even.

10:02 AM: Rob and I are both sick with the flu (I'm getting over it, Rob is still in the thick of it), so Jacki and her beau got my tickets to the swearing in, and Joe is down on the mall with his family, taking photos and videos for you guys in the balmy 23 degree weather. I plan to grab video of the chimp being flown away from the White House a bit after 12 noon - you can see the White House from my apartment, well, you can't see it because it's only 2 stories high, but you can see where it should be. I've seen Bush flying in and out before, you can always tell because there are multiple helicopters, in order to fool would-be assailants. I suspect the chimp will fly over my apartment as he usually does, I'm on the presidential flight place. So will grab vids and photos if I can.

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10:30 AM: Someone in the comments mentioned there was a shoe-throwing protest at the White House yesterday. Cute.

10:12 AM: Joe just phoned in. He left his house at 8am this morning, and is still in line to get into the mall area - and mind you, he and his family are among the 300,000 people who have tickets. He says it appears the crowd control is poorly organized, there's no one directing the crowds, telling you where to go, being there to ask questions to, etc. And best of all, they didn't open up the mall until 9am. Why not until 9am? Not clear. Joe said it reminds him of when we were at the Democratic Convention in Denver this summer - you have never seen a more poorly organized event than that convention. As Joe notes, it's as if these people never had to organize a convention, or a swearing in, before. The town does this every 4 years - we know how to do it, there are people who know how to do it. Apparently they're not working today. Oh well.

10:10 AM: Interesting... I just noticed that the ACLU bought "Close Gitmo" ads on our blog for the swearing in. Very interesting move. Downright cheeky even.

10:02 AM: Rob and I are both sick with the flu (I'm getting over it, Rob is still in the thick of it), so Jacki and her beau got my tickets to the swearing in, and Joe is down on the mall with his family, taking photos and videos for you guys in the balmy 23 degree weather. I plan to grab video of the chimp being flown away from the White House a bit after 12 noon - you can see the White House from my apartment, well, you can't see it because it's only 2 stories high, but you can see where it should be. I've seen Bush flying in and out before, you can always tell because there are multiple helicopters, in order to fool would-be assailants. I suspect the chimp will fly over my apartment as he usually does, I'm on the presidential flight place. So will grab vids and photos if I can.