As leaders obsess about bar hours, planning isn't complete for real inauguration issues

All the planning isn't done for the inauguration, you know, the little things, like safety:

With President-elect Obama's inauguration less than six weeks away, federal and local officials have not finalized emergency evacuation plans for the millions of people expected to be in Washington for the ceremony.

“We do not have the entire picture today,” said Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman for the Secret Service. “The entire plan is not completed as of yet.”

Wiley met with more than a half-dozen local and federal agencies and departments Thursday to discuss security and crowd control plans for the Jan. 20 event on the National Mall. But much has yet to be decided.

You'd think safety might be the top worry. Or, maybe getting people in to and out of town. Metro can't accommodate all the people coming to town, for example:

“We’re not going to be able to carry 2 or 3 million people,” said Lisa Farbstein, a spokeswoman for Metro. “We figure that we can carry approximately 120,000 people an hour max, on the rail system. That assumes best-case scenario that at 4 a.m. (when the Metro starts service) there are 120,000 people lined up ready to come in.”

Porta-johns should be on Feinstein and Bennett's minds. But, no. Our leaders are obsessing about the bar hours. Yes, the leaders of D.C. and key Senators, including Dianne Feinstein and Robert Bennett, are in a frenzy because the city is allowing bars to stay open late. Talk about priorities. I'd love to know the back story on how this leapt to a top priority for Feinstein and Bennett.

For the record, I don't even drink and rarely go to bars. But, I just don't think that the D.C. restaurant and bar hours should be taking up so much time. And, I'm starting to feel a little claustrophobic about the crowds coming to town. I'm glad, believe me. And, I'm excited. I just don't have a lot of confidence in the D.C. leaders -- or Dianne Feinstein and Robert Bennett -- to deal with it.