Obama's Woodstock

January 16, 11:50 PMDC Events ExaminerCosta Lapaseotes

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Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration Committee will kick-off the Inauguration celebration with a giant free event this Sunday, promising performances from stars and superstars at several ends of the music spectrum.  Called "WE ARE ONE: THE OBAMA INAUGURAL CELEBRATION AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL", and broadcast on HBO (7:00-9:00 pm ET), the celebration gives off an air reminiscent of the Woodstock festival - musically diverse acts, an open outdoor setting, and an overarching message that smacks of peace and love.

At the feet of the president known as the Great Emancipator, on the steps where Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered "I have a dream...", the symbology of the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States is everywhere for those who are looking.  From the mix of performers - Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, Denzel Washington, to John Mellencamp, Sheryl Crow, Garth Brooks, and Bruce Springsteen (not to mention Bono, Mary J. Blige, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, Usher, Shakira, James Taylor, will.i.am, and Queen Latifah) - to the cost of attendance (free), this event represents a unique kind of coming together.

Of course, there was going to be an inevitable sense of history, gravity, and renewal coming with this particular swearing-in, not only the first of an African-American President, but of one who rejects much of the worldview - the willful ignorance, the rejection of reason, the pandering to ideology and hubris - that the current administration, an administration that many in the country feel has overstayed its welcome, has come to symbolize.

Of course, there was going to be a wellspring of momentum, of support, of goodwill, for a President whose campaign promised Hope and Change.

Of course there will be anxious and nervous anticipation over the way that such a leader handles what is becoming a nearly unprecedented crisis, one seemingly borne of the old ideology and the old way of doing things.

What remains to be seen is how this goodwill will be directed, how it will live on.  As the National Mall becomes crowded with supporters and the city's infrastructure runs double time to support the influx of celebrants to The Chosen One's coronation, his team will be undergoing confirmation hearings and probes and all the while crafting a national policy that will, hopefully, live up to the promise that Obama's impressive credentials brings to the Oval Office.

For those of you at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, don't let the goodwill, the energy, and the hope fade.  The burden of success doesn't lie only in Obama's hands.  As the guru says, Change comes from within.  Let us follow Obama's example, that we can work harder, better ourselves, bring people together, or, come together, and we can bring about Change, and we can fulfill our Hope.