Thoughts on life, love and faith by Plasticmind.

Massive inaugural preparations snarl the Washington area

As attention shifts to Washington D.C. for Thursday's Presidential inauguration, attitudes will be cooler than the temperature outside. And what makes this whole situation difficult is that knowing Bush's reputation as a firm (bullheaded?) leader, you'd think they'd do everything to counter the negativity associated with resolve. You'd think they'd flip open the history book to the section marked World War I and they'd read Woodrow Wilson's statement that "festivities would be undignified" after his 1917 inauguration. Turn ahead a few chapters to World War II and read the account of Roosevelt serving cold chicken salad and pound cake after his 1945 inaguration.

Desperate times call for desperate measures--the battle cry of this Administration in Iraq, and a palpable one at that. But if that desperation doesn't somehow work its way into the actions of the commander-in-chief, its seems much more disingenuous. And the desperation I'm speaking of is not a frantic hopelessness, but rather a sobriety that highlights the magnitude of the task before us and the pain of those we've lost. I believe that the task in Iraq is important and momentous, but we ought not be so careless as to celebrate victory before the victory is won.