After posting the customary president-elect YouTube video to the internets, this morning Barack Obama and his family boarded a rickety old train for a daylong journey from Philadelphia to Washington, which takes about two hours on a normal Saturday, in a car. This dramatic gesture is meant to illustrate our nation’s tragic fall from a gleaming superpower to a worn-out rust bucket inching through an industrial wasteland.
The New York Times reports, retardedly:
PHILADELPHIA — President-elect Barack Obama stepped onto a train car built in 1939, a time when his presidency would not have been possible in America.
Yes, because Barack Obama would’ve been Negative 21 Years Old at the time, which is only possible in crappy Brad Pitt movies based on mediocre F. Scott Fitzgerald stories.
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Are you sure it isn’t because this is the only way he could get Joe Biden to show up?
~
OK…I’m a sappy sucker. I love watching this train journey.
I love watching the people waving as the trains go by…kids and grownups, jumping up and down, filled with joy/hope/caffeine, whatever.
I can’t be snarky.
Well, I can be a little snarky…could Megyn Kelly on FOX be any MORE negative about the crowds?
Can we haz “Cap’n Smitty” of USAir at the controls, plz?
Ha! David Gurgon on CNN has his “I am a serious journalist” hat on. We know it’s just an asshat.
Hurray! Ken survived the party.
[re=221455]hockeymom[/re]: I’m surprised Fox is even airing any inauguration footage. I figured they would just pretend the election never happened & pretend W is still the president for the next eleventy billion years.
CNN has it streaming live. And by “it,” I mean a bunch of people standing in front of what appears to be a bus stop.
Oh, they also have coverage of the A320 being hauled out of the Hudson:
http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream3
I was asked to show up at Edgewood, MD as the train passed- but I didn’t. I’m wondering if it will come by Silver Spring- that I will do. Checking the route now. So see you all at the concert tomorrow- I will be the person in the black coat, balck pants and the big black scarf- trying to grab onto George Clooney.
They couldn’t find a 1929 train car? 19333 train car? Either would be more appropriate.
And where is Crazy ol’ Joe? Isn’t he a supertrain guy? If you cannot get an appropriately yeared money catastrophe car, then why not a supertrain?
Weak. What is it with these Democrats?
Thank you, sayitwithwookies, for the CNN link. That live shot cheered me up. I think we will have better crowds during this administration.
[re=221455]hockeymom[/re]: I’m a little surprised Fox isn’t covering the last days of Shitbird Camelot. Also, at this pivotal moment in American history, I would like to say that I would totally do Soledad O’brian.
I enjoy the fact that MSNBC is more concerned with giving us sexy Chuck Todd train shots than with Obama.
The first campaign trip of the 2012 election.
Captain Smith welcomes you aboard.
[re=221460]finallyhappy[/re]:
I’m in Silver Spring and trying to figure out when it will come by here. I hear the frickin trains enough that there should be SOME benefit to living by the tracks. The Baltimore event is around 4:30pm, which means that they might not come through Silver Spring until after dark. If I go in the dark, it will be me with my flag and those homeless men who live under the bridge.
I want summa that cake.
hockymom: “Well, I can be a little snarky…could Megyn Kelly on FOX be any MORE negative about the crowds?”
That Kelly person is so wrong. These crowds waiting for a rickety old train kick ass. Much better than those old crowds.
It is annoying to keep hearing commentators ask if ‘racism is over now that we have a black president.’ I’m not a sociologist but I’m going to go out on a limb & say, ‘NO, you stupid fucks. Racism is not over on Jan. 21, 2009.’
[re=221464]OffTheRecord[/re]: Please don’t use the phrase “Chuck Todd train” again. Too horrific for the imagination.
[re=221463]WadISay[/re]: That’s because President Shitbird is vacationing at Camp David right now. He’s already got the presidential record for most days on vacation, but he’s trying to make it unbeatable.
Why does Chuck Todd look like he is missing sleep all the time. When ever someone asks him a question he had to take a moment closes his ayes and then answer.
Regarding the Obama/Biden we heart Lincoln train shtick – I find it moving. It fills me with hope.
[re=221472]SayItWithWookies[/re]: I picture the Shitbird madly shredding docs and magnetizing hard drives this weekend, but he prolly couldn’t figure that shit out.
[re=221457]bitchincamaro[/re]: Gergen may have on the “serious” journalist hat…but what kind of topper is the dude next to him wearing? The Half-Cowboy?
Back to FOX coverage…Megyn Kelly is now expressing disbelief that 100-thousand people in Baltimore would come out in the cold to see Obama. She would instead tell people what restaurants to go to if they “get sick of the cold and the crowds”.
I’m not sure I could dislike her more, if I tried.
Nothing says “Outta my fuckin’ way!” like a Union Pacific Big Boy belching smoke and steam.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=191464&nseq=25
Make ‘em piss themselves on the platforms, Barry!
[re=221474]bitchincamaro[/re]: Dubya doesn’t do any heavy lifting — he just expresses optimism. My only fear is that he’s entrusted the destruction of evidence to the only competent person in his administration.
[re=221475]hockeymom[/re]: “Trooper topper”?
[re=221455]hockeymom[/re]: Well, I would correct you on the stimulants, but you are right. Growing up in the northeast, I had never ever heard of Meth. Until I heard of Wasilla.
Eeek, Nancy Pfotenpooper is back on MSNBC. I’ve so NOT missed her.
[re=221480]Texan Bulldoggette[/re]: did Nancy chop off her hair?
Yay…Megyn Kelly is gone, Shep is on…and Shep at the very least, is interested in what’s happening.
Other things basically impossible in 1939: The female orgasm. The LGBT “community.” Donuts. Okay, maybe not donuts.
The Mall looks like a dreary corner of hell on MSNBC. Oh, man, the mutt girl (Soledad O’Brien) has a blue woven hat on CNN that is too ghetto for television. Elsewhere, many people smoking crack before dancing in public to catch a glimpse of Young Brother-Elect, The One.
This weekend needs beer.
[re=221459]SayItWithWookies[/re]: Let me guess no one throwing shoes? (the average republican cannot see his feet, let alone reach down and pick one up & by the time you want to throw it, its time for a nap)
Please tell me someone brought that cake to the Yoga party. (and also tell me what % was cannibis))
[re=221481]hockeymom[/re]: Sorry, I was listening from a different room, so I didn’t see her.
Also, why are you watching Fox? (Although Shep, Brett Baier (SP?) & Major Garrett are watchable. The Fox women all share one ‘mean girl’ brain under their blond bobble heads.)
mmmmm, Dark Kenyan Chocolate and Mooslin Cream Nut cake.
Megyn Kelly can suck it.
Why isn’t Kathy Griffin coanchoring CNN with Andy Cooper. They look to be outside and there are bound to be people willing to holler “you suck” even at this moment of HOPE.
I think the train thing is a riot. Stopping to pick up the Bidens and making their way to Baltimore (which doesn’t get crap due to its proximity to DC and…what else?? Oh yeah, the drugs and corruption). This isn’t a very pretty time to ride the rails in the NE corridor, especially with no snow to cover the bleakness of the world near the tracks. I’m sure the girls’ iPODs are set to xtra loud. “DAD…we are soooo bored…”
Sure, Obama could have ridden a train in 1933. He would have made a very snappy Pullman car porter.
What tragic Casual Corner (or more likely Filene’s Basement) did Soledad O’Brien fish that hat out of a sale bin? My stars. She makes Gergen look like a fashion plate.
I think it’s shocking that our new president would flaunt his disregard for Plessy v. Ferguson in such a public manner–1939 trains are run on 1939 rules, son!
OT
Buff Beast’s 50 most Loathsome Americans Dance Mix Pt 1
http://acksisofevil.org/audio/inner208.mp3
or download from
http://acksisofevil.org/innerside.html
[re=221479]Bruno[/re]: “Growing up in the northeast, I had never ever heard of Meth”
I take it you’re not from Philly.
[re=221492]smellyal8r[/re]: The urban Northeast in winter: concentration camps without the charm.
Hopey’s looking damn fine in Ballamer in that topcoat. Damn fine.
[re=221515]skutre[/re]: Are you from Philly- I grew up there- but meth happened after I was an adult. I grew up so long ago that stores were not allowed to open on Sunday and department stores did not open on Saturday in the summer until I was 12. And no, I didn’t date Ben Franklin
I finally understand why everyone voted for Obama…CHOCOLATE…MMMMMMMM…
I hate to think what flavour a McCain cake would have been.
Malia told her dad about his upcoming inaugural speech: “First African-American president. Better be good.” Made me water up. The girl has strange and awful powers. Soon they will reveal themselves, and all will fall prostrate before her and praise her.
[re=221505]smellyal8r[/re]: Casual Corner? Does that even exist anymore? And, more importantly, do they still sell Gunne Sax dresses?
I think I will probably cry a lot tomorrow and during my volunteer stint. I guess I don’t even have to hope I cry quietly
[re=221523]ella[/re]: The simple act of wearing a topcoat proves that he is already smarter than some of our presidents. It is damn cold out there and I don’t want our Hopey going the way of William Henry Harrison.
I saw the Obama Xpress roll by earlier this afternoon. It was teh awesome, especially the huge Homeland Security helicopter gunship that buzzed the crowd just before the train came through. But, neither Hopey nor Joe decided to get out and wave to us.
[re=221530]OffTheRecord[/re]: Harrison took that whole macho man thing to extremes. Maybe Tyler put him up to it.
Am I headed to hell for daring to think of an almost president as a tasty morsel?
[re=221463]WadISay[/re]: Speaking of “Shitbird Camelot,” perhaps we can call the last 8 years Shitalot. To celebrate its “passing” I hereby dedicate all of tomorrow’s bowel movements in it’s honor.
Don’t let it be forgot
That once there was a spot
For one unending moment
That was known as Shitalot!
[re=221528]Madeline[/re]: Gunne Sax! I loved those dresses! Forty years ago. How old ARE you!?
[re=221526]kneebob[/re]: Malia is the Dakota Fanning character in the prophetic 10-part TV series Taken.
Her strange and mystical powers will soon manifest, followed shortly thereafter by aliens arriving to take her home.
[re=221524]finallyhappy[/re]: I was there in the late sixties to early seventies, then back again for a year in 1980 on the Jersey side.
I remember the place as being totally awash with speed from the early seventies on. But then again, I kinda had a thing for motorcycles, if ya know what I mean, the shit seems to be everywhere if you’re a biker.
I was on and off that stuff for decades, took me forever to finally let it go.
That stuff is just WAAAYYYY too much fun!!
Here’s a public Service Announcement I made for KPFT 11 years ago about the dangers of Meth.
It is interesting
http://acksisofevil.org/audio/C-D/PSA.mp3
Somewhere…packed away are two Gunne Sax dresses from the late 1970s. I graduated Junior High in a off-the-shoulder number with high heel shoes with crochet detailing. I think my hair was permed, or was my hair feathered? Bonnie bell lip gloss. Also.
Dear Wonkette and Wonketeers: You are the only people keeping me half sane at the moment. I realise that I am intruding on your GREAT NATIONAL HISTORIC MOMENT and of all people the Brits should be the last to criticise such GREAT NATIONAL HISTORIC MOMENTS as we have a whole tourist industry built up around GREAT NATIONAL HISTORIC MOMENTS but I am truly drowning in this, your latest, GREAT NATIONAL HISTORIC MOMENT.
What is so weird is that truly great moments in national history tend to arise as a result of the juxtaposition of spontaneous events. This GREAT NATIONAL HISTORIC MOMENT is sort of a designer moment.
I’m not putting down the election of Barack Obama, That was truly great history in the making of great national pride. No, its all the hoopla that now surrounds it. It leaves me throwing upon the sidewalk without having even had the chance to justify doing so by drinking voluminous cheap wine at the Wonkette Inaugural Ball.
I have always been of the opinion that you Americans would do a lot better for them and appreciated them more if you had kept our Royalty and simply made us cynical Brits independent. If the Obama thing fades a bit, could we arrange a bailout by sending them across to you? You clearly know better than we do how to handle such things and they are very keen to have more GREAT NATIONAL HISTORICAL MOMENTS of their own than we are willing or able to afford to supply.
Anyhow, I shall try and avoid the blogs next week. Hope all goes well for all of you. Excuse my cynicism. When the Band of the Royal Artillery and the cavalry of the Royal Life Guards and the ceremonial carriages wend their way down Pall Mall for the State Opening Of Parliament the biggest cheer, usually the only cheer, is always reserved for the horse that suddenly defecates great steaming piles of satirical comment. We are a sad nation so I will not begrudge you your GREAT NATIONAL HISTORIC MOMENT.
[re=221548]hobospacejungle[/re]: And then the Space Dogs come to eat the unbelievers and indiscriminately cynical Brits? Or is that another series?
Screw the train. Just give me my stimulus check. Papa needs a new pair of shoes… and by “pair of shoes,” I mean “case of grain alcohol.”
These seems like a remake of the 1980s movie “Silver Streak” starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.
[re=221559]Welshman[/re]: I came to the Lord Mayor’s show a few years ago -I cheered- but then I was a tourist
[re=221540]DoctorCulturae[/re]: Shitalot is good, but I propose “Scheiß-Haus” which in German both means “Shit House” and rhymes with White House (“Weißes Haus”), for our beloved Bush years. Although this is the name that I already call Icehouse beer…
just woke up and thought I was watchin Shithead’s farewell speech.. thought Obama came in right in the middle of it, then I realized i was watching Governor William J. Lepetomane and Bart on Blazing Saddles. Never noticed before how similar the characters are to them.
Man, that Virgin Mary toast sure started a trend. What is that, a cow pat with a miraculous Barry visage?
Could the wonkeratti wear a special uniform to inaug events, so those of us hiding in our bunkers to watch it in Real America (where The Others generally think this is the End Times) can recognize you? So I can say (to no one, because liberals here are sadly alone) “hey, I know that sad-sack loser!”
Maybe everyone could wear ninja-style headbands, but in rainbows! Or strap a unicorn horn onto you forehead–they would be so, so cool.
[re=221473]Dreamer[/re]: “Regarding the Obama/Biden we heart Lincoln train shtick – I find it moving. It fills me with hope.”
I so full of hope I’m about to float–and it’s only day one of the official Inag. Big Event! I’m watching Huckabee (still a shut-in due to feakish Bell’s Palsy frozen face). A few minutes of him will be a buzzkill for my hope and allow me to go back to the Obama Express for a fillup.
Okay, done. Boring puts a real damper on the hope buzz.
[re=221474]bitchincamaro[/re]: ” madly shredding docs and magnetizing”
I hope the crowds the confetti. It may be a giant map to all the black ops. Or directions to Cheney’s coffin/bunker.
I look forward to more portraits of the rich and famous composed of elephant dung. Suck it Rudie G.!
[re=221564]Keram2[/re]: You should be off the grain alcohol now m’man. The new day is dawning and it’s time to pull yourself up. You’ll only be getting about 500 bucks back anyway and it’ll probably be spread out over 12 months — not enough for hard likker. With all this hope in the air, this could be the start of a whole new day. This was the last Saturday W will be Preznint, ever. That should make you happy. Keep hope alive, etc.
But, if you must drink, who am I to stop you…
[re=221543]HuddledMass[/re]: “Gunne Sax! I loved those dresses! Forty years ago. How old ARE you!?”
I never owned one because they were a little fussy or, more likely, too expensive for my cheap ways. How old are we, I wonder–are there enough of us to teach the children about the Age Of Aquarius?
[re=221525]Numbat Dundee[/re]: McCain’s cake would’ve been bran & flax-seed with prune whip frosting…
I like Jill Biden, but she dresses like a teacher. I even have that same red and black dress she wore at the DNC. (Yawn.) You can tell though that she put some thought into that snazzy coat she had on today. Michelle will make you plot dress war when you’ve got to stand beside her. Jill had on her boxing gloves today.
[re=221559]Welshman[/re]: Hey, mister rugby dude. We’ve been through eight years of hell over here, knowing the dunderhead in the WH was fucking up the globe so horribly it is going to take, seriously, decades to recover.
Only the teevees make Great Historic Moments. This one, however, we the people made, so it counts.
Don’t rain on our Hope.
(Oh, shit. I’ve got a tv going out. Does this mean yet one more VISA card charge? Fuck, fuck, fuck.)
The crowds for President elect Obama were nothing compared to the crowds Bush could draw. But those crowds were always throwing things and swearing.
Parallel to the Obama administration’s theme of investing in environmentally-friendly, new technology, trains were the Green transportation of the 19th Century. Actually, not. His trip started in Pennsylvania, a coal-producing state. Accident or happenstance?
Is it too soon to begin the snark or am I just, you know, EBIL? Be frank.
[re=221598]S.Luggo[/re]: EBIL. But that’s okay, EBIL has its place here.
[re=221595]riffin1[/re]:
Insensitive, Demrat elitist. Bush knows that every pair of shoes thrown at him means more footwear that he can give to our nation’s growing Hoovervilles of art history majors, tramps and hobos. Thus, his legacy grows.
[re=221525]Numbat Dundee[/re]: a McCain cake would obvs. be tasteless and stale, and would occasionally blurt “Get off my lawn!”
[re=221582]DustBowlBlues[/re]: Don’t stay home just cuz the Bell’s Palsy. I’m sure you are purty regardless. You are Wonketteer. You are beautiful.
[re=221559]Welshman[/re]: I read the whole thing and imagined Tom Jones saying it. Forgive me!
[re=221471]Texan Bulldoggette[/re]: Riiight? It’s like people who say global warming is fake because DUH, it’s cold out.
[re=221559]Welshman[/re]: Sad nation? Hm. Well good luck with that. Mainly I want to say thanks for not trying to spoil our gnhm. Let’s be friends. We can bond by getting drunk together and make fun of Canada’s gnhm, yea?
[re=221587]Mr Blifil[/re]: Haha. I see what you did there.
Now, now, now, there was nothing old about the train Obama rode – except the last car which is a preserved classic car…
But what is strange is that the corridor is one of the only electrified mainlines in the US (as opposed to Europe where most mainlines are electrified). And Obama rode behind a pair of diesels. I am told the lead loco was picked for it’s number – Amtrak #44.
The rest of the thing about rolling through an industrial wasteland in the cesspool of the Northeast is completely true, however…
[re=221601]S.Luggo[/re]: Shoe for industry, shoes for the dead!
Now I am carbon-dating myself to the Pre-Cambrian era….
OK…one question…what’s a picture of Morgan Freeman doing on that cake? Or is it the I Spy Bill Cosby? Seriously…
[re=221695]HuddledMass[/re]: You sure are, but fortunately I think we’re all bozos on this site.
Just to overshare, I’m spending the big day’s festivities (which comes early, like 7 am, on the west coast, which obviously doesn’t count in Hopemaster’s scheme) at the Richmond Civic Center. If visitors to the east want to see some industrial decay, crime, jobless people and vacant houses, c’mon down, we got ‘em! This city has been beaten senseless by 8 years of the Chimpreich, and I can’t believe it’s a little more than 24 hours and its over.
[re=221707]smellyal8r[/re]: Cosby
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