MLK Inauguration and Justice Sotomayor, GFN

Since it's inauguration day here in Washington, the crowd is here once again, packing the national mall to capacity, eager to hear President Obama's inauguration speech.  However, they forget what is happening here, the inauguration is set by constitutional mandate to be on January 20th, not the 21st.  The official clandestine ceremony was held on the Sunday before the speech.  For the sake of ceremony and for lining the inauguration up with Martin Luther King Day, there was a televised public ceremony on Monday, the 21st.  It seems as though, in setting up the schedule for the day, the global media networks like CNN, Fox News, C-SPAN and MSNBC were trying to attract more ratings by aligning the date of the public ceremony with Martin Luther King Day.  It may seem to be of little consequence, but for all of the 19th century, the presidents never gave speeches.  It wasn't until Woodrow Wilson re-started the tradition of presidential speeches that the inauguration became a media event.  Since then, the speech has grown in importance more so than the inauguration itself.

As for all of us here at the Global Feminist Network, we were impressed with the selection of Sonia Sotomayor for presiding over Vice-President Biden's oath.  Justice Sotomayor, appointed by Obama, was the first Latino-American to hold a position in the highest court of the U.S.  And her presence at the inauguration was an appropriate testament to that achievement.