GOP Struggles With Inaguration of a Democrat

One of the biggest surprises of the victory in November, culminating with today's inauguration, was that I didn't ever get a huge sense of schadenfreude. It's kind of like finally getting out of debt, or the work you do after you get that shiny new computer home. The anticipation is so great, the expectations so high, that there is something of an anti-climax.

Yes, George W. Bush is out of Washington. Most of his pals are out of any sort of power. Barack Obama is in the White House, and Democrats are in control of both houses of Congress. We got everything we wanted (short of a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate), and I am happy about that. But I really thought I'd be whooping and hollering about the departure of the other guys. I'm thrilled that they're gone--don't get me wrong--but I'm just not feeling vindictive or nasty about it. I'd love to see them held accountable, but I don't feel much like twisting the knife.

People on the National Mall didn't feel the same way, it would seem. They booed Bush, Dick Cheney and Chief Justice John Roberts. They sang "Na, na, na, nah, hey, hey, hey, goodbye!" And I thought that was a little classless, a bit like the angry folks at a Sarah Palin rally. But you know what? This has really been a classless President. And a disastrously bad one. So, while I don't feel so inclined, I'm not about to deny my liberal brethren the opportunity for a little schadenfreude themselves.

And when it gets the GOP collectively sad and blue? Well, after the neck-stomping they've given Democrats for eight years, it's a little hard to feel bad for them.

[Excerpt]

For GOP, it's hard to say goodbye

. . ."The one sorry note were the boos for President Bush, Vice President Cheney and Justice Roberts," said Khan, who was among a group of former Bush aides standing just a short distance from Obama as he was sworn in by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

"And singing the goodbye song," Khan said. "That was uncalled for."

Others GOP stalwarts, such as Ralph Reed, for former head of the Christian Coalition, made the conscious decision to stay away. But that only offered only so much protection. . .

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