Opinion: Sharing the historic Obama moment with a million pals

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Looks like fun.

Americans have a well-deserved worldwide reputation for subtlety and understatement, especially among the people who know them best, Canadians and Mexicans. But why have a federal political campaign of 40 days as in Canada, when you can have one of 700-plus days that costs more than $2 billion?

Americans hardly ever get wrapped up in some emotional historical moment and go crazy all out. Just look at this photo above. They’re all gathered on the National Mall like Emperor penguins in Antarctica protecting their eggs during the winter blizzards. And that was just on Sunday!

Can you imagine the humanity already assembling this morning as you read this, streaming out of the D.C. Metro, walking to be not very near to the historic inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president? Over the years the stories will develop until almost everyone gathered there today was actually on the platform and nearly shook his hand.

When you talk to the people there individually, they are all very excited and happy. And as we’ve reported, spontaneous cheers break out all over. (See video below.)

It’s just not the same parking on the 405 or 101. In your own car unable to smell anyone but motor exhausts. What’s it really like to be among so much tightly packed humanity? Our Christopher Hawthorne explored just that topic over on the Culture Monster blog right here.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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