The Train Trip

I was out of town for a few days with my husband. We did a train trip to visit our nephew and his fiance in Groton, Connecticut (he is in the U.S. Navy and they recently moved there because of his new Naval assignment) then we travelled to New York City to visit my husband's father and step-mother. It was a very cold trip (yesterday the temperature reached no higher than 18 degrees Fahrenheit) and it even snowed at times.

We originally scheduled our return to the Washington, DC area so we could outnumber the large number of people who are arriving in droves for next Tuesday's inauguration. While I was still in New York City yesterday, I got an e-mail from one of the many mailing lists that I'm currently on that invited me to see Barack Obama and Joe Biden arrive in Edgewater, Maryland via train the very next day. Then I got a second e-mail announcing that the train carrying Obama and Biden would arrive in Baltimore that very same day.

Needless to say, I had no advance knowledge that there was such a train trip. Had I known a week or two in advance, I would've suggested to my husband that we postponed our own train trip since our return trip was scheduled on the same day and around the same time as the Obama/Biden train trip.

Sure enough, when our Amtrak train reached around Aberdeen, Maryland, the train suddenly stopped and we were informed that we would be staying there a while because of not only the Obama/Biden train but apparently there was a police action involving some people who were hanging around the railroad tracks illegally. The train eventually re-started but it moved very slowly. We were informed again that the train was forced to move slower than usual due to the Obama/Biden train.

So we had about an extra two-hour commute added to that trip. When we arrived at the BWI Airport stop, we saw a lot of policemen milling about along with plenty of yellow "CAUTION! DO NOT CROSS!" tape streamed about. We also saw quite a few people with cameras waiting by the train track but the police officers outnumbered the photographers.

As we were leaving the parking garage at the Amtrak station, we saw traffic cones blocking all access to the upper levels of the parking lot (probably to discourage any would-be snipers). While we were driving away, we saw all roads near the railroad tracks loaded with police vehicles parked on the shoulder of the roads. The overpass that went over the railroad tracks even had cop cars parked there. The unfriendly combination of the bitter cold weather and the multitude of law enforcement officers just seemed to discourage average people from just turning out to see a soon-to-be president and vice president and wishing them well. I know the law enforcement people were there to prevent any assassinations or other types of terror attacks but that whole array of cops were just plain too intimidating to fully enjoy this historic travel.

So I ended up with reading about the train trip on the Internet, such as this one from BBC News.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/obama_inauguration/7835253.stm

US President-elect Barack Obama has retraced the steps of Abraham Lincoln by travelling from Philadelphia to Washington ahead of his inauguration.

His day-long train trip took him through towns and stations packed with cheering supporters.

Mr Obama told a crowd in Baltimore that America was facing very serious times.

In Washington, he is due to take part in celebrations leading up to his inauguration as the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday.

Delaware pick-up

The journey began at Philadelphia's 30th Street station, where Mr Obama, a security detail and a media pack boarded the 80-year-old train.

Speaking just before he boarded the train for the 137-mile (220 km) journey, Mr Obama said he would be carrying the hopes of ordinary Americans with him on his journey to Washington.

"Let's make sure this election is not the end of what we do to change America, but just the beginning," he said. "Let's seek a better world in our time."

The train made a stop in Wilmington, Delaware, to pick up Vice-President-elect Joe Biden and his family.

In Baltimore, Mr Obama recalled the troops at Maryland's Fort McHenry, who had defeated the British during the War of 1812. He said it was "time to take up the cause for which they gave so much".

He added: "The trials we face are very different now, but severe in their own right."

Late on Saturday the train rolled into Washington's Union Station - only a short walk from the platform where Mr Obama will take the oath of office.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Best Parodies (Saturday Night Live Edition)

Saturday Night Live hit its stride this election season with frequent skewering of the politicians. Its new creative peak started off during the primary campaign season when the Obama Girl parlayed her Internet fame into an appearance on Saturday Night Live.

Then Amy Poehler as HIllary Clinton appears alongside the real Hillary Clinton.

When Sarah Palin first came on the national scene, many people felt that she resembled Tina Fey, who had recently left the cast of Saturday Night Live. Well, in a genius stroke of casting, Tina Fey was allowed to return to the show playing only one character: Sarah Palin. Thanks to her, the writers, and the election itself (which provided plenty of fodder for satire) the show had its best ratings in years.

Tina Fey's first appearance as Palin came when she appeared alongside Amy Pohler as Hillary Clinton in this hilarious sketch.

The following week Fey and Pohler teamed up again to provide this scathing parody of Sarah Palin's disasterous interview with CBS' Katie Couric. Ironically, Tina Fey basically recited word-by-word Palin's actual words in that interview while doing the occasional over-the-top comic punctuation.

Queen Latifah makes a special guest appearance as moderator Gwen Ifill in this parody of the vice president debate.

President Bush endorses John McCain and Sarah Palin.

The real Sarah Palin meets her doppelganger...

...then makes an appearance on "Weekend Update".

The real John McCain also makes an appearance on the show with Tina Fey portraying his running mate.

Like his running mate before him, John McCain also makes an appearance on "Weekend Update".

The real Sarah Palin makes a return appearance on Saturday Night Live where she talks about what she will do to NBC when she gets sworn in as Vice President.

John McCain also makes a return appearance.

Not to be overlooked, Barack Obama also makes an appearance on the show as he attends the Clintons' Halloween party.

Then there is the scathing parody of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann (played by Ben Affleck) who starts off by trying to portray George W. Bush as a Nazi and ends the sketch by making a special comment against the New York co-op who denied his application on the basis of his cat, Miss Precious Perfect.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Best Line Uttered by a Politician During a Presidential Debate

During the Democratic primary season, Senator (now Vice President-Elect) Joe Biden made this quip explaining how former New York mayor-turned Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani was so unqualified to be president that his campaign consists of "a noun, a verb, and 9/11".