Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By Karen Lee Ziner
Journal staff writer

Colin McKenna, 38, of Johnston, went to the inauguration with friends. He ended up in "the nosebleed section. We really didn't even come close." Despite that, "I've never seen anything like it, and I probably never will again."

"We left at 9:30. We were near the Washington Monument, looking at the Jumbo-tron ... . It was endless. We were off on the side. We couldn't even get on the Mall. Beyond us was packed. Behind us was packed. There were people in the trees. There were people everywhere. There were people climbing ,on tourist information roofs. Whether or not it was a weight-bearing thing."

McKenna added, "It was pretty intense. One of the funniest moments, was when everyone around booed George Sr. They screamed for Bill Clinton; they gave an applause for Carter. But when George W was introduced -- the boos, the hissing, it was like 4 million people cat-calling him, hissing and booing and telling him to go home. A small group of us were singing, 'Nah Nah Nah Nah, Nah Nah Nah Nah, Hey Hey Hey, good-bye!" I think they tried to kick in the music from the stage to drown out the noise [heckling]."

"I thought he [Obama] was fantastic. Yeah, there was a person to my left who seemed to be going into some Pentecostal I don't know what. She had her hand raised with her palm almost to the sky ... there were people crying. My friend's 3-year-old daughter was going 'Obama! Obama! Obama!' over and over again ... people were looking over and laughing."

"The crowd was really enormous, but it was really, really peaceful. I'm willing to believe him. I'm pretty cynical and skeptical when it comes to politics, but I feel that a man like Obama, if he is what he seems to be, then we have a great leader."

 Tags  inauguration Johnston

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