Today President Obama wasted no time in tearing down the detainee policy of George W. Bush in order to make room for new procedures. You can read summaries of the orders, but if you’re really ambitious and have some free time, you can also read the full texts of the orders at the White House website, here.
I’ll try to post more extensively about my experiences at the inauguration once I’m out of DC and back in Boston Thursday morning. But it’s worth commenting on the staff ball at the DC Armory that I just returned from.
After a horrible experience with the youth ball Tuesday night, I’m happy to report that the staff ball was one of the highlights of my inaugural experience. First, a really great band called Arcade Fire started things off with what amounted to a full scale concert. Then the speeches began. Joe Biden addressed the staff with Jill at his side. The campaign manager David Plouffe was next. Then President Obama and our new First Lady came onto the stage, and it was pandemonium. Several thousand staffers from the campaign erupted in chants of “O-bama” and “Fired Up, Read to Go.” The President spoke about how we need to carry the spirit of the campaign into other aspects of our lives beyond politics. I recorded some of his speech on my digital camera and I’ll try to post it here soon. Then, after the speeches, Jay-Z lit up the house with what amounted to a second concert of the night.
Of course, one of the coolest aspects of the night was meeting other campaign staffers all decked out and looking great. President Obama noted that we looked a lot better tonight than we did during the campaign.