Tuesday a memorable day in American, Midland history

• I've been in Midland over 20 years and have never seen a crowd assemble for anything like the one that gathered yesterday in Centennial Plaza -- not even for a Lee-Permian game. Some people put it at 30,000.
• The MyWestTexas.com web site received an incredible amount of traffic, and even links from the Drudge Report and Hannity and Colms blog. I guess those would be two good things, right? While the webcast portion of our event went without incident and as well as could be expected given the impromptu nature of the day, we did have more than our share of morons who abused their privilege to chat in our chat area and proceeded to threaten the lives of not only 43 but 44, too. The lack of tact on the Internet in posts by people who don't have the nerve to use their name is astounding and disturbing and we'd be a lot better off without the kind of hatred and ignorance that is prevalent. Sometimes I feel more like a kindergarten teacher breaking up fights between troubled children. It's an unfortunate, unneeded and unwanted piece of an otherwise great technology and hopefully one day somebody much smarter than I am will find a way to fix it; a way to de-moron the Web. Whoever figures it out should be financially set for life as a result.

But on to the good stuff ...

• As it turned out, if you are a non-partisan history buff, Inauguration Day, after all was said and done, did provide a way to enjoy both the inauguration of Barack Obama and the rally for George W. Bush. The speeches and prayers in Washington and the magnitude of the sheer numbers of people were sites and sounds to behold. Obama's ability to shine when he is behind a microphone and his ability to motivate people for good were highlights of his address. President Bush's speech in Midland was touching, memorable and one of his best ever, and he is to be congratulated and honored for his sincerity, his love of home and his loyalty to friends.
• There are few things as goose-bump inducing as watching a 747 carrying two former presidents buzz downtown at such a low altitude. Midland mayor Wes Perry told me the pilot of SAM-28,000 yesterday was on his final flight after a 30-year career.
• All the talk about the entertainment that was allegedly to have appeared downtown made for some confusion in the planning of the rally. You could have thrown out virtually anyone's name and people would have talked about how he or she was on the program. A Hilton employee flat told me that she had taken Hank Williams Jr., and Kid Rock's hotel reservations. Why else would they come if they weren't gonna sing? A part of me wonders if it is not intentional pre-event fabricated buzz, created just to generate hype about the event.
• Finally, I must admit, there is something kinda neat about being able to tell a friend, "Gotta run, the White House is on the other line."

Comments

[Dennis]

Jimmy, you did a good job all afternoon. Picture quality was good and a few minor transmission problems, to be expected. The chat area was doing fine until the morons appeared. You shouldn't have to feel like a k-garten teacher though. They were more like seventh graders.

[glass]

Indeed. It's always remembered by americans.

[Messenger bag]

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.