A friend had emailed me overnight to ask “So, what’s the atmosphere like over there?”

My immediate reaction was: “Erm, well, I don’t really know. Because I haven’t been out in the thick of things yet”.

I arrived at K’s house yesterday and we spent the afternoon/evening chatting, sleeping, eating and watching live footage of Obama and Biden’s journey from Philadelphia to DC. See, sometimes it’s just enough to be in the right country because you actually get to see things like that as they happen .

But actually, I realise that it’s not just that my yesterday was low-key. Based on my journey through the city at lunchtime (from Dulles Airport to the NE area, zip code 20002 if you want to look it up) and also on the news reports I’m seeing - where poor freezing newsreaders are standing on the Mall, with the Capitol building behind them - I can say that the atmosphere in DC yesterday was, surprisingly, also very muted.

Said newsreaders are standing on a fairly empty Mall; and as our airport shuttle bus made its way through the city yesterday, the streets were really very quiet. Mind you, that always freaks me out about American cities (bar New York): where are all the pedestrians? (In this case: inside, probably, as it’s sub-zero temperatures.)

All this will undoubtedly change today, however - as a) I will be entering the thick of it, to b) go to the massive concert being held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. It kicks off at 1.30pm our time (for the duration of my stay over here, “our time” will be Washington time ) and they’re expecting a crowd of 500,000.

You can watch the concert live on www.hbo.com. I’m presuming that means you can watch it live on the site internationally, also. If so, it kicks off at 6.30pm UK time.

Watch out for me. I’ll be the one in a coat, hat and scarf.

And here was Barack’s full speech in Baltimore:

As the reporter and my friend K both noted, it’s almost as if Obama is still campaigning. And as I replied, it strikes me that this because he truly wants a sea-change in the country. He genuinely wants Americans to reach out and help each other more, to look after each other and work together; to change the mood of a nation beyond doing so with intangible feelings like hope and optimism. As Obama said on the night of November 4th, his election is just the beginning. And as a result he will, perhaps, have to keep drilling his vision - or rather: the practical application of his vision - into the American people. I doubt he will ever let up. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

*Update* Just found footage from Delaware, including Joe’s full introductory speech. Gotta love around 5 minutes, where all the white secret service agents appear, followed by their black President. Magical :

I was interviewed by CBS’s London bureau (ooh, don’t you just love that? “London bureau”) last week, over a coffee in Soho. It was apparently for their Sunday morning show called, erm, Sunday Morning - and, well, I guess it just never really hit me that that’s a Proper Television Show. You know, like, beamed into people’s homes across America, and everything.

Anyway, turns out that it is - and I was just on it, part of a segment on how people around the world are feeling about Barack Obama’s inauguration.

Apparently.

Because I didn’t see it.

Partly because, as I say, it hadn’t really occurred to me that it would actually be on TV; and partly because I was too excited about the possibility of seeing both Chris Matthews and Meet The Press on a Real Actual Television that K and I have been sitting here watching MSNBC, not CBS, this morning.

Here’s the show’s main page on the CBS website; and here’s a link to this Sunday’s show, where presumably there will be a video of it posted at some point. I and my wonky British teeth will be in the ‘World Is Watching’ segment. *Gulp*.

*Update* Here’s a link to a piece about that segment. I am “Briton Andrea Mann”!

If I hadn’t been delayed by those 10 minutes, I wouldn’t have happened to be walking down the street towards the Lincoln Memorial concert just as the Obama motorcade went past.

And if I hadn’t decided to walk down to the Washington Monument after learning that there was no chance of getting into the concert ground itself, I would never have passed this man as he happened to be walking the other way:

This man, for the uninitiated - ie British people - is Chris Matthews. He’s one of America’s best-known TV pundits - and one of my favourites - and bumping into him is akin to following a British general election like a total geek, then flying to London only to bump into Jeremy Paxman or David Dimbleby.

It’s true. In America, anything *is* possible.

“Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama say one of his first duties in office will be to order the closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay. That executive order is expected during Obama’s first week on the job - and possibly on his first day, according to two transition team advisers.”

Here was Olbermann’s take on this - and Obama’s ‘looking forward’ policy - last night, with great commentary from constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley:

So here, instead, was Keith Olbermann’s coverage of it (ie the conference in nice, palatable chunks broken up by comment/sarcarsm/fact-correction):

Followed by Richard Wolffe’s input:

Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher Raymond IV, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am, and Stevie Wonder.

<gulp>

*yes, there will be more

Just him, then.

As the Huffington Post piece notes, however:

“As pointed out by Think Progress, Dawn Johnsen, Obama’s choice to lead the Office of Legal Counsel, has said that the next president should avoid “any temptation to simply move on.” Here is the relevant quote:

‘We must avoid any temptation simply to move on. We must instead be honest with ourselves and the world as we condemn our nation’s past transgressions and reject Bush’s corruption of our American ideals. Our constitutional democracy cannot survive with a government shrouded in secrecy, nor can our nation’s honor be restored without full disclosure.’”

Obama’s response to this issue strikes me as his usual pitch-perfect politics. The man is naturally forward-thinking, that rare breed: an optimistic and (yes) hopeful politician. But he also seems to hold certain strong beliefs and values (such as ‘torture is wrong’). So how do you balance those things? How do you look forward - get the country to be excited and optimistic and hopeful with you - while also look backward, at the horrific, dark realities of what has been performed in your name?

And while I understand this pitch-perfect playing - and realise that what Obama is mooting now won’t necessarily reflect his actions in the upcoming weeks and months - I think there’s a lot to be said for being unable to truly move forward without addressing the issues of the past. And I think there’s even more to be said for not letting Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al get away with the crimes they committed. We’ll see.

2. Joe Biden

3. Colin Powell

Apart from all being prominent American male political figures, that is. And all being white (like Stephen Colbert, I don’t see colour).

Give up?

They’ve all got a great track record on bipartisanship. Well, a good enough track record to be honoured by Our New Favourite President on the eve of his inauguration:

“President-elect Obama to Host Bipartisan Dinners Honoring McCain, Powell and Biden

Dinners on Eve of Inauguration to Highlight Commitment to Bipartisan Cooperation and Accomplishment

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, as part of an Inauguration for all Americans, the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee announced a series of bipartisan dinners to take place on Monday, January 19^th, the eve of Inauguration Day.

Each of the three dinners will honor an American whose lifetime of public service has been enhanced by a dedication to bipartisan achievement: Senator John McCain, General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), and Vice President-elect Joe Biden.  Attending will be leaders in Congress from both sides of the aisle and Americans from across the country of both parties.

On the eve of an historic transfer of power, the dinners serve to highlight President-elect Obama’s commitment to renewing America’s promise via bipartisan accomplishment.

“In these times of great challenge and great change, leadership requires rising above the same old narrow partisanship,” said President-elect Obama.  “Each of these distinguished Americans has spent his life in service to his country, at each and every moment placing the interests of America before issues of political party.  That is precisely the spirit of common purpose we need as we begin the work ahead.”

The dinners will take place at the National Building Museum, Union Station and the Hilton Washington.”

Well, the place has gone downhill ever since Kids In The Hall ended.

But wait! What’s this? There’s a good reason for it?

“[His trip will restore] a long-standing tradition abandoned eight years ago by George W. Bush…

New U.S. presidents, dating to Warren Harding in 1923 and Franklin D. Roosevelt 1933, have typically made Canada their first international visit following their election. But Bush deviated from that historical pattern after his inauguration in 2001, travelling to Mexico to meet with then-president Vicente Fox in a bid to improve ties and strike an immigration deal with America’s southern neighbour.”

So there you go. Incidentally, President Obama will be in Britain on April 2nd, for the G20 summit. Ooh! <Claps hands excitedly. Adjusts hair, looks in mirror>.

“President-elect Barack Obama said he was “deeply concerned” about civilian casualties in Gaza and Israel.”

Hmm. Well, it’s better than a statement of support for Israel, which is just about what every other American politician is spouting.

The full line-up of official balls has been revealed - and it includes a Youth Ball for those aged 18-35; a Commander-In-Chief’s Ball for wounded veterans and those serving in the military; a Home States Ball for Barack Obama (ie Hawaii and Illinois) and a Home States Ball for Joe Biden (ie Delaware and Pennsylvania).

It also includes the first ever Neighbourhood Neighborhood Inaugural Ball - the idea being that all over the States on January 20th, people will be hosting inaugural balls in their neighbourhoods neighborhoods;  so the community-minded Obamas clearly thought, why don’t we throw one and party with The People in Washington, eh? (Or they possibly thought it without the “eh” at the end.).  The idea of community and The People being further enhanced by plans to link the official Washington Neighbourhood Neighborhood Ball to all the other balls that night by modern technology, ie webcast (they don’t say “live by satellite” any more).

I’m currently waiting to find out if I’ve got press credentials for any of the aforementioned balls or other official inauguration events, so keep your fingers crossed - or, if you’re German: your thumbs pressed - for me…