by Donna LaHale

Created on: January 18, 2009   Last Updated: January 25, 2009

It seems incomprehensible that our Nation faces the largest unemployment rates in decades, tens of millions of Americans living on a prayer with no health insurance, many more millions homeless in this great land of opportunity (by the way, Washington, D.C. ranks among the top five cities in the country for homeless population), and a couple wars that most of us don't want to be involved in.

It seems incomprehensible because we are getting ready to celebrate "the audacity of hope" with what many estimate to be a $150 million dollar party. Pretty exclusive party, of course. With hotel rooms fetching upwards of $10,000 per night, plane tickets virtually impossible to get, and security at a near stifling crescendo, you need to be a rock star to even think of having hope to get in!

What a great gesture it would have been for our incoming President to host a Roosevelt era party and donate the other $149,000,000+ to charities that are helping those less fortunate enjoy a warm meal and an extra blanket Tuesday night.

As the nation focuses on the content of Obama's speech - will it convince people that we can afford to be hopeful, we can afford to spend our savings, after all that's what we need to do to rescue the country, right. And, we're focusing on the fact that Obama is bi-racial. And, we read daily about the next elite celebrity in line to attend the festivities. True, there is an historical excitement to this new President. Many thought the day would never come. But, now that it has, frankly, it seems that we are not keeping our priorities in order. Well, I recant...we are, of course, worried about the monumental decision of which breed of dog the new playmates in the White House will enjoy. After all, they've "earned" it. And, we'll all wait with baited breath for photos of that First Dog. I would almost be willing to bet, CNN will laud it as "Breaking News".

Hopefully, on Wednesday, January 21st, we'll get back to the business of pulling this Nation up by its very bootstraps. We'll recall the more than 500 promises (PolitiFact) made during a campaign that virtually guaranteed the end of deployment for our young children in Iraq and Afghanistan, and reduced taxes for us working folk that won't be present for the big party. We'll find a way to hold rescued businesses accountable for the multi-billion dollar bailouts they've been handed before we blindly hand out more. Perhaps we can turn an eye to North Korea, possibly the most significant threat to World peace since WWII. And, maybe we'll even begin talking about the new, alternative energy sources and greener automobile industry, pledged through campaign speech after campaign speech. I have the audacity to hope that someone, nay many, will begin the scorecard immediately and not be swayed by the ushering in of a President that has and will see more fanfare than the Jonas brothers at a middle school pep rally!

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