This year: not so much.
Although no specific threats have been detected, authorities in charge of security were taking no chances for the first inauguration since the 2001 terrorist attacks. More than 100 square blocks of downtown Washington, D.C., were closed to traffic today, and thousands of police and U.S. troops were deployed.
The security, the tightest for any of the 54 previous inaugurations in U.S. history, included 7,000 members of the U.S. armed forces and at least 6,000 federal, state and local law enforcement officers.
In addition to D.C. police, more than 3,000 police officers from other jurisdictions were on hand to help secure the inaugural ceremonies. Having come from as far away as Seattle, the officers bolstered a force that authorities said would virtually line the parade route from the Capitol to the White House, with an officer stationed every seven to 10 feet along both sides of the road.
The security for the events was being coordinated from a field office in Northern Virginia, where officials from more than 50 federal, state and local agencies were overseeing the police and troops, as well as SWAT teams, sharpshooters, plainclothes officers, canine bomb-sniffing units, bicycle patrols, Coast Guard cutters and surveillance helicopters.
Some major streets were blocked off with D.C. buses, and miles of metal barricades were installed to keep pedestrians in approved areas.
Also, apparently lightbulbs got removed from lampposts (fear of breaking glass?), manhole covers were welded shut, cellphones are jammed (because they can be used to detonate explosives), and people with offices along the parade routes are being told to stay away from the windows. At least that's what I heard on the radio last night; I'm still trying to find a list of all the ridiculous security measures.
And then Bush gives his speech about freedom? What immense horseshit.
