When a politician friend said he had been given a ticket for a seat at the Inauguration, I thought, great. He then offered to get me a standing-room ticket in one of the next sections. I would have to arrive at 9:30 a.m. and freeze until noon and beyond. First, I hemmed and hawed, but eventually, I got back to him and said, "Yes, let's do it."
The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much time I’d spent freezing on the National Mall through the years. Why should this be any different? Having come from a Winter Olympic sports family, I knew if you dressed right, you could survive pretty much anything. We weren’t exactly intending to join the Shackleton expedition or Admiral Byrd. I mean, there is a Kentucky Fried Chicken not too far up North Capitol Ave.
So I began to prep with my electric socks, heavy coat, mittens, and all else needed to keep me warm on the National Mall and boil me when I went into one of the museums to defrost. My only genuine concern was being penned into a gated area if they didn’t have the foresight to include bathrooms. I would have to trust in the efficiency of the federal government, which is always a risky proposition. Especially true if a passive-aggressive employee in a city that voted 97% against Trump wanted to have a little fun with us.
Alas, a family member texted me saying they were moving the show indoors. I texted my politician friend, “I hear they are moving indoors. Wimps, haha. The last inauguration I attended was for Reagan, and they did the same thing. We waved as his limo sped by to the Capitol to be sworn in." Besides, if Biden froze to death, they’d blame Trump.
The New York Post headline was, “Extremely cold weather will force Trump’s inauguration inside for the first time in 40 years.” Forty years ago, our friend the spy (there is now a public federal intelligence award named after him, so don’t raid my house, FBI!) invited a group of us friends to stay with him in Virginia for the weekend so we could go watch Reagan be sworn in. Instead of the flags, banners, and hoopla, we stood on the grates along Constitution Avenue, joining the other bums, trying to stay warm. Eventually, the Gipper’s car swept by us with a phalanx of Secret Service protection as we happily waved.
As a FRISE (For Reagan in Sixty-Eight), I was just happy to be there. I remember Gov. Reagan coming to support a campaign I was working on. I stood next to him as he was about to go on stage. The way he gathered himself in and steeled himself to go on stage told me, this is one tough guy.
Within minutes, that serious, private, tough guy was replaced by the jovial Reagan of legend. He told the diners at this rubber chicken event a joke that would fit into this week’s headlines. He said, “Jimmy Carter says he takes a cold shower every day. He says he likes it. A man who will lie about that will lie about anything."
So I won’t lie and say I like these cold days on the National Mall, but since that is when they hold the annual March for Life, you put up with it. This event began with the Supreme Court’s "exercise in raw judicial power," as dissenting Democrat Justice Byron White called the legalization of abortion on Jan. 22, 1973. Through all the years of marching, praying, and listening to speeches on the Mall in the middle of January, millions of marchers have experienced snow, sleet, rain, and freezing temperatures. Pro-lifers are a tough lot, and they will be doing it again next Friday.
When a family member raised the money to produce an annual five-hour live international broadcast of the event, there were more than a few super cold days. I remember one year when our friend Bowie Kuhn was at the broadcast table. At one point during the live broadcast, Bowie took the bottle of water on the table to take a drink and found it was frozen solid. He banged it on the table to let the audience know he wasn’t kidding when he said it was cold.
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Another year buses were caught in a blizzard leaving Washington. Some groups of high school students from the Midwest and South took three days to get home through the snow. They spent three days sleeping on floors and in buses offering it up so our country would wake up and protect preborn life.
So have no fear. There is a new mandate for our country, and neither snow, nor sleet, nor rain, nor hail shall keep this president from his appointed rounds. Godspeed, President Trump. Stay safe and stay warm.
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