French View of US Inauguration

road trip

As I was watching the U.S. presidential inauguration on French television on Tuesday, six things struck me (well, more than that but I'm only sharing six.)

one. The French telecasters could not get over the abundant verbal and visual references to God during the ceremonies. They commented several times about separation of church and state, and yet there were prayers, mentions of God in the swearing in portions of ceremony, and hands held on a Bible. They were most confused and said only in the United States (they said that several times about different things).

After the French revolution, their new constitution made a very bold separation of church and state in order to protect the people from the corrupt politics of the church and the kings who ruled by "divine authority." In other words, the bigwigs of church and state were in cahoots against the "little" people. So when the little people overthrew the government, they demanded protection from the corrupt church.

The U.S. constitution also calls for separation of church and state but our founding fathers did so to protect the church from persecution by the government. So while the wording is similar, our framework and intent was different. And that's why the French don't understand what they watched on the day that our new president swore his allegiance to our country.

two. One French telecaster commented several times throughout the proceedings that Obama was being sworn in not just as the president of the United States, but as president of the world. Whew, that's a pretty heady statement and one I think that Obama would deny. There is no denying, however, that for all the negative lip service that other countries give to our country, they look to our leadership and guidance in getting the world out of its current economic, social and political mess.

three. Miss France was there for the event and looked lovely. She, too, is of black-white heritage and honestly, she looked even lovelier with tears cascading down her face as she choked down her emotions once Obama was sworn in. She saw it not as a great victory for black people everywhere, but as a symbol of peace and hope that they, too, now have an identity in the world.

four. The French ~those purveyors of high fashion ~ couldn't let the moment go by without mentioning the clothes. They raved about Michele Obama, but really struggled to define the color of her outfit. They preferred to mention the cut and texture. It's not like it was a color they had never seen before, they just chose to say it was "a bit like yellow, yet a bit like green," which is the obtuse way of saying "chartreuse." Evidentially, the word "chartreuse" translates into "green like duck poop" (at least that's what my host translators said). Ah, those cultural differences.

five. A comment was made that behind the scenes of the inauguration, behind the White House a very quiet transition was taking place as moving vans moved one president out as they moved another in. "Only in America." Only in America, they said, does the transition from one government transition so smoothly and peacefully. No revolution. No war. No killing of the person in power to replace him or her. Once the voters have decided, it's just moving vans and a festive party. And to that I say, "God Bless America."

six. Food. Could the French let the telecast go off the air without mentioning the food to be served at the respective celebrations? I think either a Frenchman or a French-trained chef is going to be the White House chef, or at least did preparations for this big shing-dig ~ which of course made the French quite proud. They also praised Obama's taste in food. Sounds like he's already a winner in their eyes.