Reply #4: If I try to be fair I understand that millions need to be spent [View All]

Not 40 million though. The inauguration is not simply a party or celebration, and at it's core it is not partisan. It is a public statement of Democracy in action. In that sense it is a hopeful message to the world (assuming of course that it WAS a reflection of Democracy in action - which I don't but that is a different matter). It can't be canceled and major security costs are built in.

Many of us are going to spend tonight with friends at some party or another, even if the celebration is appropriately respectful to the memory of this tragedy unfolding.

But if Bush had any sense of decency everything would be scaled back dramatically, costs would be cut at least in half and the money saved donated to relief.