This Is What Plutocracy Looks Like

Iron gates and $125 ticket separated the protesters from the supporters. Manhole covers were fused shut, just in case the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles planned to wreak havoc. Snipers sat on rooftops, their rifles scanning the crowds. Black bandana Anarchists and fur-coat sporting Republicans took pictures of each other posing. Concrete blockades were plopped in the middle of intersections, altering traffic patterns and the daily lives of Washingtonians. The city was charged over $10 million American dollars. The “Celebration of Freedom” didn’t really seem like either of those words.
I showed up to the inauguration simply to exist. I figured it was the most effective form of protest to an administration that refuses to acknowledge the opposition. I stood on the other side of a barrier for 2 hours, occasionally taking part in lame uncreative non-rhythmic progressive chants (”this is what Democracy looks like”), and watching thousands of people in fur coats enter the parade route. It was pathetic. On the way out, I walked past a man in a leather jacket holding a piece of poster board that simply said: “No Fat Chicks”.
That evening, I attended the Billionaire’s Ball, a re-coronation party put together by the satirical folks over at Billionaire’s for Bush. While waiting in line to enter the Platinum nightclub, the presidential motorcade rolled by and I swear I think I saw President Bush give us the finger through the tinted windows. Inside the club, everybody was dressed head to toe in thrift store gowns, tuxedo t-shirts, and pockets overflowing with Monopoly money. The hostess of the party gave a speech between sets of swanky big band music, “It’s soo wonderful to see so much new money mixing with old money this evening. Let’s work hard to make Social Security neither”. She followed up with a tongue-in-cheek mockery of the standard protester chant, “This is what PLUTOcracy looks like!”. I felt like I was living in an Onion article. I laugh to keep from crying. Satire makes the bitter pill sweeter to swallow.