By Ben Palmer

The inaugural parade for the 43rd president was formal, as it should be. The inaugural process, by definition, is to induct into office by a formal ceremony, and security forces were in full force this year to ensure this.

The theme of this year’s presidential inauguration seemed to be the big “F” word, “freedom,” and its filtration through the world in the eyes of its possessor, the United States of America.

Freedom starts with the letter “F”; it’s our word for the day. According to my handy American Heritage Dictionary, it means the condition of being free; political independence; possession of civil rights; ease of movement; frankness and boldness; and unrestricted use of access.

It was this word and its evidence that I was looking for during the presidential inaugural parade to see if our country was on par with the theme of the day. I watched the parade on TV, flipping between our three national TV networks: ABC, CBS and NBC. It was important to note that all three anchors, Peter Jennings, Dan Rather and Brian Williams, were commenting on the extreme measures of the security enforcement and the anxiety regarding our president’s safety. ABC even gave us a historical look at past inaugural parades and how Jimmy Carter walked the entire 1.7 miles of the parade route. This was supposedly a demonstration to promote physical fitness, but more than that, it promoted “ease of movement, unrestricted access and the condition of being free.” Other presidents took on this tradition of walking and unrestricted access to the people.

Lyndon B. Johnson even characterized it as “pressing the flesh” (interacting directly with the people). This energized him personally and gave him emotional fortitude to execute his job as president.

As the afternoon carried on, there was anticipation of the 43rd president carrying on this tradition of “pressing the flesh.”

The motorcade sped through pockets of protestors and slowed down in friendly territory. At roughly 3:35 p.m. the motorcade stopped and out stepped the president and the first lady. They walked and waved in increasing personal comfort.

The crowd cheered and the post-September 11 security discomfort seemed to melt away, but only temporarily. At 3:45 p.m., back into the limo: