What Were They Really Saying At The Inauguration

What were these people really saying at the inauguration?

There's a series of YouTube videos called "Bad Lip Reading," in which there's film of people at highly publicized public events.

The makers of these videos do absurb lip reading interpretations of what the people are saying, just for yucks and chuckles.

The "translations" are totally bonkers, but if you watch the people's mouths in the videos, it does kind of appear they are saying all these bizarre things.

One of the best ones yet is clips from last week's Trump inauguration. I'm sure the things said in this video weren't really said, but I kind of wish they were.

Watch:

 

Trump: "Mine Is Bigger Than Yours"

The Women's March in Washington DC and many other cities
Saturday was even bigger than Donald Trump's ego
and he is STILL fuming about it instead of being President

Well, the first full day of the Donald Trump administration Saturday was a total waste, wasn't it?

At least for him it was.

Trump could have gotten down to work dismantling Obamacare, throwing people off insurance plans, restricting rights for women and gays, changing regulations to give money to his rich cronies and starting a war with Iraq or something,.

Instead, he had a day-long hissy fit over the size of the crowds at his inauguration. And the much bigger crowds at the Womens' Marches in cities across the nation, including the nation's capital.

We ended the day with the embarrassing spectacle of Trump's press secretary, Sean Spicer, reading from a prepared statement no doubt ordered by his boss. Spicer  yelled at the media for supposedly about the lackluster crowd sizes at Trump's inauguration Friday.

"This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the world," Spicer thundered.

Well, no, it wasn't, and the raging Spicer statement was full of lies. But that's besides the point for Trump, who, rather than feeling a sense of accomplishment for getting something done, only feels good if the ratings are yuuge, as he would say, be it crowd size, television ratings, or fan letters or something stupid like that.

I've always noticed it's particularly galling for Trump to be outdone by women. I'm sure Saturday's Womens' Marches really set him off.  He was outdone by women!  The horrors!

In every city where they were held, attendance was much higher than anyone expected.  Half a million in Washington DC. Even where I live in Vermont, a Women's March was held in tiny capital city of Montpelier, population 8,000.

Close to 20,000 people showed up for the rally in Montpelier, such a huge crowd that Vermont State Police had to close off Interstate 89 exits into the city because the area was so overrun with cars and people attending the rally.

Facts don't matter to Trump and his minions, though. Because his mantra is always: "Mine is bigger than yours."

I don't know if his denying of facts is very scary or hilarious. Probably both.

Berating the press for reporting accurately, creating alternative "realities" and demanding the press do their bidding or else is the terrifying stuff of North Korea and the Soviet Union.

On the other hand, this kind of bullcrap is hilarious. Spicer today is being compared to Baghdad Bob, the Iraqi information minister who bombastically declared the during the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 that, among other things, no American troops had successfully invaded while U.S. tanks rolled by in the background.

All this makes Trump looks small and silly, and a passing fad. Too bad he's already President.

Now we know how to shut down anything the Trump administration wants to do. Hit him in the that monstrous ego of his, and he won't get anything done.

But then we get the depressing back and forth that will go on forever. Today's news headlines surely pissed Trump off even more.  A couple examples:

The New York Times:

"With False Claims, Trump Attacks Meia on Turnout And Intelligence Rift. "

CNN Money: 

"White House Press Secretary Attacks Media For Accurately Reporting Inaugural Crowds."

Trump's minions predictably fired back Sunday. The odious Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, had a big fight with Meet The Press host Chuck Todd Sunday morning, in which she said that Spicer didn't lie, but gave "alternative facts."

Todd pointed out that "alternative facts" are falsehoods, and it all went downhill from there. Conway finally sniffed, "If we're going to keep referring to the press secretaty in those types of terms I think we're going to have to rethink our relationship here."

Awww...

Trump is never as successful as he claims he is, and he's clearly in over his head here. He's too busy massaging his ego to actually do any work, so the future of his presidency is already pretty uncertain.

Unfortunately, so is the rest of the country's future for the next several years.

Don't Expect The Trump Inaugural To Be Entertainment Event Of The Year

Donald Trump will have trouble grooving to the music
during his inauguration. Practically nobody wants to perform there

Usually, during the inauguration of a new American President, there's usually lots of parties and entertainment in addition to the pomp and circumstances.

Seems this year, though, the incoming administration is having an incredibly tough time trying to book the entertainment.

During the two Obama inauguratios, we had a few people you may or may not have heard of, like Aretha Franklin, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Mariah Carey, Sting, Mary J. Blige, Sting, Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, Brad Paisley, John Legend, Marc Anthony and Smokey Robinson.

This year, for Trump, let's see... we have Jackie Evancho, who took second place in "America's Got Talent" a few years ago. (She is good.) Oh! And the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

As the Boston Globe points out, incoming Republican presidents rarely get the star power during inaugurations like Democrats do.

But you'd think with all the glitz and glitter that comes with the "Trump brand" for lack of a better term, you'd think things would be more dazzling during the parties.

It doesn't seem to be the case this year, despite the attempts from the Trump team.

Earlier this year, the Trumpsters said Elton John would perform, but that turned out to be news to Sir Elton. So, no "Rocket Man" at this  year's inaugural."

Though in my opinion, it would have been fun if Elton John showed up at the Trump gala to sing just one of his hits, namely "Funeral For A Friend/Loves Lies Bleeding." That would have fit nicely.

Andrea Bocelli, the tenor, declined Trump's invitation to perform, too. They were going to have the Radio City Rockettes, but they and the internet rebelled, so no Rockettes kicking up the heels. Again, though, it would have been nice seeing the Rockettes kick Trump in the butt, while Elton John sang "Funeral For A Friend."

I'd pay good money to see that!

Garth Brooks and Celine Dion sent their regrets to the Trump team, too, so I guess we won't hear from them.

However, Trump Inc. has booked the band The Reagan Years (America's Premier '80s Tribute Band!)  and the Star Spangled Singers.

This whole situation is delicious.

As Renee Graham wrote in the Boston Globe:

"It doesn't matter whether stars are declining Trump's request because they oppose his rhetoric ad proposed policies or because they just want to avoid backlash from their fans. This is tangible defiance that Trump can't ignore, because it makes him look foolish and ineffectual. And you don't have to be Alec Baldwin to recognize ow deeply that kind of thing wounds the petulant manchild who will be president."

Not to mention paragraphs like that which would also bother our Beloved Petulant Manchild.

Trump's team is of course spinning this. Trump advisor Boris Epshteyn said "You know, this is not Woodstock. It's not Summer Jam. It's not a concert. It's not about celebrities. As Donald Trump tweeted himself, it's about the people. That's what we're concentrated on."

Meanwhile, another HUGE concert might be brewing to compete with the Trump inauguration.  Nothing's confirmed yet, but a promoter says he's organizing a big, multi-star concert on inauguration day.

I don't know if it will actually happen, but it sounds fun!

Beyonce: At Inauguration, Best "Star Spangled Banner" Since Whitney? Or Lip-Synced?

UPDATE: Reports are coming out now that Beyonce actually lip synced the whole thing. I feel bamboozled.

(Previous post follows)

Yes, I know this is not exactly the most important thing to come out of today's inauguration of President Obama, but: How about Beyonce!?!?!?

There are a handful of memorable performances of "The Star Spangled Banner," There are a few incredibly bad ones. Remember Rosanne Barr?

But people, myself included, prefer to remember the best ones. The benchmark seems to be Whitney Houston's famous performance at 1991 Super Bowl.

Now, Beyonce gives Houston a run for her money with what I thought was a huge, beautiful rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner." I think people will be talking about this for years, just like Whitney's performance still comes up from time to time.

I'm normally really cynical, and this is going to sound terribly hokey, but honestly, my heart flutters a bit and I can feel the emotions rising when somebody does an incredible job with the national anthem. Like Beyonce did today.

See and hear for yourself: Here's a video of Beyonce singing the national anthem at the inauguration today: