America rocks out with its new king

NOTHING is more appropriate than the fact that America will today celebrate the annual public holiday dedicated to the memory of Reverend Martin Luther King.

The world knows that tomorrow will be all about one man, Barack Obama.

But coincidence has allowed the country spend the 24 hours before Obama takes over remembering the man who did so much to make his election, as the country’s first black president, possible.

On the night before his assassination in 1968 Rev King warned he would not be around to see the civil rights movement reach its promised land.

And for his part Obama has been at pains to ensure the memory of Rev King, and the centuries-long struggle he represented, was integral to his extraordinary journey.

So today, remembering Rev King’s legacy, millions of Americans will follow Obama’s lead to volunteer their time for a national day of service.

Across the 50 states it involves neighbourhood clean-ups, elderly care programmes and youth training initiatives.

A selection of homeless veterans in Washington DC will be accommodated in a plush hotel.

“Today is not only the eve of an inauguration that brings all of us so much hope, it is also Martin Luther King Jr Day, when we recognise the power of one man to bring about change by serving his country,” said David Plouffe, the man who masterminded Obama’s campaign strategy.

The concept of “national effort” has been used as a tactic since Obama’s election to play down expectation and make his presidency a collective effort.

This is re-elected in the remainder of his pre-inauguration schedule.

Tonight the Obamas, Barack and Michelle, will host three separate “bi-partisan” balls for members of both Republican and Democratic parties.

And yesterday he used a CNN interview to praise the outgoing president, George W Bush, for being a good man who happened to make bad decisions.

It resonated well in Washington where the city has dutifully handed itself over to the organised chaos of inauguration week.

People are smiling and the atmosphere is pregnant with the positive vibes which have carried Obama to a 78% approval rating before he even takes office.

But in reality such niceties are only possible in a city effectively shut down for normal business.

Yesterday, the metropolitan area was cut in two as far as traffic was concerned with the bridges across the Potomac River closed to cars.

It meant the streets were largely deserted, save for pedestrians sporting Obama-inspired hats, scarves and headbands ambling along tomorrow’s parade route.

The good mood also belies the fact the whole inauguration kerfuffle is a massive inconvenience to those who live in the capital city.

In one incident yesterday, police towed every car parked along five blocks, in case the Obama cavalcade decided to use the street.

As it happens he opted for another route, but drivers still had to traipse to a nearby car park to reclaim their property.

However, there would appear to be no other way to maintain security in a city which last night hosted a concert for 500,000 people and today will turn itself over for a celebration expected to attract between three and four times that figure.

At Dulles International Airport two-hour queues throughout the weekend are expected to increase as customs and immigration officials try to process the planeloads descending on Washington.

It is impossible for anything to run smoothly under these circumstances.

However, the effort people went to before making it to Dulles suggests the ambitious crowd predictions for tomorrow may not be over the top.

In a shuttle bus to the city on Saturday a daughter flew in from Stockholm with her mother who, as a black woman, arrived in a very different country from the one she left 45 years ago.

They sat beside a fundraiser from Wisconsin and a retired Californian couple who booked accommodation a year ago when Obama won his first caucus in Iowa.

Only this election could bring together such an eclectic mix.

But today’s show of unity can only paper over the remaining cracks.

In Oakland, California, race-related riots escalated throughout the weekend two weeks after a black man was shot in the back by a police officer.

Rev King died before he could see America reach the promised land and Obama knows simply swearing on the Lincoln Bible tomorrow will not deliver non-discrimination to everybody either.