The concert at the Lincoln Memorial today. Isn't it great!

I am going to start this by saying I was having real hopes that Obama was going to be the start of "change" in America. The concert is to be broadcast on HBO which was sold exclusive rights to the event.

Let's see the American Taxpayers......

1. Own the land that it is being held and is not charging the promoters
2. Are paying for all the police and secret service overtime and wages
3. The president elect can not be view by anyone without HBO

I really only see another politician who promised an administration that would be open and they can't even get public land issues straight in their heads. Amazing! And everyone knows in their hearts that this is not right. I hope he does better in the future, our arses are riding on it!

Later,
Richard

I don't know man– not like Obama probably has ANY say over the schematics of this concert. It is free and open to the public. Whether or not HBO broadcasts it or another station has nothing to do with public land use IMO. Would it be fair for people living without a TV if the concert were on NBC?

"The event will be free and open to the public, kicking off the most open and accessible Inauguration in history. It will be presented exclusively by HBO 7:00-9:00 p.m. ET on an open signal so that Americans across the country with access to cable, telcos or satellite television will be able to join in the Opening Celebration for free."

Obama isn't even President YET lol.

The point is that no other broadcasters are allowed to broadcast it. It is a minor point but I personally do not like the idea that any broadcaster on public land has exclusive rights to transmit. There are other things that are way more important but this right is right.


R

what's wrong with exclusive rights? they pay for it don't they?
perhaps this exclusivity brings more money than letting any broadcaster do it.
i just don't see how you can generalize from such a minutae to 'the new administration is really not for change'.
in reality, things don't change magically and the fact that you don't like a particular thing doesn't mean it needs to change, or even if it does, it probably won't happen on your timetable anyways.
just my opinion on the matter.

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Originally Posted by Philadelph

I don't know man– not like Obama probably has ANY say over the schematics of this concert.

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True, he's only the President. But maybe he'll have better luck changing the world :shrug:

I think any president has to pick the right fights? I'd want a world leader to focus on world, political and economic matters (Afghanistan, Iraq, Gitmo, Middle East, the economy, and environmental issues for starters?). If an incoming leader's first act was to have got personally involved with something this minor, I'd be very worried about what that augers for the future.

Let's face it, those who don't like the result of a vote will always be able to cite 'mistakes' from day 1. This ain't peculiar to the US -- this is a universal truth. :w

I watched and recorded the concert. It was absolutely wonderful. It was shown on HBO free and repeated many times. I thought the program was a great tribute to our new president. The celebrities who spoke were brilliant. The musical performances were rousing at some points actually had me teary eyed. It was great and for people who want to whine about it, well, I guess if you aren't happy with this new administration and the hopes of change then I guess you can find fault somehow or another.
I doubt you can really complain about Stevie Wonder singing Higher Ground, or Mary J. Blige singing Lean On Me, or how Garth Brooks and a wonderful youth choir had Obama singing American Pie or Beyonce's powerful rendition of America. I hope no one can find fault with Pete Seeger, his grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seege, Bruce Springsteen and the youth choir getting the entire audience singing This Land is Your Land. Here's a picture I shot of Pete Seeger holding his very famous banjo last October:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3375/...ef9d7608_o.jpg
He was at a baptist church today leading a group of kids through a few songs to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. My girlfiend and I were lucky enough to have gotten an invitation from him. Here's a shot of Pete and Scarlett together:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/...5dfa6c90da.jpg
I had a minute to talk with him about the We Are One celebration. It seems that the performances were all arranged by Bruce Springsteen. No one got paid for appearing. Everyone was very excited to be a part of this fantastic moment in history. I know I am happy just to see these things on television. I can only imagine what an exhilerating and emotional experience it would be to play even a tiny roll in the events.

I was hoping I could at least see part if it. I do not have HBO, I do not have internet that can support streaming video. I get the 3 main stations and an independent, that is it! How come it is that the everyone talks about helping the small guy yet don't want to hear from the peanut gallery. The reason I brought this up is that if people would not have allowed the big guys come in buy the thing up and then restrict access I would have been able to see it. The big guys should not be allowed to come in and buy things up that belong to, and are paid for, by all the people even a small guy like me, someone who does not HBO and does not have streaming video! Get it!

The insensitivity of the big city elitists continues. This is a historic event in American history and it is a good thing that a least the swearing in and the inaugural address is not bought and paid for and will be covered by all the media. Your condescending attitude is duly noted and, as it has been brought to my attention, should be appreciated!

Thank you and God Bless,
Richard

Dude, that is so awesome. I sure wish it was on broadcast TV though. Which I think was the point of the thread. My work has HBO. We watched Bono do a couple of songs. It was pretty cool. It was weird seeing a concert there. I remember standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with an Iraq War buddy talking about freedom with a Vietnam vet, here's a pic.
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...19-my-team.jpg
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...lter-reed.html
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...n-memorial.jpg

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...alter-reed.jpg

This guy was so hard core, he couldn't let me go home from visiting DC without taking me around town. It was February, and we went every where with his Farking jaw piece freezing. He never complained a bit. Then he shared his visit with the President with us because we were the only people from the unit to come see him. We sent an email to the FRG after that, telling them they suck for not taking care of soldiers. They told us we owed them an apology. What a bunch of attention whores. They only wanted people to see "how much they care" at funerals. Fark them. When I got hit. NO ONE came to see me. Sorry for venting. The Lincoln memorial does that to me. Oh, yeah,m FARK HBO.

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Originally Posted by riooso

Your condescending attitude is duly noted and, as it has been brought to my attention, should be appreciated!

Thank you and God Bless,
Richard

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This sentence doesn't make sense to me. But if I offended you, why would you thank me and bless me? Is that sarcasm?

Regarding the HBO thing, I have no idea how the media works. I am happy to have been able to save the concert on some digital Tivo type thing we got from the cable TV company. However, I wish it were on regular broadcast so everyone could enjoy it.

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Originally Posted by Ditch Doc

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...alter-reed.jpg

This guy was so hard core, he couldn't let me go home from visiting DC without taking me around town. It was February, and we went every where with his Farking jaw piece freezing. He never complained a bit. Then he shared his visit with the President with us because we were the only people from the unit to come see him. We sent an email to the FRG after that, telling them they suck for not taking care of soldiers. They told us we owed them an apology. What a bunch of attention whores. They only wanted people to see "how much they care" at funerals. Fark them. When I got hit. NO ONE came to see me. Sorry for venting. The Lincoln memorial does that to me. Oh, yeah,m FARK HBO.

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Ditch,

I for one thank you for your service and your sacrifice and that of your friends and unit as well.

Whether one agrees with the war or not, it is the task that you and those like you do, that allows us to remain snug in our beds, safe and sound.


Thank you.

Tony

I can't tell you how great it was to see Pete Seeger, still out there and still causing discomfort to the powerful and complacent.

When they started singing "This Land is Your Land," I immediately wondered if they'd really, truly sing the words that Woody wrote. But then, I figured, hell, Pete's there. He'll sing it right if he has to sing it alone. And sure enough, they sang the real, live, give-em-hell version.

I grew up in the town where Pete lives, so I've seen him countless times. He even came into my high school English class one time. We were reading The Grapes of Wrath, and he came in to sing songs of the dustbowl days. I don't know how to explain adequately what a great guy he is, and what a national treasure.

I was a bit put out that only HBO could broadcast the thing. I only saw Pete's performance on a You-tube page that was later taken down. I suppose it costs money to put these things on. The Park Service owns the land and manages it, but they don't own sound systems and broadcast equipment.

Oh, well.

j

Quote:

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Originally Posted by riooso

I was hoping I could at least see part if it. I do not have HBO, I do not have internet that can support streaming video. I get the 3 main stations and an independent, that is it! How come it is that the everyone talks about helping the small guy yet don't want to hear from the peanut gallery. The reason I brought this up is that if people would not have allowed the big guys come in buy the thing up and then restrict access I would have been able to see it. The big guys should not be allowed to come in and buy things up that belong to, and are paid for, by all the people even a small guy like me, someone who does not HBO and does not have streaming video! Get it!

The insensitivity of the big city elitists continues. This is a historic event in American history and it is a good thing that a least the swearing in and the inaugural address is not bought and paid for and will be covered by all the media. Your condescending attitude is duly noted and, as it has been brought to my attention, should be appreciated!

Thank you and God Bless,
Richard

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I thought for a while whether to post again and decided in favor of it.
Basically I would have preferred that it were broadcast. The reality however is that the television in US is private, that's part of capitalism at work. Short of the government starting to provide broadcast television, which isn't a topic of vigorous debate, one or several of the big guys would have to bring it to you. And as you know these big guys don't do it for free.
You don't like to pay for a cable, or broadband internet access, that is fine it is your choice. But in the absence of any evidence to the contrary I don't find it very plausible that even if they had the option to do so, one of the broadcasters would actually broadcast the concert. They have to get something in exchange for providing you entertainment, you know. They pay the government licensing fees for broadcasting, they have for all the equipment and personal necessary, they pay all the bills involved in the transmission of it...
Even if the entertainment is free, the way that it gets to you isn't. And you just haven't paid for that last part that is not free.
From what I gather HBO did not charge for broadcasting it so any cable provider could choose to pass these savings and let all of their customers, even those who haven't subscribed to HBO view it.

Basically HBO bought themselves advertisement. They paid the government to be the exclusive distributor of a product, which they then gave for free. If anybody restricted you from enjoying the free entertainment that was you. Or do you know if there was a nationally broadcasting radiostation willing to broadcast the concert live for free and they were denied the opportunity?

In any case my issue is not with the broadcast of the show, but with this sense of entitlement to something so inessential as entertainment. I don't think the government owed anybody anything. It's a free concert, everybody was free to arrive by their favorite means of transportation to the site of the event and enjoy it.
And the other issue that irked me is this out of nowhere generalization that the failure of the government to provide even more accessible entertainment than they did is evidence of some deep conspiracy to further enrich the powerful at the expense of the small guys.

As I said there are much much bigger problems and I will derive my opinion on the new administration based on how these are addressed if at all. That's because the world is not perfect and it is not going to be, so given this I like things that are high priority to be improved before things that are low priority.

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Originally Posted by gugi

The reality however is that the television in US is private

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Or privately owned anyway. PBS is a nonprofit public broadcaster, but I think I understand what you mean.

The inauguration was broadcast freely over the air waves on radio though. I don't recall an amendment guaranteeing the public's right to television at all, although I think I ought to be able to take a camera to the event and broadcast it to whomever I choose, as it is a public event.

Yes this seems low priority, but there is a strange feel to it off the heels of the symbolism used in the Presidential campaign regarding the priority of fiscal responsibility and wise economic decisions regarding the state of the hurting economy