Every four years the United States votes and elects a new president and on January 20th the new president is officially sworn into the White House in Washington D.C. at the presidential Inauguration. This year I was fortunate enough to travel to D.C. and witness the event for myself. The rest of America and the world viewed the event from home on their TV. Unfortunately, most news stations broadcasting the event had to offer their two cents in hopes of altering your viewpoint and opinion of the national event. I am here today to offer you the most unbiased version of the 2017 Presidential Inauguration. Here's what really happened.
Upon arriving in D.C. at about 9 A.M. Friday, January 20th my dad and I left the metro station and followed the crowd to find our way to the line entering the main area of the event. The streets were littered with vendors trying to sell Donald Trump merchandise. One of which who yelled out, "Don't be a democrat, buy a Trump hat" which gave everyone, regardless of political opinion a good laugh. Along the way there were paths for color coded tickets. We happened to be without tickets but luckily there are several lines for other people who also don't have a ticket. Of course, we witnessed several protesters lining the streets. Some of which caught my eye more than others. Below is pictured, in this order, protests of torture, protests against abortion, and black lives matter activists.
As you can see the presidential inauguration is a huge platform for activists to have their voice be heard and seen by millions all across the world. Despite what you believe it is a refreshing thing to see peaceful people standing up for what they believe in.
Once I reached my gate to enter the Inauguration it was close to 9:20 a.m. about 2 hours until the event begins. The crowd I stood in had an estimate of 10,000 people. The large group of people held both Trump supporters as well as protesters who all seemed to have an equal respect for each other. People carried signs that read, "Putin Won," "Resist Trump" and "Donald Trump respects no one". And the crowded also was littered with Bright Red 'Make America Great Again' hats. Certain groups would start anti-Trump chants only to be silenced by an overwhelming unity of nearly everyone chanting 'USA' repeatedly. Perhaps we are more unified than the media wants you to believe.
While standing in the gigantic line we could see way ahead a small white tent with one single metal detector to check in upwards of 10,000 people into the event. As expected we moved 5 feet about every 15 minutes only to get less than half way there after an hour had passed. In the second hour, the crowd began to grow impatient and protesters and Trump supporters joined together in chanting 'let us in' while we stood in practically stand still lines. In the second hour, the time was nearly 11:30 a.m. and the event was about to start. People pulled out their phones to view the beginning of the ceremony that was only a few hundred yards away from where we stood. We could hear the performers singing in the near distance and the anticipation to enter was at an all time high. Still ahead of us laid hundreds of restless people. behind us the line elongated containing thousands of other people. 12 o'clock grew near as we all lost hope of catching a glimpse of the new president. At about 11:50 a.m. my dad and I decided to leave the stand still lines and try to watch the event from a TV. On our way out of the line we were shocked to see several other lines containing thousands of people who also were unable to get into the event. Less than 2 minutes before the president was officially sworn in we ducked into a restaurant that was televising the event and we saw the restaurant packed full with people standing and watching history being made. Once the words were spoken and repeated Donald Trump was officially announced the 45th President of the United States and cheers broke out all through the restaurant. We ordered drinks and watched the new president's speech promising to take the power from Washington and give it back to the people. And with that, the event was concluded and we had a brand new president.
Yet for many news channels, this was an event that they used to get their own agenda through. They want you to believe their biased story of how many people showed to the Donald Trump Inauguration. They want to continue to manipulate you into believing that our country is divided only while they continue to divide us further. The New York Times tweeted an image comparing the crowds of the Barack Obama Inauguration of 2009 to Donald Trumps Inauguration of 2017.
What they're not seeing is the tens of thousands of people who never entered the main area of the event. What you see in the image above is what they want you to believe. They want to view this event as something that was unimportant to people when in reality thousands of us stood behind the scenes unseen, either protesting or supporting.
The media has a way of dividing us and they believe their voice matters more than yours. They think their platform will always outshine your intelligence and if you're not careful it will. Being informed is something that will never lose significance.
Regardless of your views never allow the biased media to think for you. Form opinions from what you value and believe. Perhaps someday we will create news without a hidden agenda. Until then, let's continue to use our voices to tell it how it is.
