It was hard to get good photos. The organizers were in no way prepared for the crowds, not even for ticket holders. We were stuck in the middle of this street, which was off limits to viewers in 1996, for about 50 minutes. We were only about forty feet from the entrance but we couldn't get through for reasons never made clear. An aerial photo taken 6 minutes before we finally busted through showed most of the standing room ticket-holder area east of 3rd St. to be empty. So it wasn't over-crowded. There were very few police around. And virtually none visible. When we got to the security gate, there was no line.

Afterwards, the police wouldn't let people into the parade viewing area at First and Constitution. I heard reports that it was empty. People gave up. We tried to leave and got stuck inside the Capitol grounds, after the security check-points were gone.

Enough ranting, the audience was thrilled to see Obama take the oath of office.