Countdown Live Blog: 1/20/09, The Inauguration Day Edition

No time for numbers tonight. I slept like a baby today. Missed my live blog of the daytime events.

The Tie: Navy, gray and white.

This was the most important day in the history of our country, all 232 years old of it. Barack Husein Obama was inaugurated as the Forty-fourth President of The United States of America.

"On this day, we gather" to hear our new leader to recognize that "we have duties but seize gladly." Echoing people such as Abaham Lincoln, JFK and as much as even FDR, the hopes and fears of he next four years, mending fences, and restoring the mess left by his predicessor. At a post-inaugural luncheon, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) suffered a seizure and Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) could not eat properly. Howard Fineman anaylizes with whomever is left over at the National Mall. We're happy to report that Mr. Kennedy was okay, and this will be part of his future of his recovery from brain cancer.

Former Dictator Adolph XLIII is gone and left on time. Back home in Texas, along with Fredo and Turdblossom, he said it's great to be back, and meanwhile, seven new cabinet members confirmed by the Senate except Hilary Clinton to force a roll call vote until tomorrow, and Ron Emanuel has said all Bush XLIII policies are suspended until further notice. Richard Wolffe is in the booth with Keith to comment. And yes, Adolph is among all his friends...and with friends like Fredo and Turdblossom, who needs enemas or enemies?

Don't forget, after Rachael Maddow, we'll be back with balls. Inaugural Balls, that is. A live blog of the 10 PM to Midnight coverage.

President Obama was born in 1961, such as I am, and Ken Burns joins Keith in DC tonight to give us his views on this January 20th. It was the year of 1961 during the month of June that Olbermann's beloved Yankees moved from St. Petersberg to Fort Lauderdale due to segragated housing of Elston Howard, though it didn't take effect until the spring of 1962. That same spring, another New York team took their place: The lovable 40-120 1962, Whitey Ashburn-MVP New York Mets. Don Richie won a boat, but it sank when he tried to float it. On the 1-to-10 scale of history with over 2 million, Burns gives it an 11, and formally welcomes us to te third age of this country. Now, we cut to the Neighborhood Ball, the first of ten official events to hear Obama speak, and asks how good looking is Michele Obama, our new First Lady. He thanks the people for getting him elected and each of you for what you'll do to make the country better. It's a neighborhood ball because he cut his teeth in neighborhoods. Back to Ken Burns, and the echoes of JFK and LBJ are mentioned. BTW, Jason Wu is the designer of Ms. Obama's dress and Beyonce is singing "At Last" live on "another network" as Mr. Carson used to say. BTW Ken, with John Chancellor no longer with us, who do you think we should get to narrate Baseball The Tenth Inning?

Cardboard boxes and the moving vans were at the White House, while Obama's daughters said the speech was good. Melissa Harris Lacewell is at NBC News' Washington Bureau dressed to impress to tell us the First Grandma (and first babysitter) and says hi to her seven-year-old at home in Princeton, NJ. Meanwhile, the First Sisters watched High School Musical 3 from our reports. Just the thought of a movie (not a made-for-Disney Channel-dreck) called First Babysitter sends chills up and down the spine. Back to the Neighborhood Ball, Yes We Can, Yes We Will, as long as we're all working together and on the same page in the book. Time to put the dress to good use, Ms. Lacewell.

We return to the Commander-in-Chief Ball (with that giant 500-pound Presidential Seal cheesecake) with Vice President Biden speaking. This was the March of Freedom and the end of a nightmare, and in any picture you choose, the American Dream was finally realized. We end with a recap of the day. "A cross between Woodstock and a religious pilgrimage." Flags waved on cue when Obama arriver to assume office, over one million, and Martin Luther King would have been proud of this moment, even if Chief Justice of TSCOTUS John Roberts messed up a bit on the oath. And Al Roker wanted to do an interview, Obama tells him "It's Warm" in a 15-degree wind chill. "Warm" in Chicago terms, that is.

See you in an hour.