I've listened to several reports from people who were in the purple gate line. Many, including a very dear friend, circumnavigated the blockage and were able to get in to view the inaugural speech.
Others, waited in the cold and never got in....... Today, while surfing, I stumbled upon this video by RaymondJLee:
Interesting compilation. Isn't YouTube great? There were several comments on this YouTube post, I'm highlighting a few to give you a sense of how some people felt.
MichaelMWelch - said:
VERY sorry to hear of your lousy experience. ( In fact, the Purple Gate *did* open when it was supposed to at 8 (not at 9; tix said 9, but they announced the week before that it would be 8). I got in the Purple Gate line at 5AM and was fairly close to the front (only maybe 200 or so people in front of me). It opened at 8 on the dot for wheelchair-bound. That took 20 min or so, then the regular line moved in A-OK, no problems up through where I was. Dunno why it broke down further back
Steele360 - said:
Having a purple ticket went from making me happy as hell to disappointed as hell. thanks for the video
eddivinity - said:
Count yourself at least a little lucky that you weren't stuck in the tunnel for 4 hours. We flew all the way out from California with purple tickets from Nancy Pelosi. We eventually made it in after they opened a gate sporadically while the crowd was surging. Only minutes before the actual swearing in.At the end of the day, while the ceremony was disappointing for a lot of people, it's still nice to know Obama is Pres.
So having read these comments and watched the video, I dug a little deeper.
In my digging, I came up with the name - Patricia Jones Blessman, PhD.
The name -Patricia Jones Blessman- is burning up the blog waves today.
Patricia Jones Blessman with husband, child, and Barack Obama
Regardless of your political perspective, I imagine you all have an opinion on the idea of paying for something and then not getting what you were promised. Or making some sort of sacrifice with the expectation of receiving something in return and never getting it. Well, I learned today that Patricia Jones Blessman was a purple ticket holder who gave $10,000 to the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC). According the the Washington Post online, Blessman followed the refund protocol outlined by American Express and has received a refund pending review. Blessman complains that she was not able to see Barack Obama sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, a privilege for which she had paid big bucks. She wants her cash back!
Blessman and her husband both donated to Obama's presidential campaign. In addition to giving $10,000 to help fund his inaugural celebration. Jones was a field organizer for the campaign and blogged on Obama's campaign Website. Follow this think to view some of her topics: PJBlessmanPHD community Blog
Things got a bit animated on Facebook to under the topic:
Patricia Jones Blessman PhD Is a Pompous Ass
I must admit, I was a bit bored today and needed some entertainment. This qualified - I got an education on prostitution, law, and volunteering. Thanks go to Zenobia Grey, Apple Leena, Ferris Bueller, Aaron Goldfarb and Evan Rogers for adding some creative comments for my enjoyment.
I gotta know - In her mind, was PJB making a contribution to a candidate she supported or was she merely buying a ticket to the Inauguration?
It's just occurred to me that I've been lost for a few hours on this topic. Enough wasted time.....
Back to work!
3 comments:
People never cease to amaze me. This entire situation is fascinating, though!
An amusing conversation on FB!
Well I don't blame Patricia for asking for asking for her money back - it strikes me that this purple gate fiasco was easily avoidable and her action will have more effect than a You Tube video -if you want to make a point sometimes the best way to do is where it hurts most - in the pocket. It's possible Patricia's action may set a precedent and now they'll be a spate of claims. I tend to think that it never does any harm to remind the powers that be that what they've been given can be easily taken away.
However, perhaps it's also indicative of the very high expectations the American people have of Barack Obama - and that, I believe, is more worrying.
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