Who cares who performs at or adjacent to the swearing in?
By Stephen Macaulay
What is curious about the forthcoming Trump inauguration is that people are, preemptively, talking about the forthcoming Trump inauguration.
A big concern — someone might call it “HUGE — everyone says so” — is the donations, personal and corporate out of Silicon Valley.
According to The Hill, Elon Musk contributed some $250 million to get Trump elected, so those $1-million inauguration donations from Cook, Zuckerberg, etc. seem like the kind of money found in a couch in the lounge at Mar-a-Lago on a slow night.
Even Peter Thiel’s reported $35 million seems somewhat small.
But let’s face it: Musk, Thiel and other tech bros contributed to Trump for ideological and/or economic (i.e., “good for business”) reasons.
It is important to them so they did, whether others agree with it or not.
But this donating to the inauguration seems odd, although it is probably more along the lines of “donating to one of the multitudinous parties that will be held in relation to the inauguration.” It’s not like the US government isn’t shelling out enough for the ceremony itself.
And let’s face it: the swearing in isn’t all that interesting unless something goes wrong (e.g., a strong gust of wind musses his elaborate coif) or if he uses a copy of his God Bless the USA Bible: Inauguration Day Edition, which you, too, can buy).
A more recent concern is with some of the entertainers who are going to perform.
No, not with Lee Greenwood of God Bless the U.S.A. fame. After all, Greenwood, 82, released that song in the spring of 1984, so the man isn’t likely to be having a whole lot more hits, and that single only reached number-seven on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in ’84. He probably needs all of the visibility he can get. (Like the inclusion of the lyrics of God Bless the U.S.A. in the aforementioned God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, $69.99.)
Similarly, Y.M.C.A. by the Village People was released in 1978, and disco anthem or not, there isn’t a whole lot in the way of revenue being generated. It is probably just as well that there is only one original member of the band remaining, Victor Willis, who is the policeman. Willis is 73. So he can probably dance more lithely to the song than
Trump, but still. . . .
But then there’s Carrie Underwood. This one seems highly controversial.
Underwood became known after she won the fourth season of American Idol in 2005.
Who won American Idol in the third and fifth seasons?
Fantasia Barrino and Taylor Hicks.
Underwood probably knows that many of you didn’t know the answer to that question and so if she’s going to get some attention for playing at the Trump inauguration, as long as the reporting spells her name right that’s useful.
If we go back four years to the last inauguration, there were Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks, among other performers for Biden.
All of these performers’ careers survived, as did Biden survive his 2020 debate answer that included the recommendation that parents, for their children, should “play the radio, make sure the television — excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night.” And that was just one “excuse me” away from “Victrola.”
But who knows? Maybe after the swearing in, people who aren’t at the events may open their Bibles — God Bless the U.S.A. Bible — either edition — read some of the Book of Exodus (the one that contains that list of 10 things) and realize that things like lying, slandering other people, and committing adultery are really quite bad, not things to be accepted or otherwise overlooked.
Macaulay is pundit-at-large. This commentary first appeared at Substack on The Hustings.