On Tuesday, January 20^th, 2009 a new president will be sworn into office. The coronation inauguration of Barack Obama has turned into exactly what our forefathers wished to avoid, the appearance of a royalty, instead of leadership.

Thomas Jefferson simply left his boarding house and strolled over to Capital Hill and was sworn in. The Obama coronation inauguration is anything but a simple swearing in of a President, and is the exact opposite of what our founding fathers had in mind for the elected leader to take command.

To be fair, this whole inaugural gala has gotten out of hand. Chef's have been brought in from all over the country to cook and serve food to the tens of thousands in attendance. I can only guess at the amount of money being spent on this affair.

To put things in perspective, chef Michael Downey of Oneonta was contacted by an executive chef friend of his at a catering company, and told to come down and bring as many good people as he could.

Downey said the group would be cooking at Occasions' Catering main kitchen Thursday, Friday and Saturday, then would move on site for the rest of their stay.

We will be doing a very small reception at the National Archives on Sunday, then Monday we'll be at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, right on the Mall.

On Tuesday, the crew will be at the Smithsonian again, preparing food for about 10,000 guests, he said.

Oh, by the way, Downey is a Mortgage Broker, not a working chef, although certified as one. This is just one example of the expense of this affair, at a time when this country is going through some very rough times. It's just NOT necessary to spend this kind of money.

I won't even speculate as to the final bill, counting security and all the necessary precautions. If Obama really was for change, he would have changed all of this process to a simple swearing in and a small congratulatory dinner. But, he loves the attention and wouldn't change it for the world.