Le Sabot Post-Moderne: At last -- President Yushchenko!

janvier 24, 2005

At last -- President Yushchenko!

Number one son took a spill from the jungle gym this morning, and instead of getting to the inauguration early I spent the time playing doctor (he's okay now.) By the time I got downtown, it was already a madhouse. I had hoped to score shots from the hill overlooking the Square, but even the magic of my press badge failed against the Ministry's security cordon. I was able to snap these shots from over near Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

The photos don't really capture it, but the press of people was amazing. There were times when the crowd would shift and you would literally be taken off your feet. Even more amazing was that everyone was smiling, despite having their ribs compacted. It's been the same throughout the Revolution.

UPDATE: Connard has posted some GREAT inauguration photos over on his blog. Check them out. Definitely worthy of linkage by you Orange fans out there. . :-)

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The orange thing in the middle was part of the backdrop for the stage. The black line of people in front of the orange smudge are part of the officiating party.

You'll see a large open space, directly in front of the Conservatory, leading up to the area around the statue. It's been roped off for the inauguration. In one of those fun coincidences of history, those are the exact areas we roped off when PORA set up the first stage of the tent city at the very beginning of the Revolution. . .

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The pillars of the Conservatory were wrapped in orange, and the statue still flies the Yushchenko flag some intrepid Orange person put up there during the first days of the Revolution.

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Six thousand militiamen were called out to secure the event. Many were turned out in dress uniform, like this trooper. It was nice to know which side the Ministry was on, for once.

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After Yushchenko's speech they launched a huge flight of orange balloons into the air. It's done. What we've known all along is now official -- Yushchenko is the rightful and legitimate president of Ukraine. Thank God.

Posted by Discoshaman at janvier 24, 2005 12:23 AM | TrackBack

I've been following the Ukrainian struggle for a while now through your site, and I just wanted to say great job to you and, most importantly, CONGRATULATIONS to the proud people of Ukraine. In many ways, I think the Orange revolution is one of the "purest" of political phenomena to take place recently.
-Harold

Posted by: Harold at janvier 23, 2005 11:38 PM

Disco, Thanks for the shout out and linkage. Glad you liked the pictures, working my way through the crowds on Maidan to get them proved to be a lot more difficult than I had thought it would be!

Joe St...no idea why you can't get to the main page. Seems to be working for me and others. If you'd like I can email some to you.

Posted by: Connard at janvier 24, 2005 03:47 PM

For two months plus you have offered so much of the Ukraine. Thanks you for that!

How is the appointment of your new PM being hailed? Apparently she is not popular in Russia. She obviously was an intergral part of the Orange Revolution.

Keep up the wonderfully colorful and informative blogs!

Duke of DeLand
http://pekinprattles.blogspot.com

Posted by: Duke of DeLand at janvier 24, 2005 08:34 PM

This is great news! An awesome event for your 1000th post as well! Thanks for bringing us the news from inside Ukraine, it has been exhilarating to watch.

Of course, congratulations go to the Ukrainian people as well for standing up for their rights!

Posted by: Mr. Green at janvier 25, 2005 12:21 AM

Congratulations on a great achievement by the people of Ukraine, and to you personally as well. One of the great things about the blogosphere is that it enables those interested to get timely information on developments that major media don't have the resources or inclination to cover properly. Le Sabot has allowed many Westerners to put the historic events of the last two months in proper context. Thank you.

Posted by: Zathras at janvier 25, 2005 06:20 AM

Thank you guys for the friendly congrats! The first couple of weeks were a bit paranoid, when we expected the SBU to knock on our door and start chatting us up about visa violations and deportment. But once the Revolution took the upper hand it was just. . . fun. This was every blogger's dream. :-)

I want to thank all of you for showing such constant support for the democracy movement here. The blogosphere outdid itself on this one.

Posted by: Discoshaman at janvier 25, 2005 06:36 AM

What a wonderful day. Thanks so much for all the great reporting, through the dark snowy days and the triumph of the inauguration. I'm a Ukrainian American who never dreamed this day would ever come. I am so proud of my fellow Ukrainians. So proud to hear the president of the country of my parents speaking in our beautiful language, that they taught me, even though I have never lived there. I just watched a tape of C-Span's coverage of the speech and the festivities. My eyes were a blur of tears. I've posted my own translation of Yushchenko's speech on my blogsite if anyone wants to read it in English, as I speak both languages fluently, and also a link to your wonderful site. I haven't figured out how to blogroll yet, but when I do -- yours will be the first site that is posted. Thanks, Discoshaman -- this has been such a treat for us Ukrainians in the English diaspora.

Posted by: Aussiegirl at janvier 25, 2005 06:42 AM

Aussiegirl-

You just totally made my week, thanks! :-)

I'll post a link to your translation right away. Thanks for the blogroll, you're going up on mine now, too. Thanks for the translation, btw. Living in Russified Kiev, I can understand Ukrainian but only speak very simple phrases.

Posted by: Discoshaman at janvier 25, 2005 06:56 AM