Inaguration Stumble: My Fault

Unfortunately, my good friend Barack stumbled over the oath of office yesterday. Mea Culpa. I am sure you will have noticed me amongst the gathered dignitaries. I admit my enthusiasm for the event got the better of me and I was somewhat over zealous in my waving of the Homeward flag. The hypnotic sight of my trunk, in motion, clearly distracted Barack momentarily - causing him to misplace his words. I apologised to him profusely after the event but he shrugged it off. "We owe you so much, Uncle, and I am so glad you could spare the time to be by my side" he said. He was quite nervous before the ceremony, but I did my best to reassure him. "It is true - the responsibilities of leadership are great. Like me you are from humble origins, and I too have many relatives in Africa, but I see in you the steely determination that I had in my youth and I am confident that you shall carry the burden well - as I have done." I said. "I only hope that I can follow the example you have set for world leaders and conduct myself in as dignified a manner" he replied. At this, readers, I admit to blushing a little. I gave him a hand with his speech - correcting some of the poor grammer of young Mister Favreau, and throwing in a few ideas of my own. I clearly upset Jon a little, perhaps being a little over critical of his writing. The line "Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some," was not one of mine and I noticed Jon looked rather pointedly at me at that point. I suspect that he may have noticed that I had helped myself to an extra portion of the, rather delicious, Whitehouse banana cake the previous evening. Clearly, however, Barack was thinking of me when he said "It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men, women and elephants obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom." Some of the more observant of you will have spotted that he gave me a little wink at this point. Barack insisted that I attend all the Inaugural Balls with him, so I was most relieved to sink into my bed (in the Lincoln bedroom) at the end of the evening - with a nice bucket of cocoa by my side.