You know it's bad when they pull the YouTube Video!

Somebody owes Roseanne...

...a HUGE apology. She wasn't disrespectful when she sang the national anthem at that baseball game...she was merely ahead of her time.

When I heard that Aretha Franklin would be singing at the inauguration, I was absolutely thrilled. I couldn't wait. Can you imagine a voice like Franklin's belting out a patriotic song from the steps of the Capital? The notion has history written all over it.

But, alas...it didn't quite turn out that way...did it? I doubt that you'll be hearing that particular rendition of 'My Country Tis of Thee' over and over again on the news. I'm not sure what happened to the voice that sang R-E-S-P-E-C-T but it wasn't present yesterday afternoon. I don't think too many people would argue with my assessment of this particular performance, but I am pretty sure that those who do will let themselves be known and most of them will use the all purpose insult, "You're a racist." because I voiced my opinion. Or, as it seems to happen regularly, I'm called a "Southern racist". I guess those are worse than Northern racists. (Geographical prejudice runs rampant.)

If President Obama had rolled his eyes and chuckled during the performance, I would have campaigned for him and the repeal of the 22nd Amendment so that we could keep him around forever. But he closed his eyes and put on his game face. I guess he had no choice. But, I must say, a President who is honest enough to admit that Franklin's singing was less than par yesterday is one who can be trusted. That is the test of a true leader.

I can imagine Michelle as she finally crawled into bed with the President of the United States of America...before her head hit the pillow you know she said, "What was up with Aretha today?"

President Obama: "I don't know but it was the only time that I considered running away."

Unfortunately, we can be relatively sure that our new president has already told a lie. Of course, it was a must lie situation, what can you say to the Queen of Soul when she misses a few notes while the entire world is watching?

I don't have HBO so I didn't get to see the concert that was put on in DC over the weekend. But, I did see a snippet of one performer. It was Bruce Springsteen. So, now I've seen a grand total of 2 singers from the festivities and they both sounded like crap.

It is with all due respect that I make these observations...I'm a Springsteen and Franklin fan from way, way back. I know what those two are capable of and I was quite disappointed by both of them. On the plus side, Bruce did have a great choir behind him. Unfortunately, Aretha just brought her big bow hat.

I know that I am not the only person in the world who listened to Franklin and thought of Roseanne. Wouldn't it be funny if future generations look at Roseanne's performance and think, "What a lovely sound!" It would be even funnier if they added, "Well, at least she's not Aretha Franklin!"