Barack Obama's Day Ruined by Window Cleaner

Oprah, Denzel, Yo-Yo and a window-wash: Classical musicians Itzhak Perlman, left, and Yo-Yo Ma performed during the inauguration of President Barack Obama at the Capitol, missing the window-washer behind them.
Sometimes, so much attention is paid to the show, that the sideshow is overlooked. There was a high quotient of spit and polish at the inauguration, of President Barack Obama, but someone on the Capitol staff may have taken it a little far during ceremonies this morning. Just prior to Obama's fumbled oath-taking, thanks to the miscue of Chief Justice John Roberts, as cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman and two other classical musicians played the somber and contemplative "Air and Simple Gifts,'' somebody inside the Capitol began wiping the window to the right of the west balcony entrance, immediately behind the dignitaries. Clearly visible to pretty much everyone in the audience was a light colored cloth moving from one pane of glass to another. "Look at that guy polishing the window. Find another time to do that," said a miffed Jerry Flavin, 61, an Obama volunteer from Fredericksburg, Texas, who was seated in the last row perhaps 100 yards from balcony. "That's ridiculous."