We did not watch the inauguration. At that moment, we were in fact engaged in a useful activity: turning in my car at the auto body shop for some necessary work. (The front bumper cover had been mangled by some parking space stoppers and a particularly vicious dip.) That was the time they'd offered for check-in, so we were there. B. was with me to drive me home.
I looked at my posting archives and found that during the creature's previous inaugural, we'd also been engaged in a much more useful activity: we were at the veterinarian's, taking Maia in for her annual checkup.
John Ganz noted that Monday's comments about Mars and manifest destiny have a precursor in Cecil Rhodes, who apparently wrote "I would annex the planets if I could". That led me to wonder if C.S. Lewis had that line in mind when writing "Out of the Silent Planet." A quick internet search shows me that Rhodes has been mentioned by others as a model for Devine or Weston, and that in fact, Rhodes is mentioned in "That Hideous Strength" (which I should have remembered)---and yes, at least one person writing on Lewis has referenced that particular statement by Rhodes.
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