Until I get all the bells and whistles hooked up and the audio player installed, I decided to run some familiar footage of another historic Inauguration - one which has been getting a lot of play of late, but is still striking in its similarities. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Inauguration of his first term in office in March of 1933.

Watching the coverage from MSNBC today, I was struck by the concerns brought on by new media - the overloading of wireless communication from the Mall, the millions of text messages and cell phone calls. In contrast, the big concern in 1933 was getting the footage of the Inaugural into the Movie theaters on time. Which still meant a few days after the event.

The crowd numbered some 300,000 in 1933, lining the route to the Capitol steps. As of today, the crowd is estimated to be between 2 and 4 million with some 5 billion watching and listening around the world.

The sentiment, excitement and optimism however, are the same.