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Purple tunnel of doom
Ben Smith's Blog —
One glitch on a relatively smooth day: Thousands of holders of purple tickets were held in a tunnel, many never making it into the ceremony.
They've now got their own Facebook group, "Survivors of the purple tunnel of doom," with 335 members and counting.
Ground zero from DC: what could have been an Inauguration Day disaster
BlueOregon —
... act in a nefarious way, there's very little that could have been done about it, save the crowd rushing the person or persons. If people would have started pushing and shoving in frustration, there would have been many serious injuries and likely even deaths.
When we finally made it to the mall, we were able to watch our new President's swearing in on the giant screens. But afterward as the exodus proceeded, allowed only 2-3 exits and again, very little security.
There's even a Facebook group dedicated to holders of purple tickets, who had experiences similar to ours. ...
"The Purple Tunnel of Doom"
Anne Schroeder's Blog —
Meanwhile – we love this – it took mere hours for a Facebook group to pop up last night to aide the “rapidly growing angry 'purple ticket holders': “Survivors of the Purple Tunnel of Doom". ...
Daily Digest: First Peeks Inside the New White House (Website)
techPresident —
... Those of us in DC yesterday got to see first-hand that pouring a couple million people into a confined space isn't without its challenges. There were confusing signals coming from event organizers, irritated law enforcement, the occasional surly volunteer, and Metro stations shuttered in midday. A thousand-member "Survivors of the Purple Tunnel of Doom" Facebook group has developed to help people come to terms with their experience of being stuck outside the festivities in the Third Street Tunnel, and a ...
Mea Culpa
Talking Points Memo —
The Inauguration Committee has issued a statement apologizing to those who were stuck in the Purple Tunnel of Doom yesterday.
...
Inauguration Ticket Problems And Glue Politics
Open Left - Front Page —
... Obama's problems with "glue politics" once again appeared yesterday. At the inauguration, thousands of activists and staffers with tickets were unable to get inside the event, and they are not very happy about it. Check out the comments on the Purple Tunnel Of Doom Facebook group for a few couple hundred examples. The problem continued last night, when several thousand more staffers and activists, all with tickets, were unable to attend inaugural balls. This is an epic fail of glue politics, and it could have not inconsequential repercussions. ...
FP Jan 21
Abu Aardvark —
... , in which I recount my experience on inauguration day. This post prompted a Facebook group which registered 2000 members in one day, a slew of media coverage, even a wikipedia page... and helped get an apology from the Inaugural Committee. Doesn't make yesterday any better, but what a demonstration of the power of social networking. ...
Inaugural Purple Tunnel Gets Ode, Investigation
Politics Daily —
... an investigation into what went wrong. From MSNBC: I am writing to express my deep concern over the fact that thousands of people who had tickets were denied access to the historic swearing-in ceremony for President Barack Obama, and applaud you for initiating a thorough investigation into how this happened. I strongly endorse this review and look forward to learning what went wrong so we can avoid such problems in the future.The Purplers have their own Facebook group, and now have a song burning up the YouTube charts: ...
