The Post reported today that a report by Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies has pointed out several obvious flaws with the inauguration. The report: "pointed to insufficient signs, poor coordination among law enforcement agencies and a lack of personnel to keep order and provide information to visitors." By now everyone who attended the inauguration or who read about the Purple Tunnel of Doom knows the screw-ups. The only thing left of out of the report is a mention of Dionne Warwick's ball flap.

In the report's executive summary, under "crowd management," it does point out a few major gaffes. Crowds were not only huge, they arrived before police officers got to their posts, the report states, adding that ticket holders and non-ticket holders ended up fighting for spots at the same gates. In other areas medium security fencing was either moved or trampled over. The report notes that in the Silver Section, the "snow" fencing had been trampled. In other spots, bike-rack fencing was simply moved.

The report also pointed out the conflicting maps for the "Third Street Street Crossover." One government entity declared that this crossover could not be used as an access point in and out of the Mall. Another declared that it could be. It wasn't until the morning of January 20 that a "joint decision was made" to allow silver ticket holders to use Third Street but only if they were escorted. But when D.C. Police requested it move a large group of silver ticket holders through Third Street, officers were told they could not. The report cites communication problems for the mix up.

In the conclusion of its executive summary, the authors note: "All planners and law enforcement personnel regret that so many of these travelers were unable to view the swearing in ceremony....It is the hope that all future security planners will benefit from this report."

*photo by AP.

Now a congressman is pushing for an audit of security, on the following basis: "In the interest of ensuring the integrity of Secret Service protective operations, and the security of our nation's leaders, I request that you audit the Secret Service protective security plans for the Inauguration, investigate and identify any deficiencies in security operations," wrote Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) in a letter to some big shot at the Department of Homeland Security.

How 'bout this deficiency, Mr. Congressman?

In the early morning hours of the inauguration, it became clear that law enforcement as well as the Presidential Inaugural Committee had inadequate plans in place. The Washington Post today does a great job running down the mistakes. Ironically, it was the ticket holders---the ones that hustled to get these much prized slots, put their names on waiting lists, entered lotteries, wrote their congressman, called in favors---that probably fared the worst.

I was at the now-infamous Purple Tunnel Of Doom at about 4 a.m. The tunnel is located just a few steps from D.C. Police headquarters. There were already huge crowds, long lines and chaos. Police were outnumbered and seemed pretty ill-informed. We decided to not deal with that mess and moved on to Capitol Hill. We noticed that there weren't a lot of signs directing ticket holders to the proper place to go. We had Silver tickets. Eventually the signs for silver ticket holders just disappeared. After much map checking (yes, we brought the official maps) and asking around, we finally made our way to the Silver Gate entrance at 3rd and Independence Ave SW.

A huge line had already formed to the right of the gate. I should say "line." Yes, there was a line. And then there was everybody else huddled at the gate like they were getting ready for a marathon. Again, the police were woefully outnumbered. It was one female cop with a bullhorn vs. the rest of us. I documented some of this scene at the time. Again, the scene was a lot easier for non-ticket holders.

At the Silver Gate, what made things a lot worse was the police's inability to do crowd control. The stood around. They made rash decisions. All of the sudden, the police declared the line on the left was invalid. Now, they yelled out that everyone had to form a line to the right. They probably decided this because the left line was too big. There was more room on the right. However, I don't think anybody moved. It was just too hard to tell.

There were definitely thousands by 6 a.m. They weren't formed into a line. They were a mass.

Once we got onto the Mall, the security checks and ticket checks were jokes. A cursory bag check at best. As for a ticket check---does it count if the check meant running past a cop and waving a piece of paper in front of them? If you didn't have a ticket, you could have gotten in. After a few hours, the silver section knocked down the plastic fence. Everyone ran to the edge of the reflecting pool. There were no cops to call us back to our place. It just happened.

I wandered off to pee and ended up in the purple area (I think). That section in particular seemed really screwed up. It was empty. Then there was a rush of people. These people sat on top of the portable toilets, were allowed to skate on the iced-over reflecting pool, climb trees, etc. Again, the cops were outnumbered.

The Post writes:

"A combination of official miscalculations and inadequate response contributed to a breakdown in order at half a dozen ticket entrances and intersections around the Capitol before the swearing-in of President Obama. In meetings that carried into the weekend, congressional and security officials were grappling with public outrage and trying to figure out what went wrong.

This much is clear: The Capitol Police and other officials underestimated the turnout among ticket holders. They turned down advance offers of help from volunteers and the National Guard, officials say. And police failed to respond adequately when trouble arose."

But wait. It's worse:

"As a result, thousands of people with precious tickets to the swearing-in didn't get anywhere near it in time for the historic moment. Senate Sergeant at Arms (and former Executive Assistant Chief with D.C. Police) Terrance W. Gainer acknowledged yesterday that the number could be far higher than his early estimate of 4,000. Satellite photos show more than 10,000 people swarming outside each of three security gates shortly before the inaugural ceremony began at 11:30 a.m., or 34 minutes before Obama took the oath.....

The Secret Service said there were two dozen magnetometers at the checkpoint, each machine capable of screening about 400 people an hour. But some security officials say that wasn't enough. "Do the math," one local official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is involved in the investigation by law enforcement agencies and inaugural planners into what went wrong.

The purple gate wasn't the only one developing problems. At the blue ticket entrance on the southwest side of the Capitol, which was supposed to process another 52,000 people, Obama supporters complained of slow-moving lines and conflicting information about where to file.

At the silver section, behind the Reflecting Pool, there was only one gate for 100,000 ticket holders -- three fewer openings than in 2005 -- because of security issues."

If anyone suffered through the morning, they shouldn't have had great expectations of an easy exit. My experience leaving the Mall was certainly hopeless.

*photo by the Associated Press.

Nope, it just might have been cruising through the Third Street Tunnel on his bike.

Now, LL is aware that said tunnel was the site of much misery on Tuesday, as a holding pen for holders of inaugural tickets denied access to the Capitol grounds (cf. "Purple Tunnel of Doom"). He means not to make light of their suffering.

It's just that it's not every day that you get to ride your bike through an underground interstate highway artery and take advantage of a fabulous shortcut across the Mall. LL was prepared to bike as far east as 4th Street NE to get around to the south side of the Hill, where he was supposed to gain access to the ceremony, but he decided to give the tunnel a shot when he passed the Massachusetts Avenue ramp. It cut a good 10 or 15 minutes off his commute.

At the time LL came through, around 8:15 a.m., the lines up to the purple/blue entrances were still rather orderly, and he was able to zip right through. If only he had a video camera to remember the moment...but blogger Nikolas Schiller did! Experience the thrill: