It&#8217;s sage advice from a congressman to people from this area who plan to attend the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama Jan. 20 in Washington.</p><p>Consider staying home.</p><p>That bit of wisdom was rendered by Congressman Emanuel Cleaver at the Christmas party of Freedom Inc., the black political club.</p><p>Cleaver wanted his constituents to know what they&#8217;ll face if they choose to attend the festivities. He&#8217;s concerned that with so many people attending, having a good time might be impossible.</p><p>&#8220;I think it would be unfair of me not to tell you what to expect,&#8221; Cleaver said. &#8220;Number one, you&#8217;ll be coming into a city of 800,000 and they&#8217;re expecting 4 million.&#8221;</p><p>Actually, Washington officials have reduced the potential crowd estimate to 2 million. That&#8217;s still not much extra elbow room.</p><p>&#8220;You will not be able to drive a car, a bus or anything within a mile of the Capitol,&#8221; Cleaver said. &#8220;And you can&#8217;t come in with umbrellas, baby buggies or backpacks. You can&#8217;t bring in folding chairs. If you can&#8217;t stand up all day, you shouldn&#8217;t come. These are the rules.&#8221;</p><p>Cleaver warned that the lines will be extremely long.</p><p>&#8220;Be prepared to stand in line for four hours,&#8221; Cleaver. &#8220;After four hours, that will only get you inside the ticketed areas. And inside the ticketed area will only be 16,000 people. And only 1,600 of them will have seats.&#8221;</p><p>Actually, the inaugural committee warns the public to be prepared to stand six hours.</p><p>The committee overseeing the Jan. 20 presidential swearing in advises people going to the inauguration to either walk there or use the Metro. The committee advises those with special needs to ponder their ability to stand in the cold in a big crowd for up to six hours.</p><p>And just as Cleaver said, no umbrellas will be allowed inside the ticketed areas.</p><p>&#8220;There isn&#8217;t probably anyone here who will be able to see anything except on a JumboTron that will be placed out on the Mall,&#8221; Cleaver said.</p><p>And then there&#8217;s bladder control. Officials in Washington will provide 5,000 portable toilets on the Mall and along the parade route on Inauguration Day. That number is based on 500,000 to 1.5 million people attending. You could have some busted bladders if 4 million people show up.</p><p>And if you haven&#8217;t made hotel accommodations, forget it.</p><p>&#8220;The closest room you can get is at a motel in Philadelphia,&#8221; Cleaver joked. &#8220;There are people in Washington renting out their homes for $6,000 a night.&#8221;</p><p>Washington officials are expecting a large number of people to get in line quite early.</p><p>The public transportation in Washington will be strained. The sheer number of people will make it cumbersome to get around.</p><p>&#8220;If I were not required to sit there, I would not go,&#8221; Cleaver said. &#8220;I would watch it on television. It would be far, far better to see it on television.&#8221;</p><p>Cleaver said people have been calling him asking him for tickets to &#8220;the Ball.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;There is no &#8216;the ball,&#8217;&#8194;&#8221; Cleaver said. &#8220;There will be parties, but they all cost money.&#8221;</p><p>Cleaver said he&#8217;s heard women saying they&#8217;re buying long dresses for the occasion.</p><p>&#8220;Go ahead and buy that long dress,&#8221; Cleaver said. &#8220;I&#8217;m just telling you to be prepared to walk around in the street with that long dress on.&#8221;</p><p>I&#8217;m in complete agreement with Cleaver. There&#8217;s no question that Jan. 20 will be a historic moment. But he and I concur that it&#8217;s a historic moment that should best be appreciated in front of the TV set in your heated living room.