It is official now: Joe Biden is the 46th President of the United States. Kamala Harris has become the first female Vice-President in American history, as well as the first black and American Pacific islander to become Vice-President. Kamala Harris and her husband accompanied former Vice-President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence away from the Capitol building, in a traditional, symbolic gesture of continuity and what normally would have been a peaceful transition of power.
This transition period from the Trump presidency to the Biden presidency has been anything but peaceful. Trump dragged his feet and resisted every step of the way, even to the point of fomenting a siege of the Capitol building - the most iconic symbol of American democracy - two weeks ago today, on January 6th. The actual inauguration, however, was largely peaceful, although it was absent the large, cheering crowds that have come to be a symbol of inauguration days in Washington, due largely to the pandemic, but also likely in part due to the recent violence and threatened violence by pro-MAGA activists.
I will not go over all of Joe Biden's Inaugural speech. However, some of the main takeaways was an acknowledgement of just how divided this country has grown, and how this division has raised the stakes, for the country and even for our democracy:
"This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge..."
He went on:
“The will of the people has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded. We’ve learned again that democracy is precious and democracy is fragile. At this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed. This is America’s day. This is democracy’s day. A day in history and hope, of renewal and resolve.”
Indeed, this seems to suggest that, for now, democracy has prevailed, but within it seemed to echo a warning that maybe next time, we might not be so lucky. We did indeed learn that the democracy that most of us took for granted for decades is indeed much more fragile than we seemed to understand.
Among his first acts as the newly inaugurated president, Biden is expected to issue more than a dozen executive orders, effectively reversing Trump policies, and signaling a symbolic, and hopefully substantive, departure from the Trump years. This includes the United States rejoining the Paris Climate accord, which Trump pulled the nation out of years ago. He will also have other executive order rescinding Trump's Muslim ban, as well as on immigration and the Covid-19 crisis. Also, he is expected to have an executive order designed to ease the financial burdens of millions of Americans.
It should be interesting, if nothing else. Let's stay tuned and see what happens, and discuss in the future.
Below are the two articles that I used in writing this particular blog entry, and from which I obtained the quotes from Joe Biden's inaugural speech used above:
On first day as president, Biden to issue 17 executive actions on COVID, climate change, immigration and more by Bo Erickson of CBS News , January 20, 2021:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-president-executive-actions-covid-19-climate-change-immigration/
Biden takes the helm as president: ‘Democracy has prevailed’ by Jonathan Lemire, Zeke Miller, and Alexandria Jaffe, January 20, 2021:
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-inauguration-a01d1ffa7862661914cb92b22e359854
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