I really appreciated Monday's unexpected call for unity in the Capitol rotunda, where MAGA insurrectionists mounted a deadly attack on Congress four years ago.
Unfortunately, it didn't come from the petulant and vindictive President Trump, sitting on a dais full of Trump family members, former presidents and first ladies, and members of America's new oligarchy: tech billionaires who bent the knee and opened their wallets. to the man who has threatened to make their lives very, very difficult.
Rather, the call for unity came from Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, whose stirring words should not be forgotten amid Trump's subsequent torrent of lies, threats and bluster. And although he was addressing the American people, I'd like to think he was speaking directly to Trump.
“What makes this moment more than a passing ceremony is everyone watching across the country: the people of this nation, the everyday people doing extraordinary things,” said Klobuchar, who chaired the committee. bipartisan opening ceremony of Congress. “President Kennedy, who at one time worked as a senator in this building and used to walk through this same rotunda, once said: 'In a democracy, all citizens, regardless of their interest in politics, hold office. “Each one of us is in a position of responsibility.” That responsibility of citizenship carries with it the obligation not to seek malice, as President Lincoln once reminded us, but to view others with generosity of spirit despite our differences.”
Great possibility.
For those of us who like to read crowds the way entomologists study insect behavior, the opening ceremony offered plenty of decipherable body language and fashion choices.
There was First Lady Melania Trump sporting a form of personal protective equipment: a wide-brimmed hat that absolutely screamed, “Get away from my face.” (Trump tried to kiss her at one point, but couldn't get close to her cheek to kiss her.)
Vice President Kamala Harris, who that same day would visit the devastated residents of Altadena, devastated by fire, wore a black suit (the better to mourn our democracy) with some silver zippers. (Trump, who is expected to visit Los Angeles later this week, claimed with gratuitous cruelty that the fires burned “without even a show of defense.”)
First lady Jill Biden wore a strained smile.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sanchez inexplicably opted for a Victoria's Secret runway look, wearing a cleavage-baring white bustier under a white jacket.
Former President George W. Bush wore his trademark smile, winking at people as if he were participating in some cosmic joke. The same goes for former President Obama, who arrived single and walked into the room with his familiar arrogance.
The world's richest man, Elon Musk, who later appeared to give the Nazi salute (twice) at a post-inauguration rally, bobbed his head as if he had drunk a very pleasant mind-altering substance. Some on social media joked that it seemed to “malfunction.”
Poor Kimberly Guilfoyle, conveniently exiled to Greece for an ambassadorship after her longtime partner, Donald Trump Jr., hooked up with a Palm Beach socialite, sat scowling between the audience, not on the stage packed with VIPs. .
Trump's speech was an echo of his first inaugural address on “American carnage,” only with more detail. As expected, humility, a hallmark of most inaugural addresses, was absent.
“God saved me to make America great again,” said Trump, who survived an assassination attempt in July.
If the president has his way, he will make life miserable for many: people of color, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants in search of a better life, the poor. In one of his first official acts, he revoked dozens of Biden administration executive orders designed to promote equity, protect public health and address climate change, among other goals.
“We will forge a color-blind, merit-based society,” he said, a worthy goal that is undermined by his history of racist behavior and statements.
My 14-year-old niece actually gasped when she announced, “Starting today, the official policy of the United States government will be that there are only two genders, male and female.” The world, as even an American teenager knows, has moved beyond that limited view of gender, and nothing can change that, not even an order from a man who believes his presidency is divinely ordained.
Later on Monday, Trump took an egregious step to undermine American democracy and the rule of law. He pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 1,500 rioters who engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Capitol Police and desecrated the halls of Congress while attempting to carry out a coup in his name on January 6, 2021.
It is difficult for many of us to accept that the man who incited that violence has just become our 47th president. Trump's avalanche of executive orders showed that he learned something (even if it was the opposite of what many of us might expect) from his mistakes. The American people? Not so much.
Blue sky: @rabcarian.bsky.social. Rags: @rabcarian
