|
by PPI President Will Marshall
Presidential inaugurations are usually festive occasions in which Americans celebrate the orderly and peaceful transition of power to new political leaders. With the coronavirus pandemic raging and thousands of troops on guard to deter violence by deranged followers of Donald Trump, that’s not exactly the mood in Washington today.
Overshadowed by these grotesque legacies of Trump’s presidency, the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamela Harris is a somber affair. Nonetheless, it’s a day of deliverance, and fresh hope, for America.
We are delivered from a pathological liar and demagogue who likely will go down in history as the most deformed character ever to occupy the White House. Our democracy has survived, though by an unnervingly narrow margin.
There will be much talk in the days ahead of healing, as there should be. President Biden wisely resists pressure from within his own party to govern in the same corrosive, zero-sum way that Trump and his Republican enablers have. The last thing America needs is for Democrats to join Republicans in fanning the flames of civil strife.
But before there can be reconciliation, there must be truth and accountability.
|
