The Truth
Why Biden’s Inauguration address had to be about unity
As soon as Biden took office, he immediately faced criticism. Rand Paul attacked his inauguration address for being a veiled attack on conservatives (It was about White supremacists). Sean Hannity completed his “weekly” review of Biden on the president’s first full day in office. It was no surprise that Biden “failed”.
I also expected the Left to start to play backseat driver. What I did not expect was that some people also felt that the Unity theme in the inauguration speech was lacking in certain ways.
Truth
Let’s get the elephant out of the room first. A President’s job is not to be a cheerleader. If there are things that need to be told, the President should not downplay them.
Thanks to the incident on the 6th of January, 2021, we have lost trust in many people and institutions. Some of them are politicians like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. Some of the rioters were law enforcement officers. Even an ex-firefighter has to drag the firefighters’ name through the mud. Even a retired Air Force officer took part in the riot. The loss of trust is why Michael Flynn’s brother who was listening (Allegedly not participating) in a phone call is now under investigation. For those free-market Libertarians, there was also a CEO who participated in the riot.
Are we using the word Accountability as a war cry for a purge? Trump tried using the purge during his administration. There is a reason why two FBI directors were fired for doing their duty. One guy has fired a day away from retirement. If we want justice, we have to accept that our imperfect legal system will have to do the task. The legal system is made up of voters both the Right and the Left. The one that has sometimes turn a blind eye or gave a slap on the wrist.
This means playing by the rules. Collecting evidence, giving the accused their rights, and having fair trials. It will take patience and time. It also means those people having lawyers and still playing by the book. (I do need to point out that the book or at least part of it was written when horses were used to deliver mail.) The alternative is to make real martyrs for the right-wing.
Courage
Take ex-President Jimmy Carter. It is tempting to remember him as a peanut farmer. For those more updated on current affairs, they will know of his humanitarian deeds. Building houses for others, working to eliminate diseases. But how many people knew that even as an ex-President, he put himself in harm’s way to broker a peace deal? Or that as a navy personnel, he was involved in the manual repair of a partial meltdown reactor? Jimmy Carter is many things but most of all, he is good to others. Biden is cut from the same cloth.
It takes courage sometimes not to take action. The Inauguration address is one of them. It is one thing to make lasting impressions. However, Biden is not just a President. He is also the face of America. His words will be what the rest of the world and history remembers. It is important to remember that Mitch Mcconnel and Mike Pence chose to skip Trump’s farewell and attend Biden’s inauguration. This is unfortunately what democracy is all about. Power-sharing and smiling at the other party. The President can throw the first pitch in baseball but never the first punch.
Compromise
Biden was not many people’s first choice in the Democratic primary. But he managed to get the rest of the party on his side. If you were to characterize Biden as a fighter, he does not have a knockout punch. There are no fancy finishing moves. He fights cleanly and fairly. Biden even chose to curtail negative political advertisement when Trump had Covid-19.
Will people attempt to take advantage of Biden’s goodness? I expect the Mitch Mcconnel as well as some democrats to vote against Biden. There were people selling Trump merchandise on the day of the storming of the Capitol. The organizers of Trump’s rally at DC on that day actually got paid. The bottom line is that there are a lot of opportunistic people in life willing to throw other Americans under the bus. Or sell the rope that is used to hang others.
There was a reason for the feud between Pelosi and Trump. The President has to work with Congress and other state governors. He also has to get the American people behind him even if he does not seek re-election. The President needs allies. The party or the people might find the price of Accountability too high. Or that there are other more urgent matters.
Justice
It is not possible that Nancy Pelosi will sweep the storming of the Capitol under the rug. Top security people in the Capitol have been fired. Several congresswomen have gone public about their concerns, especially about the missing panic button. That is the name of the game. Every member of congress can talk about their concerns but they also have to listen to the concerns raised by their other colleagues. Articles of impeachment against Biden were filed on his second day in office. Everything is perfectly legal.
Let’s give Biden at least a hundred days before judging. The other party has already condemned him. The extremists have already started a riot.