The 2021 Inauguration

[Eraserhead]

Yeah I hardly think the opposition showing up to the inauguration is a kumbaya thing. However, going to the pre-inauguration church service instead of seeing Trump off at Andrews is meant to be a pointed and public affirmation of the legitimacy of the election of Biden and Harris... seeing as how the Rs had made such a big deal at first of supporting Trump's desire to put a beat down on election integrity in some key states that went for Biden.

The show of unity tomorrow won't convince every Fox news viewer who bought Trump's lies (and those of Fox) but seeing McConnell and McCarthy show up with the incoming head of state at church, well it's a hell of a contrast to Trump telling his followers at the January 6th rally to go down to the Capitol and "fight, or we won't have a country any more." Two weeks later we still do have a country and nobody's holding a gun to the heads of the opposition leaders to make them appear at the inauguration of Biden and Harris.

Of course I have no idea what McConnell said to Kevin McCarthy about showing up to that service tomorrow morning. Almost immediately, things on Capitol Hill will likely have a familiar air of "oh yeah sez who?!" in both chambers. But the inauguration is meant to be mile marker of sorts, a sign of some older norms being restored.

Maybe they’ve finally realised that politics as usual could work well for the republicans.

 

[Eric]

Good riddance to the worst president in history, it's a glorious day for the country and the world.

 

[User.168]

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[SuperMatt]

Trump is the first president since 1869 (Andrew Johnson transition to Ulysses Grant) not to attend the inauguration of his successor. What a piece of trash. Good riddance, and welcome Joe and Kamala!!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

This is nice

View attachment 2899

Brilliant.

A wonderful gesture and very nice, elegant, classy touch.

Trump is the first president since 1869 (Andrew Johnson transition to Ulysses Grant) not to attend the inauguration of his successor. What a piece of trash. Good riddance, and welcome Joe and Kamala!!

Richard Nixon didn't either, as he had left the White House earlier, in disgrace, and - I read such a list this morning - Woodrow Wilson didn't, because he had been incapacitated by a stroke (not that that was known publicly at the time).

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

This is nice

View attachment 2899

Trying to read that headline verbatim gave me a headache. What journalism source is that?

 

[SuperMatt]

Brilliant.

A wonderful gesture and very nice, elegant, classy touch.

Richard Nixon didn't either, as he had left the White House earlier, in disgrace, and - I read such a list this morning - Woodrow Wilson didn't, because he had been incapacitated by a stroke (not that that was known publicly at the time).

Maybe neither of them had a choice? Who knows why they said that on TV, maybe they were parsing it as somebody who CHOSE not to attend. Then again, in 1869 it was Ulysses Grant who refused to share a ride to the Capitol with Johnson, so Johnson just stayed away.

 

[SuperMatt]

PRESIDENT BIDEN!!!!!!!

 

[User.168]

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[JayMysteri0]

Watching Joe sit down after his speech, looked like watching a man who realizes the unearthly amount of expectations & weight on his shoulders.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Anyway, the very best of luck to President Biden and to his team.

His inaugural address was a promising start, intelligent, inclusive and empathetic, as was his dignified and classy memorial service to the 4000,000 plus Americans who have died from Covid last night, at the Lincoln Memorial.

 

[JayMysteri0]

You know for once seeing all those people there at the end as we return to normalcy, I was actually NOT mad to see Pence for once.

I know he has a large part in what we've gone thru, but at least the desire to return to normalcy was more than we could expect from 45.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

You for once seeing all those people there at the end as we return to normalcy, I was actually NOT mad to see Pence for once.

I know he has a large part in what we've gone thru, but at least the desire to return to normalcy was more than we could expect from 45.

I think that the events of January 6 - not just the insurrection (and I expect more unsavoury details to emerge as time passes), but the fact that Donald Trump clearly didn't give two hoots whether Mike Pence - who had served him loyally, indeed his complicity was almost servile - was killed or not, at the time, may have served to concentrate his mind, and copper-fasten his adherence and allegiance to democratic norms, such as the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimate election.

 

[User.45]

Good riddance to the worst president in history, it's a glorious day for the country and the world.

View attachment 2895

I've been waiting for this moment for so long.

 

[Eric]

You know for once seeing all those people there at the end as we return to normalcy, I was actually NOT mad to see Pence for once.

I know he has a large part in what we've gone thru, but at least the desire to return to normalcy was more than we could expect from 45.

No fan of the guy but it was nice to see him show up and it appears that he's been trying to do the right thing when it comes to a peaceful handoff. The way I see it is that he's endured enough by being Trump's puppet all this time.

 

[MarkusL]

Do they do this for every inauguration or is it a TrumpTerror thing?

 

[Thomas Veil]

I had a number of thoughts as I streamed it at work...

• As they were heading for the Capitol entrance, it was weird watching the Bidens walk through what looked like the very same marble halls the rioters took over not two weeks ago. That was...creepy.
• Biden's speech was just what the country needed to hear, but Amanda Gorman's was amazing!
• My god, Roy Blunt actually sounded rational for a change.
• Lady Gaga just knocked it out of the park with the national anthem. I actually got teary-eyed. It was that beautiful.
• It felt good to hear the news commentators refer to "the president" and not have my gut tighten automatically.
• I was surprised to see Biden sworn in at 11:49 am. I expected them to time it so that it would actually happen at noon.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I had a number of thoughts as I streamed it at work...

• As they were heading for the Capitol entrance, it was weird watching the Bidens walk through what looked like the very same marble halls the rioters took over not two weeks ago. That was...creepy.
• Biden's speech was just what the country needed to hear, but Amanda Gorman's was amazing!
• My god, Roy Blunt actually sounded rational for a change.
• Lady Gaga just knocked it out of the park with the national anthem. I actually got teary-eyed. It was that beautiful.
• It felt good to hear the news commentators refer to "the president" and not have my gut tighten automatically.

Exactly.

No mad tweeting thumbs, no jeering jubilation in exhibitions of coarse, and crude, cruelty, a bit of courtesy, civility, decency, dignity, empathy, intelligence and respect when dealing with your own staff, your electorate, your country, your local, domestic and international interlocutors..

Actually, what a shattering and absolute relief to have someone in office with basic and decent human instincts, along with considerable experience in - and knowledge of - how government actually works, and how one can craft deals - that is, really craft deals, by exercising the arts of negotiation and persuasion, by bringing the others at the table with you, rather than brow-beating them, and insulting them into submission.

Gosh.

 

[Eraserhead]

Do they do this for every inauguration or is it a TrumpTerror thing?

View attachment 2908

I’d expect they always do it. A lot of vips together

 

[Thomas Veil]

Here's an interesting side story I read the other day.

How does the nuclear football get handed off from one president to the other when Trump takes off for Florida early instead of attending Biden's inauguration?

How Trump will hand off the 'nuclear football' to Biden

President Donald Trump will not be in attendance Wednesday to watch as his successor Joe Biden is sworn into office, but his absence will have little impact on what may be one of the most important moments of Inauguration Day, the handing off of the "nuclear football."

www.cnn.com

Turns out there are multiple ones: one for Trump (deactivated and presumably taken away from him at noon today); one for the Vice President (which will be passed from Pence to Harris very subtly, behind the scenes); and a third one for the designated survivor (used during stuff like State of the Union speeches).

A different version of this story I saw had some military guy saying, "Oh yeah, we game plan the heck out of this stuff." Good to hear!