Biden: Coming Out of Trump's Shadow

 President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took their oaths of office before noon in Washington Wednesday.  Because of a virus that has so far killed more than 400,000 Americans, and because of a violent mob that threatened to overturn Biden's Electoral College victory at the suggestion of the previous President, the inauguration at the U.S. Capitol was witnessed only by an invited and socially distanced live audience, several thousand National Guard troops watching for a palace coup, and a worldwide TV and online audience.  

Donald Trump chose to spend the remaining hours of his presidency granting pardons and clemencies to such luminaries as Steve Bannon and rapper Lil Wayne, but not for himself or his family.  He left the White House early Wednesday morning, ditching the inauguration for Mar-a-Lago in Florida as he flew in Air Force One for the last time while being serenaded by a recording of Frank Sinatra's "My Way". All the while insisting that he really won the election.

A week after the insurrection, Trump was impeached for the second time in American history by the House on a 232-197 vote.  The Senate has delayed his trial until Biden gets his feet wet in the White House.  Despite a Democratic majority, about all the Senate can do to convict Trump (now that he is no longer President) is to make sure he never runs for office again.

The confrontation at the Capitol, which left five people dead and American democracy in peril, was the last straw for those who once associated with Trump.  He had been kicked off his beloved social media accounts.  Corporations are taking a hard look at their campaign contributions to Republicans, cutting off those who sided with the insurrection and voted against Trump's impeachment. Fox News Channel is losing its conservative TV viewers to upstarts like Newsmax and One America News. Worst of all (for Trump, that is), the 2022 PGA Championship has been pulled from his New Jersey golf course.

In the first year or so of the Biden administration, the new President faces a major task in undoing the many policy reversals of the previous President.  Going back to the Paris climate accords, easing the travel ban on certain foreigners, and taking the ongoing threat of coronavirus much more seriously are a good start.  But the long shadow of Trump and Trumpism in Washington and elsewhere will make it much more difficult to get Biden's agenda across, and to achieve the unity he says he wants.  Let's see if he and Vice President Harris can overcome the shadow.

Siege On Capitol Hill

 In the early morning hours of January 7, 2021, a joint session of Congress certified Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Donald Trump with a final tally of 306 to 232.

This would have happened sooner if it had not been for the right-wing mob that had stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington the previous day.  Encouraged by Trump, who believed his re-election was stolen from him because of voter fraud in certain states when in fact he had lost by seven million votes to Biden, the largely white and unmasked crowd marched in support of a man who they believed was the only one who could fix America, attempting to stop a vote that could overturn an election he lost.

The results were a trashed Capitol, people making themselves at home in the House chamber and in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, members of Congress evacuated to secure locations, smashed windows and furniture.  Four of the intruders died, and 80 of them were arrested.  Millions of people watched the events unfold on TV and online, wondering if America had gone totally bonkers.  

Some call the insurgents terrorists.  Some call them thugs.  Some call them insurrectionists.  Whatever you call them, those who participated in this attack on our democracy should be prosecuted as much as possible.  Having said that, though, can you imagine what would have happened if Black people had been involved?

This had been coming for more than four years, so no one can say they were surprised.  Trump's race-baiting, rule-breaking, dictator-worshiping, publicity-seeking, facts-optional Presidency has resulted in a divided nation and a weakened world power.  We don't know anything about his tax returns or medical records. All the "loyal subjects" he hired have either quit, been fired, or rewarded with pardons.

Thanks to the apparent coup attempt, there is now talk in political circles of the President being removed from office by way of impeachment (which they tried once) or the 25th Amendment, since he'll never resign voluntarily.  You in Congress have had four years to do something about Trump.  Instead, every time those measures are brought up, you always find an excuse not to do it:  The GOP will never go for it.  Nasty tweets.  Let the voters decide, etc. (They did.  They rejected him.)  Well, there's two weeks left in Trump's term.  If there isn't a removal or another impeachment, what's the excuse this time?  If we're lucky, Trump can pass the time by playing golf without being told time's up.

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will officially begin serving their new roles starting on January 20.  They face a gargantuan job of cleaning up the messes Trump made, which includes managing a pandemic that has so far killed over 350,000 Americans, and healing the divisions--political and otherwise--that have been around long before the current occupant took office.  Fortunately for Biden and Harris, the Democratic Party now have control of both houses of Congress, with two Blue candidates winning Senate runoff elections in Georgia.

But most of all, can America survive two more weeks of Donald Trump as President?