The headline in the New Orleans Times Picayune Advocate on January 21 read:
BIDEN TAKES OFFICE
46th president declares ‘democracy has prevailed’
Prevailed over what? We had an election. The results were challenged. The challenges were not successful. Half the country is not happy. Power was peacefully transferred to the winners. This is the messiness and the grace of democracy, by which our republic has prevailed for over two centuries. Perhaps Biden felt he had to declare, to make the point that he won to the multitudes that still wonder or disbelieve?
The Wall Street Journal Headline for January 21 read:
Biden Seeks Unity, Healing
“We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue”
Would it perhaps have been a better start to “…end this uncivil war that pits Americans against each other?” Or perhaps this could have been said; “After this hard fought campaign I pledge to be president of all the people, to listen to all the people, to unify the people by leading us to what we all see as a better place.”
Instead, what he did say was, “To all those who supported our campaign, I am humbled by the faith you have placed in us. To those who did not support us, let me say this: Hear me out as we go forward. Take a measure of me and my heart. “And if you still disagree, so be it!” “And if you still disagree, so be it!” are the words of a petty dictator, not a unifier.
The inaugural address was mostly a sweet speech, rich in feeling and void of content. Notably missing was any suggestion that our new President would listen. He told us all to listen to each other, and to him. Later in the day he punctuated his bottom line, “And if you disagree, so be it!” with a multitude of symbolic and hardly unifying executive orders.
The COVID orders principally extend the work in progress to administer the miracle vaccine he inherited.
The Paris Accord was initially joined by President Obama but never presented to the Senate for advise and consent. President Biden will “rejoin”, also without consultation or likely ratification.
On immigration he directed his administration not to enforce the nation’s laws he pledged to enforce earlier in the day. A moratorium on deportation of criminals and a flood of new undocumented immigrants will not provide more “equity” for Americans and legal immigrants struggling to re-enter the workforce. Instructions to Congress will follow in due course.
On energy he drilled a hole in western state royalty income, killed over 100,000 jobs drilling on federal lands, and stopped environmental clearances while his ideologues stiffen up regulations on private lands. None of this will reduce fuel consumption or carbon emissions by a single ounce. It will certainly increase the cost of energy for all of us, constrict the economic recovery, and make Arab, Iranian, Venezuelan, and Russian elites richer.
On girls sports he outlawed the idea that biological boys might have an unfair advantage in girl’s sports. So much for gender equity for female athletes.
In what way do any of these orders serve the interest of the American people?
The most consequential order, to reinstate teaching critical race theory, to officially replace 1776 with 1619 as the basis for our governance, cried out most for listening. Perhaps the new President should listen to Amanda Gorman, his own official inauguration poet. Her moving work, universally applauded, apparently did not penetrate Biden’s tin ear!
Listen carefully to her words on her heritage from American shared values for civil rights…
“Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president…”
And her words on why all lives matter…
“And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man…”
And her words on ending all violence…
“…we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.”
And, most of all, her words on preserving and learning from our history…
“It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into…”
In her five-minute recitation this 22 year old prodigy said more about unity and healing and hope than the new President said on or since inauguration day. It is truly tragic that he was not listening and doesn’t seem to care.
Michael Moffitt
January 25, 2021