Tag Archives: Biden inaugural

national news

Unity is elusive, but not impossible

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden laid down a critical marker that in any other time would sound like just another platitude.

This isn’t just any other time. Joe Biden has become president of a nation still reeling from the tumult, turmoil and terror of recent weeks. He stood on the steps of a Capitol Building that just two weeks ago bore witness to a violet insurrection of terrorists hell bent on inflicting grievous damage to our democratic process.

Biden’s inaugural speech spoke of unity, of healing, of reconciliation. He wants us to be able to disagree politically but not do so out of anger.

Yes, the president has set the correct tone as he now moves forward along with the history-making vice president, Kamala Harris, who becomes the first woman, the first African-American, the first woman of Asian descent to become VP.

It has been quite a day. A moment for the ages.

Can the president achieve the unity he seeks? Sure he can. It will be tough climb. He inherits the highest office in a deeply divided land.

Let’s not be coy about the barriers standing before him. President Biden succeeds a man — who he never mentioned by name in his inaugural speech — who sought to sow division and who governed with no sense of the diversity our nation’s citizenry.

Moreover, Biden offered a moment of silent prayer for the 400,000 Americans who have died from the pandemic. When did his predecessor ever do that?

President Biden’s immediate predecessor is now gone, but the cult that formed upon his election four years ago remains. Yet, Biden spoke to them today, vowing to work just as hard for those who opposed his election as he will for those who endorsed it.

Whether the opponents hear and heed that message remains to be seen and heard. Oh, man … I hope he can deliver the goods.

All in all? This has been a good day for the United States.

I want to make one final point: President Biden spoke of the fragility of our democracy. I concur to a point. Fragility, though, does not mean it breaks easily.

Thus, our democracy remains as strong as tempered steel. We saw that strength today.

national news, Uncategorized

Trump making it clear: He won’t attend Biden inaugural

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald J. Trump is making it abundantly clear to me that he has no intention of attending President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in just 49 days.

He is seeking to hamstring the new president’s foreign policy initiatives; he sowing seeds of distrust in the system that elected Biden president of the United States; he won’t accept publicly that Biden won the election; Trump dug in his heels on triggering the transition to the Biden team.

Does he intend, therefore, to shake the new president’s hand, wish him well, leave a nice note in the Resolute Desk drawer for Biden to read when he walks into the Oval Office? Hah! Not even close.

Actually, I don’t want to see Donald Trump on the Capitol stage. I don’t want to see any vestige of the administration he cobbled together, then dismantled before leaving office.

I am one American patriot who wants Trump to leave the White House as soon as possible. He need not stay there for the duration of his time in office. He can do any of his presidential duties from afar … not that he’s seemingly interested in performing any of them.

As I watch the lame-duck president flail about looking for voter fraud that simply does not exist, I become more convinced daily that he has no interest in promoting the smooth transition from one administration to another.

All is far from lost, though. You see, the new president knows government forward and backward, inside and out, up and down. Joe Biden is forming the new government without the help he otherwise might expect from a predecessor who gave a damn about the country he was elected to lead.

Donald Trump doesn’t care about the country. He cares only about himself. I do not expect him to attend the inaugural for the man who whipped him in the presidential election.

You know what? I am totally fine with that.

national news

Why Trump should avoid Biden inaugural

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The more thought I give to this subject, the more rational it seems for Donald Trump to stay far away from the Jan. 20 inaugural of President Biden.

It makes sense at many levels.

First, Trump has made it clear he detests losing to Biden. He has refused to concede his election loss. He might never concede.

Second, the Biden inaugural is going to be full of almost all pro-Joe Biden partisans, fans, faithful followers. Were the public address announcer to declare Donald Trump’s arrival at the inaugural podium, my sense is that he would be booed, hooted and jeered off the stage. Does the egomaniacal president really want to hear that?

Third, given all the bad blood that has flowed between Trump and the president-elect, does anyone on Earth really think the new president is going to offer any sort of a political olive branch to his immediate predecessor after he takes the oath? Hah! I damn sure don’t expect it.

Fourth, Trump has embarrassed himself, the nation and the democratic process by this futile, feckless effort to overturn the results of a free and fair election. He is rewriting his presidential legacy every single day.

Yep. It makes plenty of sense to me that Donald Trump simply should avoid any public appearances involving the changing of the presidential guard. It would produce an array of ugly and regrettable scenes.

Donald Trump’s ego seemingly wouldn’t allow it.

Just stay away, Mr. POTUS.