'Unity is the path forward': Biden
‘We will get through this together — together!’ President insists in inaugural address
President Joe Biden takes the oath of office Wednesday, joined by his wife, Jill, the new first lady. (Facebook/Yahoo Canada)
By Ted Cox
Calling for unity and drawing on the words and inspiration of Abraham Lincoln, President Joe Biden gave an inaugural address asking the nation to come together and heal political divisions after taking the oath of office Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol.
“This is America’s day. This is democracy’s day,” Biden said. “America has been tested anew, and America has risen to the challenge.”
Making reference to a “riotous mob (that) thought they could use violence to stifle the will of the people” in an attack on Congress two weeks ago, but not to President Donald Trump, who breaking with tradition did not attend the inauguration, Biden said, “We've learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.” He called on the country to “set our sights on the nation we know we can be — and must be,” adding that it depended on “all of us, on we the people who seek a more perfect union.”
Key to that, he said, was healing political divisions and reestablishing national unity, a theme he sounded again and again.
“With unity, we can do great things, important things,” Biden said. “Without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.”
Referring to poet Langston Hughes, Biden said, “The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer,” but he also warned against “a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.”
Biden was most intent on the immediate matters of halting the COVID-19 pandemic and curing the economic calamity it’s brought on workers and businesses across the country.
“This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge,” the president stated, "and unity is the path forward.”
Biden underlined differences from the “American carnage” Trump spoke of in his inaugural address four years ago and promoted throughout his term in office, never more so than when Biden called on Americans to recognize: “There is truth, and there are lies.”
He pledged to serve as the president for all Americans, whether or not they voted for him. He also promised to restore American credibility abroad, saying, “We can make America once again the leading force for good in the world.”
Calling on Americans to come together, expressing their differences peacefully and democratically, Biden said, “We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. … Disagreement must not lead to disunion.
“My fellow Americans, in the work ahead of us, we're going to need each other,” he added. “We must set aside politics and finally face this pandemic as one nation. … We will get through this together — together!”
Biden drew on the words of President Lincoln, who said while signing the Emancipation Proclamation that “my whole soul is in it.” Biden emphasized that his whole soul is in the call for national unity and the need to confront both the personal and economic calamity produced by the pandemic.
Biden spoke for just over 20 minutes. The low-key ceremony, attended for the most part by government dignitaries rather than the usual throngs of supporters, due to the pandemic, also included the inauguration of Vice President Kamala Harris. With Washington, D.C., an armed camp, occupied by thousands of National Guard troops stationed there to deter any unrest, all went off smoothly, with Lady Gaga singing the national anthem, Jennifer Lopez performing a medley of “This Land Is Your Land” and “America the Beautiful,” and finally Garth Brooks calling on those watching in person and at home to join him in singing “Amazing Grace.” It was National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, however, who stole the show with the recitation of her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” written for the occasion.