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The National Anthem made me cry.<\/p>\nThe National Anthem made me cry.<\/p>\n
Specifically, when Lady Gaga sang \u201cthat our flag was still there,\u201d I cried, because it reminded me that our country is still here. Battered and bruised and all too aware of its many shortcomings, but still here.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve got another chance to help our country develop into the place it ought to be now that it\u2019s been rescued from the narcissistic criminal who occupied our White House for the last four years.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not really a fan of the flag \u2013 the performative patriotism of flag-waving has always repelled me \u2013 nor do I usually react to the National Anthem. I know it well and always sing along when I\u2019m in a public gathering.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a matter of respect, of duty as a citizen. (I am, in fact, often appalled at how few people sing it, even at political conventions.)<\/p>\n
But it doesn\u2019t usually move me any more than the flag does. I\u2019d prefer a song that wasn\u2019t focused on bombs and war, not to mention one that recognizes all of the people in this country including those who were here long before European settlers set foot on our soil as well as those brought here in chains, not to mention all the immigrants from all the other places who have made us strong.<\/p>\n
Still, metaphors work and last Wednesday the flag as a metaphor for our country surviving the last four years did wonders. <\/p>\n
In fact, most of what went on at the inauguration worked. Amanda Gorman\u2019s poem was a powerful statement that the young people of this country are ready to dig in and do the work to make us the great place we ought to be.<\/p>\n
I have even less love for the Pledge of Allegiance than I do for the flag and anthem, but when Captain Andrea Hall signed it while reciting it, that was powerful.<\/p>\n
Watching Justice Sotomayor swear in Vice President Harris moved me greatly.<\/p>\n
And President Biden made an excellent speech. Yes, he called for unity, but he didn\u2019t call for the kind of unity that is blind to the harms that have been done.<\/p>\n
Neither the president nor anyone else associated with this transition is ignoring the fact that the former holder of the office tried every form of dishonesty to stay in office, including not just outrageous lies but in fact calling on people to commit violence.<\/p>\n
The January 6 insurrection work up a lot of people who thought the extreme right was just a joke or even a political position. No, these are people committed to white supremacy and authoritarian government. They are a threat to our democracy and the kind of country we aspire to be.<\/p>\n
I was a little worried that Biden might want to push all that under the rug, but so far I don\u2019t think he\u2019s going to.<\/p>\n
Biden was far from my first choice for this job, but so far I have been very pleased. Competent people are being put in charge of the pandemic. The cabinet includes so many incredible women.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s changing disastrous environmental policies. He supports the $15\/hour minimum wage. Janet Yellin is a good choice for Treasury. There\u2019s a pandemic spending plan that deals with both the disease issues and the economic ones.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re back in the World Health Organization. We\u2019re back in the Paris Accord. Yeah, neither of those things is perfect, but both the pandemic and climate change are problems that involve a world-wide approach.<\/p>\n
Sure, I worry that Biden won\u2019t make enough changes, that he will compromise too much with Wall Street, that some of what has been said will only be for show. I want real health care for all. I want a country where no one is sleeping on the street because they don\u2019t have a place to live.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s going to be such a relief to have fights on these subjects on the merits, instead of trying to make policy when the person in charge is lying about everything that is happening.<\/p>\n