Biden's words were silky smooth but they do no more than Trump's tantrums to bridge the political divide in America.
All’s now well in the swamp.
The thrashing has stopped. The water is calm, the creatures safe.
The drain has been plugged. What a close call it was.
The whole show almost came down.
Things have been put right. Hollywood concurs.
The vulgarian is banished.
Now America can unite and heal. Civility and dignity have been restored.
The work of restoration and repair can begin.
These were among the themes I gleaned from the sneering CCN coverage I’ve watched in the last 24 hours of the peaceful transfer of power in Washington DC.
These themes were also echoed, minus the sneer, in President Joe Biden’s inaugural address, given at the apex of an eerily deserted Washington Mall.
Surely the coronavirus is not so deadly a few thousand socially distanced Biden voters could be found stand in the open air?
With 30,000 troops to guard them inside razor wire-topped fences, the risk of violence was surely mitigated.
Not a deplorable/domestic terrorist in sight.
Maybe punters couldn’t be found. For the better, perhaps. Less messy.
It seemed like an inauguration of the elites, by the elites, for the elites.
The “star-studded” concert from the steps of the hallowed Lincoln Memorial emceed by the soothing Tom Hanks was designed to use maximum celebrity power to coax remaining dissenters back into the fold.
Biden offered lofty words saying he wanted to “write an American story of hope, not fear, of unity, not division. Of light, not darkness. A story of decency and dignity, love and healing, greatness and goodness”.
The only problem is that if you were one of the 75 million people who voted for Donald Trump, in spite of his manifest human faults, it felt like these noble sentiments were thick with imputation.
“For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury,” Biden intoned.
“No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward,” he said.
Make no mistake. Biden was not lecturing the BLM rioters and looters who burned cities all summer causing 25 deaths and $2 billion worth of property damage.
Domestic terrorism occurs only on one side of politics in the Left’s parallel universe.
The message was clear. If you believed in the policies of Trump, as I did from afar, you are part of the politics of division, fear, chaos and even violence.
The path to unity is for you to disavow yourself of your beliefs.
When he talked about lies versus truth he seemed to imply you are on the side of the former.
“Hear one another. See one another. Show respect to one another,” Biden went on.
It’s hard to believe this is genuine when the Left of politics, in cahoots with Big Tech and the mainstream media, is not interested in hearing you at all.
Their actions speak. Raw power at their disposal is to cancel you.
Noble words are hard to swallow when for two weeks you’ve been judged guilty by association as a sympathiser with domestic terrorism.
The January 6 riot by a fringe few, in part incited by Antifa and other bad actors, become the Left’s Reichstag fire moment.
According to Jewish Rabbi Spero, like the Reichstag fire, the January 6 riots have been the permission structure to double down on de-legitimising Trump supporters.
The Civil War references in Biden’s speech conflate conservatives with the wrong side of that bloody conflict.
How’s that unity Kumbaya thing working out so far?
Sure, Trump has brought rancour and personal invective into the public discourse. I do not excuse him for this.
Both sides need to learn to debate, not demonise. Biden's words were silky smooth but they do no more than Trump's tantrums to bridge the political divide in America.
Trump's tone was terrible, but his policies were appealing to 75 million people. That's why he was such a threat. The swamp had to protect the status quo. At all costs.
Biden's tone is sweet, his policies toxic in my view.
At some stage the Left will need to engage in the substance of the political debate which is at the heart of the conservative vision for human flourishing.
A day of decision awaits all of us in the West, where politics is divided along similar lines but less colourfully. At the moment, most punters just see a difference of style. They don't really understand what's at stake.
That's why the public discourse must improve. Urgently. The day of decision approaches. Oil and water will not mix.
For now, it seems, “Trump-incited domestic terrorism” is a greater threat than the Chinese Communist Party as the new President realigns America’s priorities.
If we woke up to where the real threats lie, unity might be easier to galvanise.
For now “Systemic racism” and global a “climate crisis” need urgent fixing, apparently.
This realignment of priorities is cancel culture wrapped in the American flag.
The contact page on the White House website now gives the option of designating preferred pronouns. The absence of this confirms the bigotry and hate of the past four years. Thank God it’s over, our elites sigh.
The war about whether or not children should be taught their gender is fluid is also over. The White House has spoken. But hey - unity.
You know in your heart which is the right side of history – come and join us, they say. Re-join civil society.
It’s warm in the swamp, cold outside.