Inauguration Day

I would be remiss if I did not mention inauguration day. I am watching the ceremony as I write. In a world where the majority of regime changes are still inaugurated by war or military coup we need to pause and reflect on rarity of the occasion.

The special historic nature of this inauguration is of course obvious. The first African American President of the United States of America. I am constantly amazed at relatively young people who say they never thought they'd see it in their lifetime. There was never a doubt in my mind that if I lived an average lifespan, I'd see it. I couldn't predict when or who, of course. And the profile of the person was constantly changing depending on the current political landscape. But knowing that at some point there would be the right man at the right time who could be elected.

Now that we have seen the man who could get elected, his job is exactly the same as every president before him. His power is no more than every president before him. The power of the American president (Biden was just sworn in) is not the power of a dictator. The real power in the United States (Itzhak Perlman is playing now and he makes me want to weep) is in the Congress. OK I know this is disjointed because I'm watching and typing at the same time. I'm watching on C-Span and as great as C-Span is, the balance is never right. They never have the mics in the right place for the music.

On a side note, it is quite cold there and all the musicians are doing a great job of playing with good intonation. (Obama is being sworn in.) We now have a new president! Hurray for Illinois.

I generally steer away from politics and from divisive religious discussion, but today could not pass without an acknowledgement of what is transpiring.

I'll speak again later.