I didn't vote for Biden, but he is now my president, and I want him to do a great job! Overall, he gave a very good speech today, with an excellent theme: Unity.
"We can see each other not as adversaries, but as neighbours. We can treat each other with dignity and respect. We can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature..."
"This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge. And unity is the path forward."
There were a couple of false notes in the speech:
"I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real, but I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we're all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart."
So, according to Biden, "the forces that divide us" are not the conflicting philosophical approaches to governance -- progressive, liberal, conservative, libertarian -- or the difference of interests based on education, employment, class, culture, status, geography. No. According to Biden, the political struggle in America is being waged between the Forces of Good ("we're all equal") and the Forces of Evil ("racism, nativism, fear, demonization"). In Biden's formulation, guess which political party represents the Good & the True?
And how about this:
"Without unity there is no peace. Only bitterness and fury. No progress. Only exhausting outrage. No nation. Only a state of chaos."
Really? When was the last time we had real political unity in this country? Not while Trump was president. Not while Obama was in office. Perhaps for a brief moment after 9/11. Before then? You might have to go back decades to find a time when the American people experienced unity rather than political and social division. The unity we can achieve in 2021 is not one of politics or policy. The conflicts are too real for that, but conflict doesn’t necessarily create chaos or prevent progress. Indeed, conflict, responsibly manifested, might be the key to progress. . .
Its shortcomings notwithstanding, for the most part Biden's speech set the right tone for what could conceivably become a period of reconciliation:
"On this January day, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation. And I ask every American to join me in this cause."
Uniting our people. Uniting our nation. How?
Not through shared politics. We are divided by our politics.
Yet perhaps “bringing America together” is still possible, through a shared commitment to the American people and the American nation.