A sigh of relief before more sh-t hits the fan (but still, a sigh of relief)

  

I freely confess to having been moved to tears several times today while watching the Inauguration coverage. From Lady Gaga's joyous rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," to J-Lo's mashup of "This Land Is Your Land" and "America the Beautiful," to #FinallyAPresidentICanSupportAgain Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s "unity" speech... it all added up to a powerful experience for me -- made all the more potent by the fact that it has been such a long, hard road to this moment.

Arguably, the person who stole the show today was young poet Amanda Gorman, whose poem, "The Hill We Climb" pretty much said it all (and if the embedded video above doesn't work for you, try the link).

Even so, I am not some starry-eyed idealist, a point you surely know if you're even a casual visitor to this blog or to my social media. To me, today felt not so much like the clear beginning of a bold new era of hope and healing (though I would love to believe that it is), but more like getting the news that a very serious and possibly fatal disease has gone into remission. Because I know that the crazies are still out there, and while some of them are merely silly or dim-witted, like the rank-and-file (or maybe just rank) QAnon/Trump-cult Facebook warriors...

Somebody needs more help than The Universe may be able to provide. Just saying.

...others are dangerous, like the violent insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol two weeks ago. Most of the United States -- and indeed the world -- may be celebrating, but Trumpism isn't going anywhere. While a clear majority of us may be breathing a collective sigh of relief, I think most of us are also keenly aware that more sh-t is going to hit the fan, and most likely sooner rather than later.

Still, as the late singer/songwriter/poet/novelist Leonard Cohen sang in his famous song "Democracy" (and yes, I know I've quoted this several times before on this Whirled), "...I'm still holding up this little wild bouquet." Our democracy may have been seriously trampled on for the past four years, but it hasn't been destroyed.