Jan.21

electoral-vote.com

Dem 47

   

GOP 53

And So It Begins... Again

Donald Trump was sworn in again yesterday, in front of an audience of hundreds. And then he gave an inaugural address, as is the custom. If you would like to read it, you can do so here. If you would like to watch it, you can do so here. It was a fair bit longer than his previous inaugural address, and clocked in at right around half an hour.

The speech was somewhat disjointed and meandering, which makes it difficult to write about, except by highlighting main themes. So, forgive the prevalence of "list"-style items today, but that's how we're going to approach it, focusing on the five things that most stood out to us:

1. A Golden Age: At the very outset, Trump promised that "the golden age of America begins right now." He added: "From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will, very simply, put America first."
   
   It is true that inaugural addresses are often a time for soaring rhetoric. One thinks of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural, or Franklin D. Roosevelt's first. However, if a president is going to go there, they have to be ready to deliver. Trump is, to put it mildly, not likely to do so. Indeed, the question that we think of, over and over, when he talks like this, is: "If you are capable of doing these things, how come you didn't accomplish them in your first term?"
   
   
2. Manifest Destiny: In a point somewhat related to the "golden age" material, Trump also promised to deliver on America's "manifest destiny." That's a phrase that is generally associated with the harms and the racism, particularly as directed against the Native Americans, that are a stain on 19th century American history. Either the President does not know that or, more likely, he doesn't care. His allusion to manifest destiny was specifically tied to planting an American flag on Mars, though it's not too hard to hear it as a hint that he's serious about pursuing Greenland and the Panama Canal.
   
   
3. Badmouthing Biden: With Joe Biden and Kamala Harris sitting just a few feet away, Trump ran through a litany of all the things that went wrong in the last 4 years, using words like "disastrous," "fail," "declined," and "unconstitutional." Outside of Trump, this just isn't done. With few exceptions (the Adamses, Martin Van Buren, Andrew Johnson and Trump in 2020), the outgoing president is in the audience for the inaugural address, and it's customarily a time for the new president to grit their teeth (if necessary) and thank them for their service. When the camera panned across the other ex-presidents in the audience (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama), the distaste was evident on their faces.
   
   Incidentally, if you are looking for a little merriment, Trump pronounced "decline" in a very curious way. You can see that moment, and Jon Stewart's response, here, if you wish. We're not exactly sure what a dickline is, but we bet it's drawn with a Sharpie.
   
   
4. Celebrating Himself: There was one former president in the room that meets with Trump's approval; that fellow also happens to be the current president. Trump spent much time burnishing elements of his image. For example—and you might not know this—he was the target of an assassination attempt several months back. He made sure to remind everyone of that fact, and how heroically he responded to it.
   
   Trump also wanted to make sure everyone knows how religious he is, and how very much he loves God. Indeed, during the assassination portion, he decreed: "I was saved by God to make America great again." It is remarkable that anyone can believe that he actually cares about Christianity, or any other religion. Such is the power of the brain to resolve cognitive dissonance, we suppose.
   
   Of course, part of Trump's image is that, despite being a fabulously wealthy man who escapes virtually all consequences for his actions, he is a victim for whom you should feel sorry. And so, that was another big element of the speech. "Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents—something I know something about," he declared, among other statements along those lines.
   
   
5. Lies, Lies, Lies: We would be remiss if we did not note that Trump is right back at it when it comes to stretching the truth, or fabricating lies out of whole cloth. If you want the gory details, CNN's Daniel Dale, who is definitely going to be earning his pay, at least until he's sent to the gulag, had a thorough rundown.

On the whole, whether you like the ideas expressed or not, it was a pretty mediocre speech. Although Trump has proven himself capable of delivering something of decent quality during these sorts of formal occasions (several of his SOTUs were solid), he offered nothing yesterday that we haven't already heard from him a million times before. He also delivered the speech in his default style, almost wholly without affect. That makes it sound like he's low on energy, about to fall asleep, and can barely get out the words.

We will note that the gallery, stacked mostly with Trump faithful, thought the address was fan-damn-tastic. The link to the speech above, which is from the White House, helpfully notes the 56 times he got applause from the crowd. That said, he could have just performed some of his dance routine while the sound engineer played "America: Fu** Yeah" from Team America: World Police, and he probably would have gotten 100 applauses. So while we note the crowd response, we don't think it's particularly instructive. Your mileage may vary, though. (Z)