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Robin Abcarian is an opinion columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
I really appreciated Monday’s unexpected call for unity in the Capitol rotunda, where MAGA insurrectionists mounted a deadly attack on Congress four years ago.
Unfortunately, it did not come from the petulant, vindictive President Donald Trump, who sat on a dais crowded with Trump family members, former presidents and first ladies, and members of the new American oligarchy: tech billionaires who have bent the knee and opened their wallets to the man who has threatened to make life very, very difficult for them.
Rather, the call for unity came from Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, whose stirring words should not be forgotten amid Trump’s subsequent torrent of lies, threats and bravado. And although she was addressing the American people, I’d like to think she was speaking directly to Trump.
“What makes this moment more than a passing ceremony is all who are watching it across the country — the people of this nation, the ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” said Klobuchar, who chaired Congress’ bipartisan inaugural ceremony committee.
“President Kennedy, who at one point worked as a senator in this building and would often walk through this very rotunda, once said, ‘In a democracy, every citizen, regardless of interest in politics, holds office. Every one of us is in a position of responsibility.’ With that responsibility of citizenship comes an obligation not to seek out malice, as President Lincoln once reminded us, but to view others with a generosity of spirit despite our differences.”
Fat chance.
For those of us who like to read crowds the way entomologists study insect behavior, the inauguration ceremony offered a bounty of decipherable body language and fashion choices.
There was first lady Melania Trump sporting a form of personal protective equipment: a wide-brimmed hat that absolutely screamed, “Get away from my face.” (Trump tried to give her a peck at one point but couldn’t get within kissing distance of her cheek.)
Vice President Kamala Harris, who would visit the devastated residents of fire-scorched Altadena later that day, wore a black power suit — the better to mourn our democracy — with some bad-ass silver zippers. (Trump, who is expected to visit Los Angeles later this week, claimed with gratuitous cruelty that the fires burned “without even a token of defense.”)
First lady Jill Biden wore a tight smile.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, inexplicably opted for a Victoria’s Secret runway vibe, wearing a cleavage-baring white bustier under a white jacket.
Former President George W. Bush wore his trademark smirk, winking at people as if he were in on some cosmic joke. Ditto former President Barack Obama, who arrived stag and entered the room with his familiar swagger.
World’s richest man Elon Musk, who later appeared to give the Nazi salute (twice) at a post-inauguration rally, lolled his head around as if he had imbibed a very pleasant mind-altering substance. Some on social media joked that he appeared to be “malfunctioning.”
Poor Kimberly Guilfoyle, conveniently exiled to Greece for an ambassadorship after her longtime partner Donald Trump Jr. took up with a Palm Beach socialite, sat scowling in the audience, not on the VIP-thronged dais.
Trump’s speech was an echo of his first “American carnage” inaugural address, only with more details. Humility, a hallmark of most inaugural addresses, was predictably absent.
“I was saved by God to make America great again,” said Trump, who survived an apparent assassination attempt in July.
If the president gets his way, he’s going to make life miserable for many: people of color, people who are LGBTQ+, immigrants in search of better lives, the poor. In one of his first official acts, he reversed dozens of Biden administration executive orders designed to promote equity, protect public health and address climate change, among other aims.
“We will forge a society that is color-blind and merit-based,” he said, a worthy goal that is undermined by his history of racist behavior and statements.
My 14-year-old niece actually gasped when he announced, “As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.” The world, as even an American teenager knows, has moved beyond that limited view of gender, and nothing will change that — not even an order from a man who believes his presidency is divinely ordained.
Later Monday, Trump took an egregious step toward undermining American democracy and the rule of law. He pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 1,500 rioters, some of whom engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Capitol police and desecrated the halls of Congress as they tried to execute a coup on his behalf on Jan. 6, 2021.
It’s hard for many of us to accept that the man who incited that violence just became our 47th president. Trump’s flurry of executive orders showed that he learned something — even if it was the opposite of what many of us might hope — from his mistakes. The American people? Not so much.
