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I watched today’s beautiful inaugural ceremony with hope and optimism colored by deep disappointment in the state of our union. President Biden and Vice President Harris are our lawfully elected leaders despite what the previous administration, their craven enablers and the conspiracy theorists might say. I wish them all the best in leading our nation during the medical, economic and political crises facing us.

In September 2001 I was on a business trip in New York when disaster struck. Since I was traveling with a friend and colleague whose family lived in Washington DC and we had been scheduled for DC meetings anyway, we left NYC by train as soon as we could. She met her family and I had some time to explore DC, a city I had never really visited even as a child. I was struck by the presence of military equipment, soldiers in uniform and palpable tension everywhere because no one knew if another attack, from air or ground, was coming. I hoped to never see anything like it again.

However we had to see it again, and more.

Since January 6th our capital has been a high security zone that dwarfs anything we’ve seen previously, all because one man would rather tell a Big Lie than accept honest defeat. Others spreads this lie to win over his extremist supporters who believed this lie so completely they tried to overthrow our government. These Republican politicians played with fire hoping the glow would somehow shine on them no matter what the inferno destroyed.

I am, without question, a liberal living in a liberal city in a (mostly) liberal state. I grew up in a rural conservative town in a dark red state that continues to inflict Mitch McConnell’s divisive partisanship on the nation. People have said that Biden will be a “boring” president and I certainly hope so. I hope he and VP Harris can lead us to rebuild our nation after the long malaise of COVID and the overdue reckoning with the horrible racism and bigotry in our society.

You’ll rarely find me writing about politics on this blog. It’s easier and less controversial to write about cameras, post photos, and comment on mobility services, the future of transportation or just building companies. My political posts are relegated to Twitter or more expansively and privately on Facebook, where I’ve made no secret of my passionate opposition to the 45th President. This was based not on party but the clear reality that he was singularly unfit for the highest office in our nation, from the earliest days as a candidate to his last day in office. We are finally well rid of him as president, but the sulfurous stench of his policies and politics will take some time to dissipate from the atmosphere of DC. Those Republicans who have continued to put country over party by holding the previous administration to account have my deepest appreciation regardless of any other political differences.

The last twelve months have given us all things we never wished to see and never wished to see again. However despite the changes that security and COVID put on today’s ceremony I’m glad we are again showing the world the wonder that is American democracy in glorious action. We have bent but not broken yet again. We will heal and rise again stronger than before. There is still much work to do in forming our “more perfect union.”