A few quickies that occurred to me while watching the inauguration of President Joe Biden and accompanying events with a sigh of relief…
I was pretty impressed by Jen Psaki, Joe Biden’s press secretary, in her first appearance in the White House briefing room, and tried to figure out what it was that affected me. Then I realized it’s that she’s competent and prepared, two words that were never applied to any of Trump’s lying mouthpieces. Psaki had a briefing book she referred to, turning to various sections to answer specific questions. The fact that she had a book of any kind was a departure from the past four years, in which whoever stood at the podium seemed to only be there to antagonize reporters.
Watching the events of inauguration day spill into the evening, one of the thoughts repeatedly going through my mind was, “Stop making Joe Biden go out in the cold!” It was bad enough the ceremony on the Capitol steps took place in 42-degree weather, but by the time he did his bit at the Lincoln Memorial during the “Celebrating America” primetime special, it was 34 degrees! We can’t afford for him to get sick, so Jill, please keep him inside with a nice mug of hot chocolate for the next couple of months!
Joe is 78 years old and was on the go, nonstop, from morning till night. I’m 62 and often have to lie down for an hour or two in the late afternoon, even though I’m retired and rarely leave my house. I’m sure he has stamina and his adrenaline was pumping on his big day, but maybe it’s a good idea to start putting a nice nap on his schedule. Just use the same euphemism as when his predecessor went off to watch more TV: “Executive Time.”
The primetime special included an appearance by Sandra Lindsay, the New York ICU nurse who was the first American to get the COVID-19 vaccine. I would have fallen off my couch laughing if she had grabbed her arm, screamed in pain, and pretended to choke and fall over. Sure, it would have sent the wrong message, but it would have been funny as hell.
Here’s something that did happen and amused me tremendously — the articles about the reactions of QAnon followers upon seeing Biden take the oath of office instead of Trump declaring martial law, arresting all the Democrats, and continuing his presidency. Several of the cult members, in their online chat rooms, sounded like they were starting to think they’d been lied to all along. Yes, suckers, you’ve been had, again and again!
I was so taken with the performance of Amanda Gorman, our National Youth Poet Laureate, that I posted her as my Picture Of The Day yesterday with the caption, “A Star Is Born.” Apparently, a lot of other people were dazzled, too — so much so that the two books she has coming out this fall have already risen to the top spots on Amazon’s bestsellers list.
When I texted my friend Jon Macks (who was busy writing the “Celebrating America” special) to ask if he’s signed Gorman to a TV deal yet, he replied, “No. She rejected my Nantucket limerick about Trump.”