In an outdoor ceremony at the Capitol under a clear blue sky, Joseph R. Biden Jr., the newly minted president of the United States, declared:
“We’ve learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends: Democracy has prevailed!”
His words rang strong as they were delivered two weeks to the day that the Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters. The National Mall, where hundreds of thousands would have listened to his words, was instead filled with thousands of red, white and blue flags.
Biden shared the world stage with Kamala Harris, who had just been sworn in as the nation”™s first female, Black, Asian-American vice president.
In his address, Biden drew a sharp contrast between his approach to governing and that of Donald Trump and renewed his campaign goals of overcoming the pandemic, bringing racial justice and fighting climate change.
Biden also called for unity and, without mentioning Trump by name, criticized those who have stoked anger and division, and asked those who opposed him to “hear me out.”
“Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire, destroying everything in its path. Every disagreement doesn’t have to be a cause for total war. And we must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated, and even manufactured.
“My fellow Americans, we have to be different than this. America has to be better than this, and I believe America is so much better than this. Just look around. Here we stand, in the shadow of the Capitol dome, as was mentioned earlier, completed amid the Civil War, when the union itself was literally hanging in the balance. Yet, we endured. We prevailed.”
Biden was harshly critical of those who lie for political power and profit and said he would rebuild the alliances frayed over the past four years.
“America has been tested, and we’ve come out stronger for it. We will repair our alliances and engage with the world once again. Not to meet yesterday’s challenges, but today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. And we’ll lead not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. We’ll be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress, and security.”
Biden led a moment of silence for the 400,000 Americans who have died of Covid-19, and promised not to lie to Americans.
“I give you my word: I will always level with you,” Biden said.
While traditional events such as a Congressional luncheon and inaugural balls were canceled because of Covid-19, much of Biden”™s afternoon was to be taken up with a series of executive actions to start addressing problems the nation faces and begin rolling back some of the things Trump had done.
Biden was to put his stamp of approval on a number of initiatives to correct what was described in a Biden team document as “the gravest damages of the Trump administration.”
Biden is addressing Covid-19 by asking the American people to wear masks for 100 days and requiring that masks be worn in federal buildings. He will re-engage with the World Health Organization and have government infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci attend the WHO executive board meetings.
Biden was to sign an executive order creating the position of Covid-19 response coordinator, who will report directly to the president and be responsible for coordinating all elements of the Covid-19 response.
The new president was to sign a document to rejoin the Paris Agreement on global warming and delivered to the United Nations today. The United States will officially become a member again 30 days later.
Biden also was to direct all executive departments and agencies to immediately review and take appropriate action to address federal regulations and other executive actions taken during the last four years that were harmful to public health, damaging to the environment, unsupported by the best available science or otherwise not in the national interest.
Biden was also set to sign an executive order beginning the work of rooting out systemic racism and other barriers to opportunity from federal programs and institutions and reverse Trump”™s order that limited the ability of government agencies and contractors from implementing diversity and inclusion training.
Biden also was to reverse Trump”™s order excluding undocumented immigrants from the Census Reapportionment Count. In addition, he was to sign a presidential memorandum directing the secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the U.S. attorney general, to take all appropriate actions under the law to provide protection for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigrants.
Also expected to come to an end was the Trump administration”™s so-called Muslim Ban that restricted entry into the U.S. from primarily Muslim and African countries.
A proclamation was to be forthcoming that would stop the border wall construction by ending the national emergency that was used to justify taking funding from other areas of the government to pay for the wall.
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Trump”™s farewell
 Saying “We will be back in some form,” and “So, have a good life. We will see you soon,” the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice, Donald Trump, this morning made a farewell address to a group of well-wishers during a ceremony at the military airport Joint Base Andrews. Trump and his wife, Melania, had been helicoptered from the White House the air base where Air Force One awaited them for a flight to Florida and their new home at the Trump-owned Mar-a-Lago Club.
After arrival in Florida and before Trump”™s term expired at noon, the White House announced that Westchester attorney Albert J. Pirro Jr., who was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to two years in federal prison had been granted a presidential pardon.
Pirro is the ex-husband of Jeanine Pirro, the former Westchester County district attorney who now is a host for Fox News and has been a very strong and vocal supporter of Trump.
The Pirro announcement followed by a couple of hours the White House releasing a list of 73 new pardons and 70 sentence commutations that had been issued by the president. Among those pardoned: former chief strategist at the White House Steve Bannon, Trump and GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy and former three-term Arizona Republican Congressman Rick Renzi, who had been convicted of extortion, bribery, insurance fraud, money laundering and racketeering.
Also pardoned was Glenn Moss, a Danbury resident who pleaded guilty to an array of health care-related fraud and tax charges in 1998. The former involved conspiring to make illegal payments to a third party in order to receive referrals from Analytical Diagnostics Lab, a Brooklyn facility that employed him at the time.
The tax charges were filed after Moss claimed an income of $2,227 in 1992 when he actually made $498,637.
“After pleading guilty in 1998, Mr. Moss has been a vital member of his community,” the White House said in announcing the pardon. “Mr. Moss has been committed to numerous philanthropic efforts at the national level, including St Jude”™s Hospital for Children, Breast Cancer Awareness, and the Colon Cancer Foundation. Within his community, he has contributed to Danbury Hospital and Ann”™s Place, a community-based cancer support center.”
