America, the Infomercial
Yes, I was often moved today — how could you not be? Four years ago, I was watching in shock and horror as Donald Trump (!) was sworn in as president. Today, as Van Jones put it, in addition to Joe Biden’s at times stirring speech about the need for national unity (while also crushing white nationalist extremism), America’s “cultural firepower was back on line.” After the cultural wasteland that began on Trump’s inauguration day, when to his fury he couldn’t get any A-list entertainers to celebrate his takeover, we were treated on Joe and Kamala’s day to an all-star cast.
Some of this evening’s highlights for me: Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters singing “Times Like These.” Yo-Yo Ma playing “Amazing Grace” (but one rendition of this overused hymn would’ve been enough), and whoever sang Leonard Cohen’s equally omnipresent “Hallelujah.” Fran Lebowitz says there’s no such thing as guilty pleasures — why feel bad about something that makes you feel good? — but I also took guilty pleasure in John Legend singing Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” and Justin Timberlake and Ant Clemens teaming up on “Better Days.” OK, and even Jon Bon Jovi’s rendition of “Here Comes the Sun.” Hey, I wanted to feel good tonight. We all did.
But still, thanks to Jake Tapper for keeping it real tonight. While even Van Jones was sounding heavily dosed with X (“after the rain comes the rainbow” — yeah, man), Tapper was the only CNN talking head to point out some dark truths. There was no peaceful transition this time, like his happy-talk colleagues kept chirping. People died just two weeks ago at the Capitol crime scene. Tapper said he didn’t want to be Professor Buzzkill, but he also pointed out that “if we whitewash what happened, it can happen again. And next time, it could work.” Indeed, Tapper continued, if it weren’t for a handful of decent and honorable state officials around the country, Trump could’ve stolen the election and turned America into a dictatorship.
So yes, fireworks good. The Black Pumas — an Austin band I never heard before tonight — good. Essential frontline workers, diligent schoolteachers, kids who bundle care packages for elderly shut-ins… all very good. But fascism bad. And the wolf is lurking out there, maybe even next door. If Joe Biden and Kamala Harris deliver on their promises to a devastated America, then democracy triumphs. But if this administration stumbles or sells out, then Trump was just the dress rehearsal, the comic relief before the real horror.
