Unity and truth
In his Inaugural Address Wednesday, President Joe Biden presented two essential values to the nation: unity and truth. Whether Americans accept them is, of course, another matter.
Mr. Biden gave a sober assessment of a nation grappling with a deadly pandemic, a struggling economy, a wrenching debate over racial inequality and a divisive political atmosphere. But he also spoke with a refreshing optimism for Americans’ capacity to meet those challenges. We can do it, he maintained, if, first, we come together and, second, work from a common set of facts.
At least one truth prevailed Wednesday: that Mr. Biden won the election fair and square to become the 46th president of the United States, and that Kamala Harris fairly was elected the nation’s 49th vice president, and the first woman, first Black person and first person of Asian heritage to hold that position.
That is a simple truth to most, a painful one to others, and, tragically, a lie to those who rage in a state of delusion induced by the 45th president and his band of cynical apologists. But this is what democracy looks like, too:
We have winners and losers. Mr. Biden’s speech reminds us that the challenge of a self-governing society is for all sides to accept an election’s outcome whether we like it or not, then get on to the work of governing, united in common cause where possible and respectfully disagreeing if we must. And then to try again in the next election, and on the next issue.
If we took that for granted for most of our history, we dare not anymore. The determination of so many to cling to the incendiary lie of a stolen election led to the attack just two weeks ago on the same bastion of democracy where Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris took their oaths. It’s unlikely that this failed but deadly coup is the last we will hear from a fringe that has been radicalized by years of incessant untruths. Mr. Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, continued to spout falsehoods and wild exaggerations to the end, declaring as he headed to Florida that he had brought about the greatest economy in history, never sought to divide people, solved health care, earned the world’s respect, and, yes, even worked several miracles.
Mr. Trump may soon be held accountable for the damage he did, when the House delivers an article of impeachment to the Senate, where even Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell acknowledges the ex-president’s role in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection. Mr. Trump’s attempts to obstruct the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and to intimidate officials into altering the 2020 election results, along with his questionable practices in real estate and finance, may eventually catch up with him as well. No one should be above the law.
That’s a truth, too, and one we must embrace if America is to be the country our founders envisioned: a nation run not by autocrats but by ordinary people bound by laws, under which all are equal. Truths, even painful ones, are a foundation for unity; flimsy lies, however pleasing, are not. Truth builds trust, and on trust we can build progress.
Easy to say, of course. Now, our new president’s admirable words stand as a challenge to us all.