What are you going to do to help our country move forward?

Date: 1/25/2021

So what are you going to do?

About what? Moving forward.

Are you going to give the new administration a chance as it tackles the many issues of the day? Or are you going to stick to your ideological guns and proclaim your opposition.

There are the people who believe in President Trump as they would believe in a deity. He is not a flawed human being like the rest of us, but something transcendent in their opinion. Many are firmly opposed to cooperating or even waiting to pass judgement on the new administration.

Just check out the videos on YouTube in which people express their belief the events of Inauguration Day were all a hoax. They still are waiting for President Trump to seize control the government and fulfill their agenda.

There are also those who see President Biden as someone who is not progressive enough, liberal enough and have also already written him off. They look at his record as an elected official and find reasons to throw stones.

I get it.

He is not perfect. No human being is perfect. He was not my first choice for a nominee either, but I’m certainly giving him a chance. There is no other sensible move.

Already, as I write this on Jan. 21, there are people posting on social media their horror for the next four years. The adherence to ideology is more important to them being part of the “loyal opposition.”

Criticism from the losing side of an election is a sacred tradition of the American way, especially if those people are offering alternative solutions to problems, which in turn create a dialogue.

Consider what is in front of us now: a pandemic that has gained strength in this country; the resulting economic meltdown from that pandemic; a crisis in health insurance; continuing racial injustice; the growing effects of climate change; a student debt crisis; and global competition for jobs and industry.

Not to mention the fact we have very dysfunctional relations with two other nations: China and Russia.

The president of the United States has a very full plate. I would argue that no other president in the past 100 years, aside for Franklin D. Roosevelt, has had the variety of issue he must address.

Biden stressed unity in his address on Jan. 20. He said, in part, “To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words. It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy. Unity. Unity.

“In another January, on New Year’s Day in 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. When he put pen to paper, the president said, and quote, ‘If my name ever goes down into history, it will be for this act and my whole soul is in it.’

“My whole soul is in it.

“Today on this January day, my whole soul is in this. Bringing America together. Uniting our people. Uniting our nation. And I ask every American to join me in this cause.

“Uniting to fight the foes we face: anger, resentment, and hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness and hopelessness.

“With unity, we can do great things, important things. We can right wrongs. We can put people to work in good jobs. We can teach our children in safe schools. We can overcome the deadly virus. We can reward, reward work and rebuild the middle class and make healthcare secure for all. We can deliver racial justice, and we can make America once again the leading force for good in the world.

“I know speaking of unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy these days. I know the forces that divide us are deep, and they are real, but I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.”

Here is another quote: “History, faith, and reason show the way, the way of unity. We can see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors. We can treat each other with dignity and respect. We can join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.”

So, are you going to do that?