The Inauguration of President Biden, and (more importantly) Vice-President Kamala Harris, was today. While I usually don’t go for pomp and circumstance that is generated by this sort of occasion, I did watch this time. Why? Well there were a lot of reasons.

For one thing, I was caught up in the historical nature of the occasion. The first woman, the first BLACK woman, the first INDIAN woman to be elected to nationwide office. And for that woman to be a product of this area, of Oakland! I had to watch, simply to be able to show my daughter a little brown girl who made it to the vice presidency of the United States. Like the night of the election, it filled me with some sort of hope for the future.

A second reason, was the return of reason, if only briefly. The time will come (indeed has already come) when the other folks that got us here will rear their ugly heads and start talking nonsense. But for now, there is the blessed moment of normalcy when the person in the bully pulpit is not an actual bully. The person at the lectern with the eagle on it speaks in complete sentences, most of which have been intended to bring people together. He is trying to be a leader for all Americans, and he actually wants to do his job.

I have few expectations for this incoming administration. Just returning to the level ground of 4-5 years is a relief beyond words. All the same, officially repudiating and ending the Muslim ban has gone a long way towards giving me a grasp on hope.