On Inauguration Day, America hits the reset button
Dear reader:
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听Inauguration Day is an aspirational time for Americans, a time to look ahead to the next four years and imagine new possibilities 鈥� regardless of one鈥檚 politics. Given the urgency of the nation鈥檚 crises, there is no shortage of ideas. Today鈥檚 Monitor presents 鈥淒ear Mr. President,鈥� advice from 10 prominent thinkers for President Joe Biden.
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听On this day, it was especially heartening to see politicians from both sides of the aisle witnessing the swearing-in of President Biden on the steps of the Capitol. Just two weeks ago, that same building was the scene of a deadly incursion by a mob that sought, somehow, to block the president-elect from taking office.
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听Outgoing Vice President Mike Pence attended Mr. Biden鈥檚 inauguration. But the man he loyally served for four years did not. This morning, now-ex-President Donald Trump flew to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, making him the first outgoing U.S. president to skip his successor鈥檚 inauguration in 152 years. Former President Trump didn鈥檛 go quietly. At Joint Base Andrews, before boarding Air Force One, he was treated to a 21-gun salute and delivered a farewell address to about 500 supporters.
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听鈥淲e will be back in some form,鈥� Mr. Trump pledged.
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听What that means is anyone鈥檚 guess. Will he run for president again in 2024? Perhaps he will start a new political party, as he has Or maybe he鈥檒l launch his own TV network. The latter two seem unlikely, as they would both require major financing and organization.
听Regardless, Mr. Trump will continue to make headlines. He faces considerable debts as well as Then there鈥檚 the impeachment trial in the Senate, expected soon, over his alleged role in helping incite the Capitol riot on Jan. 6. Conviction, which seems unlikely, would bar him from running for office again.
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听In the hours leading up to his departure, Mr. Trump made other waves. He issued pardons and commutations to 144 people 鈥� including , rapper Lil Wayne, and the 鈥� but declined to issue himself or family members a prospective pardon. Mr. Trump also revoked his own ethics rule barring federal appointees from lobbying their former agencies for five years.
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听Mr. Biden, for his part, sought a reset after a turbulent four years.
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听鈥淟et鈥檚 start afresh, all of us,鈥� he said in his inaugural address. 鈥淟et鈥檚 begin to listen to one another again.鈥�
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听Let us know what you鈥檙e thinking at csmpolitics@csmonitor.com.
