Good, Biden, America

The new US President was sworn in.

The fifty-ninth inauguration of the President of the United States was held in violation of many traditions, as if heralding that America is at a crossroads and it will not be possible to continue following the pattern of the American elites. Taking office, 78-year-old Joseph Biden became the oldest president of the United States in history at the time of his oath of office.
The celebration, which usually attracted hundreds of thousands, and sometimes more than a million, in downtown Washington, promised to be cut from the outset due to the pandemic. It is symbolic that the day before the ceremony, the United States stepped over another gloomy milestone - the number of coronavirus victims in the country exceeded 400 thousand.
The protests at the Capitol on January 6, which shook the country and the whole world, washed away the last hopes for a festive mood. On the day of the inauguration, an emergency regime was in effect in Washington. The center of the capital, which is usually open to guests, has been hidden for a week behind high metal and concrete barriers, checkpoints with armored vehicles and soldiers, as if on the eve of an assault, which is why comparisons with the fortress were vying in all the media. To ensure the safety of the inauguration in Washington alone, more than 25 thousand (!) Fighters of different units were deployed - this is several times more than the American contingent in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.
Biden arrived from his home in Delaware on the eve of his inauguration and spent the night at Blair House, the White House's guest residence. He did not receive an invitation to a traditional courtesy visit to the White House from Trump, and therefore, after the morning service in the church, he went straight to Capitol Hill in the heart of the capital, where a special platform was erected for the celebration. Only about a thousand guests were invited to the inauguration, seating them at a social distance - this is the leadership of the Congress, members of the Supreme Court, the military command, the diplomatic corps, as well as former presidents with family members, including Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton.
Shortly before noon (20.00 Moscow time), the first woman in the history of the United States - Vice President Kamala Harris, and behind her Biden read the text of the oath enshrined in the US Constitution. By the way, for the first time in America there was a "second gentleman" - such a strange title will now be worn by Doug Emhoff, Harris's husband.
From that moment on, Biden, already as the current American leader, gained control over the so-called "nuclear briefcase" - the system for launching US nuclear arsenals. He was handed a plastic card with codes for the launch order, and will always be followed by an officer with a metal case in a black leather case.

Following the oath, Biden delivered his first presidential speech, which lasted over 20 minutes. He announced the "victory of democracy", "a day of hope and renewal." Addressing not only supporters, but also opponents, he talked a lot about equality, respect, unity, promised "to be the president of all Americans" in order to overcome the division in society and cope with the pandemic.
Biden did not mention his predecessor by name, but in his passage about truth and lies for the sake of a power struggle, criticism of Trump, refusing to recognize the election results, was visible. Biden asked those present to honor the memory of those who died from the coronavirus with a minute of silence. He pledged to restore America's alliances in the international arena.

Biden's soothing "good old style" speech has become a balm for liberal commentators, who will no doubt write the most praiseworthy reviews of his speech and oppose him to Trump's rebellious style. But whether Biden will prove by deeds that he is the president of all Americans is an open question. Biden ended his speech with a request to the Almighty "to help protect our truth." But the problem is that the two halves of America have no common truth today. And if Biden defends only the one in which his supporters believe, then one cannot count on the unification of the nation. After all, at the same time, Democrats are at full steam ahead of the impeachment process and threaten other proceedings with Trump, for whom more Americans voted in the elections than for any incumbent president in US history.

Towards evening, Biden planned to sign the first appointments and decrees at the White House, including overturning Trump's decisions to withdraw the United States from WHO and the Paris Climate Agreement. Meanwhile, Jake Sullivan, who may become the US president's national security adviser, expressed confidence that Moscow and Washington "can make progress on arms control and strategic stability issues," including the extension of START, which also serves American interests.
Source: Rossiyskaya Gazeta