Group Chat returns after Senate Democrats win back the majority, the Republican Party incites a deadly coup attempt, and Joe Biden is officially sworn in as the 46th President.
President Biden delivered his inaugural address, but what does “unity” mean after Republicans abetted violence against Democratic members of Congress? What does it mean to evoke Lincoln, who was assassinated by a Confederate sympathizer, as a figure of unity? Why would Senators like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley ever stop aiding would-be fascists if there are no consequences for their actions? We look back at inaugural speeches from FDR and Reagan.
Just hours after his inauguration, Biden signed more than a dozen executive orders in the Oval Office, including measures to rejoin the Paris Agreement, repeal Trump's restrictions on travel from several Muslim-majority countries, stop construction of the Southern border wall and mandate the wearing of masks on federal property. Amira, Guido, and Waleed make sense of President Biden’s Day 1 agenda.
Additional reading & references:
- Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem
- Bayard Rustin, From Protest to Politics
- Biden, Inauguration Speech
- Biden Transition: How to succeed in hyperpolarized politics
- Climate activists expect a lot from President Biden
- League of Conservation Voters: Policy Priorities for Biden
- The New Progressive Left Shows How To Deal With Sedition
- Sen. Manchin calls for $4 trillion infrastructure spending
- Biden unveils immigration plan
- Poll: 47 percent of people blame ANTIFA for insurrection