Celebration takes many forms for people. There is yelping and drinking and crying and smiling. There is dancing and weeping and praying and thanking. Today’s inauguration was a relief for possibly billions of people across the world, as the United States kept one of its most fundamental promises to humanity—a democratically elected leader replaced another leader, without a successful coup d’etat taking place. And while this is a low bar for hope these days, it is an important marker.
Let’s take a trip around the internets and see how people are experiencing the catharsis that is the end of the Trump administration! After Lady Gaga performed the national anthem, Fire Captain Andrea M. Hall signed and said the Pledge of Allegiance.
Then came Kamala Harris being sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, to become the highest-ranked woman in the history of our country, and the first Black American and the first person of South Asian descent to hold the vice president position.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts swore in Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States, and Biden gave an inaugural address free of the vitriol and fascism we have experienced the last four years.
And check it out. Time to get to work.
Wild. Not all caps. A true highlight closing our the proceedings was the recitation of a poem written by the United States’ first Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman.
Vice President Kamala Harris wasn’t the only history made today.
And here are some celebratory jokes of joy.
A Parks and Recreation joke.
A Next Generation joke.
A visual history of politics in the 2000s.
And a sidenote: Bernie destroyed it with the fashion.
It must have been lonely to be the only hardworking American at the White House these last four years.
Smile. There’s a lot of work to be done but none of us are alone in all of this.
Share your feelings or grind your teeth a little (whatever relaxes you) in the comments.