By Arthur Piccolo
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Jan. 22, 2021: What a change. I feel better and so should everyone. For now!
The longest nightmare in modern history is over finally.
President Joseph Biden has been outstanding so far. I remember my disappointment, and it should have been for others too, listening to Former President Obama’s first inaugural speech. There was so much expectation that Obama would be a Change Master. But his January 20, 2009, delivered a very different message.
In fairness, any inaugural speech Joe Biden gave on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, would have been a relief after these last 4 years. Obama had no such unique advantage.
Even more, the entire Inaugural Day program was the best; and I have been watching them since I was a little kid. In the past, they all had a sameness. And no Lady Gaga or Jennifer Lopez and a stirring young poet. It was the entire program.
NO endless parade up Pennsylvania Avenue. I always felt bad for the thousands of marchers, marching into the night from all over the country, to pass in review before the President, only to see he was long gone by then.
Worst of all, those ridiculous so calls Balls. The over the top gathering of the winning party’s elite in making sure the rest of us know they were rich and powerful and we were not; and it was now their White House, not ours.
Instead, at this Inauguration 2021, we witnessed what should become the NEW model for all Presidential Inaugurations. Following the main event – a trip to Arlington Cemetery. Then all of us remotely inside The White House with President Biden. In the evening, a stellar musical performance for all Americans, not the elite, and finally, a spectacular firework display. Perfect!
Now here’s a special treat for you. I am taking you on a tour of the NEW Oval Office with the assistance of my media partner, The Washington Post. Here we go.
“President Biden has filled the Oval Office with images of American leaders and icons, focusing the room around a massive portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt, that hangs across from the Resolute Desk.”
What is the Resolute Desk?
This double pedestal partners’ desk, called the “Resolute desk,” was made from the oak timbers of the British ship H.M.S. Resolute, as a gift to President Rutherford B. Hayes from Queen Victoria in 1880. It has been used by every president since Hayes, except Johnson, Nixon, and Ford – 1964-1977.
That’s right President Biden is using the same desk as Trump. Don’t worry it was specially scanned and disinfected for COVID-19 and everything else.
Back to The Washington Post.
“Biden has more portraits and busts installed than other Presidents. Something to enjoy in his spare time. Some are paired, with paintings of formerpresident Thomas Jefferson, and former treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton hung near each other — the two men frequently disagreed and were placed together to illustrate the benefits that come from differing views.”
At least Biden had the good sense to put Hamilton above Jefferson.
“The room also includes paired paintings of former presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and a bust of former senator Daniel Webster, who forcefully defended the Union.”
And a large painting of Benjamin Franklin is closest to Biden’s desk. Just to his left.
“Busts of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy flank a fireplace in the office. Biden often refers to the impact both men made on the country as part of the civil rights movement.”
“Behind the Resolute Desk is a bust of Cesar Chavez. The office also includes busts of Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt and a sculpture depicting a horse and rider by Allan Houser of the Chiricahua Apache tribe.”
More Trump? Be careful Joe!
“Biden kept the gold drapes that hung in President Donald Trump’s office, which had previously been in President Bill Clinton’s Oval Office. The dark blue rug was also in the office during the Clinton administration and was selected because Biden liked the deep hue of it.”
“Gone are the flags of the branches of the military that Trump displayed behind the Resolute Desk. Biden has installed an American flag and another with a presidential seal.”
And thank all the Gods … “Also removed was the portrait of former president Andrew Jackson that Trump hung in his office. Trump and Jackson both ran as populists, and Jackson was the first president to be directly elected, and he proposed ending the electoral college.”
Thank you all and President Biden.
“The decision reinforced allegations of racism emanating from the White House. Jackson kept enslaved people and signed the Indian Removal Act, which led to thousands of Native American deaths as tens of thousands were forced to move to make room for White settlers.”
Here I will end this celebratory FIRST episode of Biden’s America.
Next week back to work. President Joe Biden already is! What a relief!
(This series dedicated in honor of the late Liu Xiaobo & Jamal Khashoggi)
