The Daily Dose/January 21, 2021
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
“AT THIS HOUR, MY FRIENDS, DEMOCRACY HAS PREVAILED.”: Speaking for the History books like few others at any time, President Joe Biden had an opportunity to show himself, his country and the world he was prepared to lead America past the four misfit years of Donald Trump.
“We Must Meet This Moment As The United States Of America.”: He didn’t squander it. A hundred years from now History may well put this up there with FDR’s first or Lincoln’s second inaugural addresses.
Dry, Technical Matter: It was a heck of a ceremony. Lady Gaga delivered a national anthem for the ages, so good it had us weeping and issuing hand salutes. President Biden was sworn in ten minutes early, but Canada didn’t invade then, so we were spared a crisis of who was in charge during those ten minutes because presidential terms begin and end at 12 noon. The poet Amanda Gorman was a bit full of herself, but that’s not a bad trait for an artist to have. We would have preferred Garth Brooks had sung The Dance instead of Amazing Grace, but we quibble.
“We Look Ahead In Our Uniquely American Way.”: President Biden spoke plainly and practically, perhaps plainer than you would expect someone who’s been in politics most of his life to speak, establishing himself as the first Dad we’ve had in the White House since Ronald Reagan.
“The American Story Depends Not On Any One Of Us…But On All Of Us.”: Like all fathers, he scolded us, he encouraged us but more than anything he loved us. He told us we are better than we are now and he all but ordered us not to surrender to the times, but to go out and conquer them.
“We Must End This Uncivil War”: President Biden will do well if we let him. If we are of a mind to surrender to our times and stay divided, we will. If we’re collectively of a mind to conquer our times and accomplish some things we will. President Biden cares about our country, which puts him one up on Trump, who only cared about drawing attention to himself. America’s halfway home to some self-respect again.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
You bet it’s Read Free Fortnight at The Diary.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow watches the inaugural. Today’s Diary.
…some further work yielded the good fortune of the official YouTube feed of the Congressional committee that organizes the inaugural…It was hosted by, get this, two Capitol tour guides (Janet and Ron) and while this might cause a chuckle, they did a really good job…There wasn’t too much yapping and zero partisanship at all as the pair preferred to chat about assorted historical elements of the inaugural ceremony and the capitol itself…All in all, it was a rather pleasant way to watch the ceremony.
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On This Date
The long march to today.
In 1954 – The world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), is launched in Groton, Connecticut. Nautilus would be commissioned in September and served until 1980 and is now a museum in New London, Connecticut. The ship was named after the fictional submarine in the Jules Verne novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea.
In 1945 – The Boston Bruins establish a new NHL record for the fastest four goals scored in a 14-3 win over the New York Rangers. The Bruins got four goals in a 1 minute and 20-second span in the second period, between the 6:34 and the 7:54 marks. The Bruins broke the record of 1 minute, 25 seconds they had established on January 11, 1927, and the record still stands.
In 1995 – On Bended Knee by Boyz II Men is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the sixth and final non-consecutive week. The song also peaked at #20 in Great Britain and at #2 in Billboard’s soul chart, was Billboard’s fifth-biggest song of the year and its 14th biggest of the 1990s. The song had first gone to #1 on December 3, replacing their single I’ll Make Love to You at the top, making them the first act to replace themselves at #1 on the Hot 100 since the Beatles in 1964.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today…There is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously.
Franklin Roosevelt
First Inaugural Address
3/4/33
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Merle Haggard’s last #1 song on Billboard’s country chart was Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Star, which spent one week at #1 in 1988.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What was America’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier? – Answer next time!
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