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Michigan Democrats in Congress and back here share optimism, relief and other emotions about a presidential inauguration far more consequential than most.
"Joe Biden gives me hope," Rep. Haley Stevens of Rochester Hills tweeted from Wednesday event. Another local attendee, Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Southfield, says at the same social platform: "I was proud to witness history today. ... It's a new day for our country and democracy, one filled with hope."
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was there with daughters Sherry and Sydney. ""My daughters and I were all choked up watching it," she said on CBS. "I know that women and people of color around the globe, to see that happen finally in the United States of America, was just a really incredible thing."
Rep. Rashida Tlaib looks back and ahead in a statement:
The last four years have brought dark clouds, and an enormous amount of pain and hate to every corner of the United States. From day one, the previous president blazed a path of destruction and self-interest. Today, we start a new presidency, a new administration, with hope for the future.
Predecessor and president
(Left illustration: Roby Bret/Depositphotos)
"Despite the dangerous attack on our democracy, the president and his mob of terrorists did not stop us from completing our work," Sen. Debbie Stabenow tweeted a day after the Capitol riot. "Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be our President and Vice President."
Lavora Barnes, a former Oakland County clerk who has chaired the state party since 2019, says: "It's going to take time to heal our nation and undo Trump's damage to our democracy, and that's everyone’s job — not just our elected leaders." Her comment is from a half-minute video below.
Rep. Dan Kildee of Flint contrasts the oath-taking, which he attended, with events of Jan. 6 and 13: "The last two Wednesdays have been difficult,” the congressman tells Michigan Advance, referring to the riot and impeachment.
He was accompanied Wednesday in Washington by Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, a Flint physician who "has been on the front lines, helping to defeat the coronavirus," Kildee says. The doctor is president of the Michigan State Medical Society. "I wanted to bring Bobby as my guest to the inauguration to thank him and other health care heroes working to protect public health and keep our communities safe," Kildee says in a WNEM-TV interview.
House colleague Brenda Lawrence of Southfield also planned to see the Capitol steps ceremony in person. "These terrorists have done everything in their power to stop the peaceful transfer of power, but I will be on that platform," she's quoted as saying at Michigan Advance, a two-year-old news site.
Staying true to her brash, blunt style, Detroit's congresswoman bids good riddance to "the disastrous, hateful Trump administration" and posts this inaugural eve tweet:
Me today, on the last full day: pic.twitter.com/yWsSMaLgNj
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 19, 2021
After a Tuesday night ceremony where Biden and Harris paid tribute to medical workers and America's 400,000 Covid fatalities, Rep. Tlaib has a more serious tone:
No matter your political views today, there is a sense of peace when you see the incoming President show some empathy.
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) January 19, 2021
From Ann Arbor, a University of Michigan law professor who was the top federal prosecutor in Detroit until Trump swept out all appointees, tweets on Inauguration Day:
The past administration has been a stark reminder that elections have consequences. Today is a celebration of democracy. Truth, decency, and the rule of law matter again. pic.twitter.com/vsxsBg1Nqz
— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) January 20, 2021
Debbie Dingell of Dearborn expresses hope Tuesday on Facebook that people “try to find common ground and not accept the war zone I currently see in the place where I work as the future of what America might become. Democracy in America is worth fighting for."
In her daily social media "diary" a few days earlier, Dingell looked toward the inaugural: "We will witness what we pray will be a smooth and peaceful transition of government. It is important the American people witness the ritual and tradition of this moment, but somehow I am sort of reaching my end of calling this a smooth transition of government. It has been a nightmare.
"The place I work has had to be taken over by the National Guard and other law enforcement agencies. It remains under threat, as do state capitals around the country. Violence has come to our streets like we see in other countries we are trying to aid."
The unprecedented security includes a seven-foot black fence around the Capitol, street barricades, numerous checkpoints and 15,000 National Guard soldiers on duty, with 10,000 more on standby.
Richard Primus, a constitutional law professor at U-M, reacts to the heavy military presence:
It’s not what the site of government of a democratic republic should look like. And it’s the product of the things that destroy republics: self-interest, lies, ignorant hatreds, and cowardice. (2/2)
— Richard Primus (@Richard_Primus) January 14, 2021
A time to heal, state Democratic chair says:
