A Nice Speech But…

The editors of the Wall Street Journal liked President Biden’s inaugural address, too:

Whatever their partisan affiliation, all Americans can take pride in Wednesday’s inaugural proceedings for President Joe Biden. The peaceful transfer of power from one party to another is a sign of underlying democratic strength no matter our current political distemper.

The ceremony at the Capitol had an unabashed patriotic feel that is all too rare these days. Traditional anthems and prayerful invocations were the order of the hour. Former Presidents were on hand from both major parties as usual, even if Donald Trump wasn’t. No one took a knee when Lady Gaga sang the national anthem.

And it was especially moving, at least to us, to see new Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband walk down the Capitol steps escorting Mike Pence and his wife to their waiting car. Mr. Pence in particular deserved this traditional show of respect after his role on Jan. 6 when he refused to reject the state electoral votes as President Trump demanded. He should be getting more praise than he is for that display of constitutional principle.

These rituals send a message to a diverse country, and to the world, about America’s fundamental institutional strength despite a bitter election campaign and the turmoil of recent weeks. In China the transfers of power are from one Communist Party cadre to another, and public political rites are limited to unanimous acclamation. Enemies have often misjudged America’s raucous politics for national weakness—to their eventual regret.

Mr. Biden struck many good notes in an Inaugural Address that will be remembered more for its moment following the Capitol riot than for its words. The speech had a personal flavor with touches of his Catholicism, such as quoting St. Augustine and praying for the dead. In this and in other personal manners, the new President is refreshingly unwoke.

The overall theme was “unity,” which he called “our path forward.” His best note on that point was a call to “start afresh” and listen to one another. “Politics doesn’t have to be a raging fire,” he said. “Disagreement should not lead to disunion.”

However, they didn’t hesitate in pointing out its glaring shortcoming:

Yet in this call to unify there was also too much of a suggestion that we are obliged to unite around one point of view. “I know that the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know they are not new,” Mr. Biden said. “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal, and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart.”

So our political differences are between those who believe in American ideals and those who are racists and nativists? This sounds too much like Barack Obama’s habit of casting differences of ideology or policy as divisions between enlightenment and bigotry. This is divisive in its cultural and moral condescension, as the Obama years proved in creating the political opening for Mr. Trump.

They then touch on the point I’ve made about unity:

Mr. Biden is right that there is a difference between “truth” and “lies,” and too much political discourse is strewn with falsehoods. But that fault rests with partisans on all sides. Most political differences aren’t between truth and lies. They are debates about the tradeoffs between core principles like freedom and equality, or over the best means to achieve good ends.

On that point we heard too little in Mr. Biden’s speech to reassure conservatives now being purged and ostracized that he will call off the emboldened progressive censors. If his pursuit of social justice becomes a drive to blame every inequity in American life on racism, he will divide more than unite. If he insists that those who disagree on climate change are “deniers” who care nothing for the planet, he will alienate millions (see nearby).

We know with a conviction based on experience that the media cannot be relied on to be the arbiters of truth; that applies both to conventional media and to social media. My advice comes, once again, from Mr. Dooley: trust everyone but cut the cards. Read widely. Don’t take anything at face value.