Budowsky: Democracy won, Trump lost, President Biden inaugurated

American democracy has survived the greatest attack against it since the Civil War.

President Biden was inaugurated with a call to heal our wounds and unite our nation. Former President Trump, who was inaugurated with talk of American carnage, spent four years dividing our people against each other, spent the last three months trying to steal an election he lost, and left the White House without congratulating Biden or attending the inaugural ceremony.

Effective at noon on Jan. 20, 2021, the American president was once again the leader of the free world. Champions of freedom and democracy are celebrating everywhere.

President Kennedy, speaking at the Berlin Wall in June 1963, said of those who do not understand the great battle between democracy and dictatorship, “let them come to Berlin.” And they did.

President Reagan, speaking at the Berlin Wall in June 1987, believing that a strong America could negotiate peace with a declining Soviet Union, said “Mr. Gorbachev, tear town this wall.” And the people of Germany did.

President Biden, who is indeed the leader of the free world, should go to Berlin as Kennedy and Reagan did. While he speaks of uniting the American family, Biden would speak of uniting the family of democratic nations. He would speak of democracy and voting rights, of freedom and civil rights, of equality and human rights for every man and women across America and throughout the world.

Biden in Berlin would speak of timeless values as old as the Sermon on the Mount and as new as the great victory of democracy of those who fiercely defended the integrity of our 2020 election. They defeated charlatans and liars who falsely claimed Biden didn’t win, criminals who invaded our Capitol, and members of the House and Senate who voted to keep in power the loser of the 2020 election.

Yesterday, as President Biden put his hand on the Bible to take the oath of office, heavily armed troops protected the Capitol against threats of violence from those who wear the hats and wave the flag of his defeated presidential predecessor — who spoke words that the Senate Republican leader and the third ranking Republican in the House said provoked the violence that caused the carnage of the dastardly crimes against the Capitol of our democracy.

Democracy in America was under attack. Democracy defeated the attack. Democracy in America was on trial. The great jury of the American people, the great jury of honorable members of the House and Senate who voted to uphold the Electoral College, the great jury of governors and election officials from both parties who defended and upheld the integrity of the election, and the great jury of judges and justices including prominent conservative and liberal jurists in state and federal courts, gave the verdict against those who attacked our democracy, in favor of those who defended our democracy and won.

The heroes of this battle to preserve and protect our democracy included Democratic names such as Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Charles Schumer, Steny Hoyer, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez alongside Republican names such as Mike Pence, Liz Cheney, George W. Bush, Ben Sasse, Adam Kinzinger, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Jeff Flake and on this, if not on many other issues, Mitch McConnell and even William Barr.

Going forward President Biden should continue his policy of not commenting about impeachment. He should direct his attorney general to initiate whatever investigations are necessary of any individual who may have broken the law, including potentially Trump, without any presidential influence or comment while decisions are made based solely on the law and facts.

President Joe Biden is a good, decent, honorable and vastly experienced leader. He seeks to heal the wounds of the nation, unify our people and reach out to govern the nation with a genuine bipartisan spirit.

Hopefully McConnell and other Republicans will reach back in good faith. If not, Biden will have to show extraordinary strength and resolve towards them, and towards any foreign enemies who will certainly test him, aggressively and soon.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics.