PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN, VICE-PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS

Trump left in a last storm of lies, for now. However, one should never expect him to stay low-key. No padlock is strong enough to keep the holding closet shut.  His past tenure will never be a page-turner but his mark will remain an indelibebel Cain's stain for years to come.

The inauguration of the new president was faultless. His inaugural address struke the right tone but was short on specifics. The changing decor in the Oval Office is speaking louder than words. They make clear where his policies are heading. 

The Republicans were correct but there was no room for embrace on eitheir side. The whole atmosphere lacked spontaneity or a form of shared solace. It is doubtful that the President's call for unity will hit many Republican minds and hearts.

Four years ago, Trump set the tone for things to come with his "carnage" speech. He kept his promise: dislodging, dismantling, destroying. Rightly so, President Biden spoke out for a global approach at home and in the world.  Problems and ills  will get worse if not tackled with others, allies or not. The fiasco of "America First" needs to be reversed. This new administration certainly has the make-up for a more creative outreach.

Still, there are no miracles or biblical conversions. The task ahead is a Promethean uphill battle. There are enough Trump supporters who will be tempted to prolong yesterday's nightmare,  for the sake of conspirational fantasies that remain invested in the minds of too many. America faces a split between coasts and an incompatibility  between city and rural. 

It is probably wise to try to heal America first. The world can wait for now. The new president should benefit from some form of appeasement at home before attempting to calm the storms at large.  There is a general desire for a renewed dialogue that goes further than Trump's mad tea party with his clique of "client states."  There should be time for a strategic reinvestment. The new Secretary of State is the ideal personality for rolling back the chaos he inherits. 

Most are relieved that the transition was orderly albeit eerily, almost melancolic. Nobody should understimate the rage of the beast which needs to be fed. The storming of the Capitol was not unlike a hybrid of the fall of the Bastille. The deed was the work of the mob. The reclaiming which followed was the privilege of the intelligentia.

In reality this American saga will be a match nul as long as the Biden/Harris administration is not fully transformational. The outreach is genuine but the larger appeal remains to be proven. All those who believe that societies can improve, challenges met, bad intentions corrected, will wish this team of "best intentions" to win its battle for the soul.