Donald who?

O’ brave new world! My gut is still unknotting. I’m processing anxiety that has been accumulating for five years, so I may not present my thoughts and feelings in an orderly manner. Yet I proceed.

I’ve been most struck by how quickly Trump has dropped out of the headlines. True, he’d been laying low, especially after the insurrection; but — absent Twitter, Facebook and CNN — I haven’t heard a peep out of him since his lift-off at Andrews. That alone was quite a statement. He wanted full VIP treatment, and did get a red carpet and some cannon fire; but he didn’t get his requested flyover and his adoring fans numbered only in the dozens, even after he had created the concept of “plus-five” invitations.

Now that he’s a private citizen, I eagerly await some serious payback. I hope Pelosi teases out the impeachment. Biden needs the time to get ahead of the pandemic, and the more we learn about the Capitol attack, the more likely it will get connected to Donny Covidseed. I’m grateful that the attack has been accurately identified as an insurrection. Even “riot” would let those morons off the hook some.

The more video that comes out, the more I think “little boys with lethal toys”. These egomaniacal clowns were truly insurgents, but really bad at it. It’s high irony that many of them were easily identified because they weren’t wearing masks. Couldn’t take Doctor Fauci’s advice, eh?

And being such amateurs, my best guess is that they’re starting to turn on each other to save their own White asses.

The two plagues, oddly, gave us the Best Inauguration Ever. From the many historical firsts Kamala Harris gave us, to Lady Gaga and JLo songs, to the rousing poem from Amanda Gorman, the official ceremony went off sharply. The only slow spots were when that one guy sanitized the microphone stand between presenters.

The evening concert was a triumph of performances and technical prowess. New Greek citizen Tom Hanks looked a bit chilly anchoring the live remote, but New Jersey boys Jon Stewart, Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi bravely buoyed the event. For the record, The Boss said he was cold and Bon Jovi sang “Here Comes the Sun” on a Miami pier. In between, Justin Timberlake, Tim McGraw, John Legend, Demi Lovato, Katy Perry and others sang songs about hope and new beginnings. If it had been Trump’s show, it would have been just Ted Nugent singing “Cat Scratch Fever” over and over.

And the greatest gift: Trump could rightly claim that he had a much bigger attendance at his inauguration, but he can’t say it on Twitter.