Close to Nowhere

Wednesday of this week the United States of America will inaugurate a new president.

And this time, it’s scary.

I’ve been interested in politics ever since I can remember. I was just a kid when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon were vying for the presidency in 1959. I won’t tell you how old I was for that election because I bet you can add.

But I remember vividly my friends and I outside playing and singing at the top of our lungs – “Kennedy, Kennedy, he’s our man. Nixon belongs in the garbage can!” I remember watching the debate with my parents – the thing I remember the most is that I and all my female friends thought Kennedy was “so cute!”

I realized years later that was not a reason to vote for someone.

Every election since I became old enough, I’ve voted. Sometimes I vote Republican, sometimes Democrat. I think that I’m what most would call an independent. And lately, because they were cute hasn’t been an option anyway.

I voted for Richard Nixon the first time he won the presidency. I did not vote for him the second time. I thought Watergate was the most horrifying thing I could imagine for the presidency.

I was wrong.

Last Wednesday, Jan. 6, was the most horrifying thing I could imagine with Americans as the cause. I’m not counting 9-11 here, because that was a foreign attack.

This was the same sick feeling though.

I hope I don’t give anyone a clue as to how I voted. Because who we voted for is no longer important.

Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States Wednesday. Now, he is the president and we, as Americans, honor that position.

One of the vilest things I’ve ever seen was a photo of a comedienne holding up a plastic, severed head of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. Whether we voted for Trump or not, once he was president, we as Americans were supposed to honor the office.

I write my column on Mondays and the paper goes to press very early Wednesday morning. So I have no idea what, if anything, happens during Biden’s inauguration.

I do know that, as an American, I pray constantly that the citizens of our country will enjoy a peaceful transition of power.

And, as always, I pray for the elected leaders of our country, state and county. Heaven knows they need our prayers.

Linda Jones of Laws Hill is a former staff writer for The South Reporter. She is retired but continues her weekly column.