For too long, the Orange Menace had desecrated DC "hallowed ground" — as #Resistance mythology goes and as Joe Biden put it in the flaccid inauguration speech that someone wrote for him.

All of the degeneracy of the previous 4 years concluded Jan. 20 with the reclamation of the Great American Experiment by 78-year-old Joe Biden.

Alas, the stars have aligned — if nowhere else than in the eyes of cable television actors – as a president that can be counted on regains control of the levers of power:

"The contrast on display tonight was so stark… Those lights that are just shooting out from the Lincoln Memorial… it's like, almost extensions of Joe Biden's arms embracing America."

– David Chalian, CNN Political Director, 2021

The Washington Post/CNN Chalian types had not shown such a level of enthusiasm for their favored politician since Barack Obama put a thrill up MSNBC host Chris Matthews' leg in 2008:

" I have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often."

-Chris Matthews, 2008

Utterly stale, meaningless neoliberal oration – when delivered with the proper soaring cadence that fills even vacuous language with the pretense of weight – is catnip to these people. It speaks to the core of who they are – all hat, no cattle. All frills, no substance.