This is no dream; this is really happening!

Poster for Rosemary’s Baby

Donald Trump’s becoming President of the United States seems, on some level, unreal. It was not supposed to happen. It reminds me of the 1968 film Rosemary’s Baby. As Mia Farrow’s Rosemary Woodhouse is being raped by Satan, she wakes from her chemically induced stupor and, horrified, declares, “This is no dream; this is really happening!” And thus it is with the inauguration of Mr. Trump, which occurs at noon today.

January 20, 2017, will surely be “a date which will live in infamy.” One can only imagine the horrors that will follow, but we will experience them soon enough.

It has been difficult to decide how to mark this day. In one sense, I would like to be in Washington, D.C., protesting the inauguration, but I am here in Pennsylvania in front of my computer. It will be calmer here.

Robert Reich, who is becoming something of a resistance leader, advises Americans not going to Washington to boycott the event—don’t watch it or listen to it. Trump, after all, hates low ratings. I plan to take Reich’s advice, if only to keep my blood pressure down. Rachel Maddow can tell me tonight what happened.

I haven’t scheduled my entire day, but I plan to go to the Y to get some exercise. I usually listen to NPR while I’m on the treadmill, but today I’ll listen to Pandora instead. I’ll try to catch up on my reading and housecleaning while thinking thoughts unrelated to civic affairs. I hope to finish watching D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance on DVD.

I am not hopeful concerning our nation’s future and have no faith in Mr. Trump’s pledge to bring the country together. The best I can do on Inauguration Day is to offer this prayer from the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer:

O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to your merciful care, that, being guided by your Providence, we may dwell secure in your peace. Grant to the President of the United States, the Governor of this Commonwealth, and to all in authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do your will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness, and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in your fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

God save the United States of America.