Zuckerberg yawned at the cleavage of the lady next to him, Musk made faces and welcomed the trip to Mars, toasts were made from special glasses with a gold rim that the attendees received as a souvenir
End of first term Donald Trump was marked by censoring during speeches at all national TV networks. The second term began with an inauguration ceremony that received publicity worthy of the Super Bowl. In its essence, it retained all the essential elements from his program, translated into a show that combined populist political discourse, a preachy tone, and lavish scenography and costumes worthy of a series. Dynasty.
I decided to watch the combined broadcast on the BBC and CNN channels, and especially the most detailed one on the FOX News channel, which, judging by the speed of the stream, had at least half a minute advantage over the others. We were able to make sure very quickly that this television spectacle is actually the vision of America from Trump's point of view and the beginning of what he calls the "golden age".
The detailed and long protocol consisted of a series of customs, from tea in the White House, to the joint arrival with Biden in the same limousine. Both presidents actually used the stoppage time and low start to sign executive orders. Biden pardoned his convicted son, and Trump signed 230 executive orders on the first day, many of which will fundamentally change American policy. From the state of emergency on the border with Mexico, exiting the World Health Organization, the Paris Agreement, pardoning 1600 people convicted of storming the Capitol, bringing back the death penalty for terrorists, putting two genders back on official documents versus abolishing gender identity that he calls "social engineering," returning drilling and exploitation of fossil fuels, etc.
In his speech, Trump quite casually announced the fight for the Panama Canal, the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, stopping wars and victories on all fronts. Perhaps he spoke the least about the reforms of the state administration system, Elon Musk will deal with that, but they will try to reach the planet Mars and occupy the territory there. At the end of the event, the former president and his wife were symbolically escorted to the helicopter where they flew into history.
An important aspect of this ceremony was prayer, so during the swearing-in and the continuation of the program, there were more than 20 prayers, after which I stopped counting. The Christian doctrine in Trump's politics could be seen by the insistence on two Bibles and the guest appearances of preachers of different Christian denominations and a rabbi. There were no Islamic priests. The speech practically ended with a Christian message, which, along with the vision of the future, had an undertone of a religious ceremony, a kind of enthronement of a leader who actually has the rhetoric of a political and spiritual leader.
The focus of the broadcast was also America, or more precisely, a series of populist images - the bald eagle, "our guys in uniform" or hard-working, ordinary people who are the salt of the earth.
Another aspect of this transmission is the family soap opera of the Trump family, where every detail attracts the attention of the viewers, and television received the perfect material. Every detail of the protocol, the toilets of Melania and other ladies are analyzed for hours, and her hat and dark combination have already become a legend, like the blue coat from the last inauguration. Ivanka tried to impose herself with a green set with a fascinator, but without much success. Zuckerberg yawned in cleavage at the lady next to him, Musk made grimaces and welcomed the trip to Mars, toasts were made from special glasses with a gold rim, which the attendees received as souvenirs in handmade leather cases into which one of the senators from Kentucky inserted valuable bottles of whiskey. In our country, such events are part of the souvenirs. There were also minor problems, such as the background music for Carrie Underwood's performance, but she performed and the chapel delighted the audience.
During the swearing-in, Trump maintained an element of uncertainty, which is his trademark. It turned out to be almost unimportant who came and who was absent from the event. He is the absolute focus of that attention and power, with an element of uncertainty because no one can predict his moves. During the greeting, his vice president openly said that he knew nothing about the speech, but he was delighted and inspired, so the odes to Trump somewhat resembled the coronation of an absolute ruler. Only a few noticed that Michelle Obama did not come, or that Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris laughed at some parts of the speech. The absolute star was Trump, and Melania and son Barron, who was portrayed practically as the heir to the throne, won a fraction of the attention. Actually paradoxically, the fighter against the American political elites, the Clintons, the Obamas, the Bushes or earlier the Kennedys, promoted a new family in the game of thrones - the Trumps.
Truth be told, things in Trump's speech were not black and white. The tone was conciliatory, he reveled in his triumph. In a sense, America needs an easing of the divisions that have brought it to the brink of civil war. Very unequivocally, he stood for pluralism of opinion against political persecution through the media, which he felt on his own skin. Today, we don't know what it will look like, but the Village People performed at the rally, with a hit WMCA, practically a global gay anthem to which Trump performed his pre-election shimmy dance. So, unlike the domestic tabloid perception, there is no homophobia in his campaign. Furthermore, Johnny Cash and Martin Luther King, who also has his own bust, are honored in the Capitol rotunda. Saint John was quoted and mentioned several times during the inauguration.
We were not at this event. Quite simply, we are not in the focus of America, despite the pretentious statements of Željko Mitrović and the host of the morning program, present far on the periphery of the event. In all probability, we will stay there in the coming years.
Less than two days of blockade - that's how long it took to see how weak and powerless the public media service is, both from the outside and from the inside. At the moment of writing this text, it is the eighth day of the blockade, and the sixth that RTS is not broadcasting its program. They also seem to be facing a strike inside the house. And the essence of blocking RTS is not in what it publishes, but in what it keeps silent
In the months after the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, the flames of rebellion spread throughout Serbia. The first protests started in Novi Sad right after the tragedy. The authorities responded with arrests, police cordons and intimidation, but instead of calming down the protesters, new protests followed.
The rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, has been the target of top state officials and regime tabloids for months, who label him as an insidious instigator of student protests, an opportunist, "the face of evil" and "the leader of the criminal octopus." How and why a rector became "state enemy number one"
"I'm standing in the cordon, and my daughter is shouting at me 'aw, aw, killers'. What should I do? If they ordered me - I would throw down my baton and bulletproof vest and stand on the side of my child," a police officer from the south of Serbia, who works as needed in the Belgrade Police Brigade, told "Vreme"
The recent formation of the Đura Macuta government is part of the regime's revenge and cynicism. This can be seen most in the "black troika" of new ministers appointed to deal with the parts of society that are the leaders and symbols of the big rebellion that lasted for several months, the cause of which was the fall of the canopy in Novi Sad, which claimed 16 human lives. Education, universities, unsolicited media and parts of the judiciary that refuse to listen to orders, either publicly, with announcements, or hiding behind legal procedures, should be dismantled. Those who will have no problem doing everything they are told, even reinforcing the orders with their own inventions, are chosen for this.
Who mentions the extraordinary elections when the rating of the party in power is falling, and according to all surveys, Vučić is not the most important political factor in the country, but the students?
The brutal beating of students and citizens in Novi Sad shows that the regime is not only ready to take revenge - it is actually carrying it out
If in reality the principle of balance is violated - the way the incompetent regime violated the relationship between the concrete elements at the Novi Sad Railway Station - reality will behave like a canopy: it will fail to obey
The archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
See all
