National Hugging Day

But first, the re-inauguration of President Trump.

I don't mind where you come from
As long as you come to me
But I don't like illusions
I can't see them clearly
I don't care, no I wouldn't dare
To fix the twist in you
You've shown me eventually what you'll do

Song: Shimon Moore, Emma Anzai, Antonina Armato, and Tim James.

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National Hugging Day.

Today, January 21st, is National Hugging Day. A holiday that began in the United States - despite lacking an obvious commercial angle and which, according to Wikipedia, is also observed in many other countries.

It was started in the 1980s by a bloke called Kevin to encourage more hugging, which sounds slightly dodgy. However, Pastor Zaborney - that’s Kevin - cautions to “ask first if one is unsure of the response, as respecting the personal space of others is always important, and some people are not huggers.”

Old mate Kev said to himself, “American society is embarrassed to show feelings in public,” and he hoped to change that.

Well, I don’t know how much credit can be attributed to the advent of Kev’s Hugging Day, but I gotta say there doesn’t seem to be much embarrassment lately—have you seen YouTube?

I’m not pointing fingers at any particular generation, but in the United States of 2025, at least as viewed through the internet lens, there is no longer a shortage of feelings being expressed.

Joking aside, hugs are good—especially a good hug. This is not to say that there are bad hugs—although obviously, old Kev was onto something with the whole consent thing.

Assuming the hug is welcome, all hugs are good, but a good hug is wonderful. You know, the sort where you feel entirely enveloped within the embrace, singular in entity, hearts beating closely, perhaps a whisper of love to the ear.

Something else was happening today, which also began to be celebrated in the US in the 1980s: Donald Trump.

This morning, he was inaugurated, and I suspect people will need many more hugs starting tomorrow, which works out perfectly with the time difference, as it’s still Monday the 20th over there, and not hugging day until tomorrow. Assuming hugs are still legal, then, of course.

Pardon My… Friends.

Before the inauguration, the outgoing President issued pardons, a bizarre ritual. I find this practice very strange. It seems like something you’d associate with a medieval king attributed with divine authority rather than a democratically elected politician.

In the past, such pardons were often given to felons who were convicted of laws that have now been softened.

For example, it does seem a bit silly that there are still people locked up for Cannabis offences now that you can walk into a weed store in many cities across the US and purchase the stuff quite legally. However, these weren’t that kind of pardons.

So, rather than pardoning people for crimes they had been found guilty of, Joe Biden used his magical pardoning powers to preemptively save family members and those who had dared stand up to the Donald, politically or judicially, from the revenge that the incoming President has repeatedly threatened.

Does this seem normal?

He even pardoned Anthony Fauci, who was a voice of sanity and science during Covid. That’s like protecting Ashley Bloomfield from prosecution for working his guts out to try and keep people healthy and alive. It’s crazy.

Minutes before Trump was inaugurated, Biden pardoned five members of his own family, stating, “My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me – the worst sort of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”

This is definitely not normal, and Trump hadn’t even spoken yet.

One pardon made me weep with joy, great sobbing tears. “Biden also commuted the life sentence imposed on the Native American activist Leonard Peltier, who has served nearly five decades in federal prison for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. Peltier will serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement.”

If you’re not sure who Leonard Peltier is, he is the subject of this song that I’ve been listening to for more than thirty years, which I’ve included before:

Statesmanship Trump Style.

So how might Trump establish the tone for his second presidency? He could speak freely, without the concern of campaigning for re-election ever again.

Isn’t that obscene? That a man who has done so much wrong and escaped any punishment will spend the rest of his career, the next four years, as the most powerful man on earth?

If anyone imagined that suddenly Trump, free from the campaign trail, would at least vaguely sound like a statesman, they had another thing coming.

In his speech, he insulted the previous administration, boasted about himself, and darkly declared that he would do whatever he wished with his power, including apparently liberating America, echoing the spirit of Independence Day.

This raised the question - what the hell was he liberating people from?

A country that took its place in the community of nations, providing leadership? One who at least admitted that climate change was real and took small steps in the right direction? One that respected the borders of other nations? What?

The Speech

Before my analysis of Trump’s speech there is a paywall. If you’d like to keep reading and support my writing you can subscribe right now for 20% off for the first year, which makes it $80 for the year, or $8 per month.