Letters to the Editor: Joe Biden is president, but the nightmare is only partly over

To the editor: The nightmare is partially over for many of us. We have waited hopefully but not quietly for the inauguration of the 46th president of the United States to take place.

We have learned again the value of never giving up. We have shown our resiliency, and we have embraced a new president who embodies that resiliency perhaps more than any other person in Washington. Joe Biden, who had run for president twice and lost, had no qualms over being something that his predecessor avoided at all costs — a loser.

With President Biden’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’ inauguration, we are only halfway there. The nightmare will only be completely over when we have defeated the second enemy of our democracy, the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lynn Lorenz, Newport Beach

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To the editor: In the infancy of this country, the call went to George Washington to lead an unsteady nation through its first steps.

In 1860, as our young nation was torn asunder from within, the call went to Abraham Lincoln to preserve the union and bind its wounds.

Amid the worst economic depression our country ever suffered, the call went to Franklin Roosevelt to lead us out of the darkness and into the light.

Today, as the values and beliefs and even the viability of the “great American experiment” have been called into question, our country calls out to Biden to bring us together and restore our faith in democracy itself.

The man and the moment are met. May luck be with him. The future of our country hangs in the balance.

Rita Zwern, Burbank

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To the editor: As a devout American Asian Indian Muslim, I was struck during the inauguration by the fact that our devoutly Christian president who goes to Mass regularly will remove the Muslim ban imposed by his predecessor, who infamously brandished a Bible outside St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington after forces under his command violently cleared out peaceful protestors.

As Muslims, we give our heartfelt “salaams” to our new president and vice president, and we pray that God guide him and our divided country into calmer waters.

Murtadha A. Khakoo, Fullerton

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To the editor: I’ve never before watched a presidential inauguration while sobbing tears of joy, hope and relief.

God bless President Biden, Vice President Harris and the United States of America.

Liz White, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Never, before the past two weeks, have I been simultaneously so proud and so ashamed of this country.

Brian Gota, San Diego