A car alarm goes off in the distance. The reflecting lake is frozen over. With the wind it feels like seven degrees Fahrenheit outside. The sun is past its peak and the salt is no longer melting ice on the sidewalks, parking lots, or road. Donald Trump was just sworn in as president, again.

His talking points are sharp – honed by genocidal masterminds dictating his every move. His wife, dressed to the nines during the handover he refused to participate in during his first term, stands ready to bang the tambourine, somehow joylessly. He appears to be on Ozempic just like the rest of America – trimmed out like a show steer in receipt of the best healthcare on planet earth. His MAGA acolytes are sated, standing by for orders and endless disappointment.

It is the astonishingly cold eve of a new era.