By , ,
Published March 20, 2017
Here we are, a week away.
And I'm still hearing about entertainers who will not perform for Donald Trump.
Others who still cannot fathom a week from now he will be President Trump.
Some bands that won't march.
But plenty of protesters who will.
That's their right.
In this country we are free not to like our presidents.
Just like a restaurant in Washington, D.C., is free not to add Donald Trump to its mural "of" presidents.
It is their restaurant.
It is their business.
It's their life.
Here's the thing though.
It's our country. All our country.
And a week from today we will be inaugurating a new president in this country.
This peaceful transfer of power is what we're all about in this country.
A moment we honor not necessarily the man assuming that office.
But the office itself.
This isn't so much about the president, but the presidency.
It's what unites the vast crowds that brave the Washington cold every four years to witness history.
To see something historic.
No matter who's getting sworn in. Just to be there, to feel it, to witness it, to be a part of it.
Whether it's for a retired general without a lick of political experience.
Or a former peanut farmer from the deep south without any Washington experience.
Or an Illinois back woodsman taking command of a nation just as it's coming apart.
Or a ridiculously young Massachusetts senator emerging from the closest American election to that date.
Or an African-American drawing record crowds, to witness a moment, whether they voted for that moment or not.
Because, then as now, it's the moment. Not the man. And someday soon, I hope, not the woman.
Not the office-holder. The office.
Not just the president. The presidency.
Not just the guy in the White House.
The White House.
The institutions that define us, so much bigger than the passing occupants who come and go before us.
Inaugurations are about honoring that. All of that.
And all of us.
That space in time we give space to each other.
Even as many are packed like sardines by the thousands in a vast mall with eyes fixed on the Capitol.
Some so far away they can't even see who the heck is being sworn in.
Just that they swore to be there to watch it all play out.
Most of them can't sing. Most of them really can't dance. They can't belt out a tune any more than they can fire off a poem from memory.
Barely inclined to watch a Broadway show than perform in one.
For them, it really doesn't matter.
For them, this day matters.
A week from today.
Our American rite of passage.
Whether we like what's passing before us or not.
This is the day we give the benefit to our doubts, even as history shows all the times we doubted in our darkest moments whether we'd see any benefit at all.
Yet we did. We do.
It is our constant.
It is our core.
It is our right to celebrate or not celebrate at all.
As long as we step back and recognize this day, but seven days away.
That it's not about our next leader.
It's about us.
The people he is leading.
Neil Cavuto serves as senior vice president, anchor and managing editor for both FOX News Channel (FNC) and FOX Business Network (FBN). He is anchor of FNC's Your World with Cavuto - the number one rated cable news program for the 4 p.m. timeslot - as well as the FNC Saturday show Cavuto on Business. He also hosts Cavuto on FBN weeknights at 8 p.m. In addition to anchoring daily programs and breaking news specials on FNC and FBN, Cavuto oversees business news content for both networks and FNC's weekend business shows, including Bulls & Bears, Forbes on Fox, and Cashin' In. Click here for more on Neil Cavuto.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/cavuto-honoring-the-institutions-that-define-us