In 24 hours or so, Joe Biden will be sworn in as President by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, with the world looking on and, for the most part, heaving a giant sigh of relief.

The inauguration site is an armed camp. Neo-Nazis and insurrectionists are plotting on Facebook and other platforms to repeat the storming of the Capitol building and to try to overturn the election. These social media companies function without regard for the public good and suddenly find themselves with the awesome power of silencing a president of the United States. Twitter defanged Trump overnight, after four years of allowing his statements to go unchallenged. But their CEO had to be persuaded to block Trump's account from his luxury spot in French Polynesia.

Not since Abraham Lincoln snuck into Washington under the protection of Pinkerton detectives in 1860 have we seen this. An outgoing president says he was robbed of the election, and millions of people cling to the fantasy, desperate to be part of the club, the community, any sense of belonging. The Capitol is mobbed with National Guard and surrounded by a special fence.

What would Dr. King say about this?

He might urge us to focus on what comes next and return to the serious business of governing a Republic where words and deeds matter. For me, this is the central question of the next four years and this generation. The future of democracy rests in part on the answer.

Use any example you want from the last four years.

"It will go away, like a miracle."

"Our doctors get more money if people die from COVID."

"We won in a landslide."

Pick whichever lie you want. It doesn't matter. Guys like Trump have invaded our politics for 250 years. Joe McCarthy had a list of communists. Southerners said blacks could never become citizens. Some still deny climate change.

And then, when the truth comes out, the liar retreats - to the safety of the corporate board room, a presidential library, or just the inattention of the modern media culture.

Comes now the Biden administration, facing a pandemic and economy that makes what Obama inherited from the Bush people in 2008 look easy. But beginning tomorrow, the people in charge are serious professionals. These people are very good at government because they believe in it, where Trump Republicans do not. It's hard for many Republicans to govern well because they don't believe in the basic function of government, which is to protect people. They believe in getting rid of government or reducing its role in society.

The Biden people believe in the capacity of government to do good - reduce disease, improve access to good housing, a positive role in the world, reduce carbon emissions. You can't reduce carbon emissions and climate change if you don't believe climate change exists.

And when you believe in government, you believe that the words of government - the speeches, the policy, the budget priorities - matter. And they do. With Biden, we will return to a world in which words matter.

Start with Ron Klain, Biden's chief of staff. Serious lawyer, smart and capable, who believes in a government that regulates the economy for fairness and growth. And he's honest. Then Samantha Power, the new head of U.S. AID. Brilliant, fiery, dedicated, humane. She will work every day to ensure the U.S. is a positive international player through our wealth and caring. William Burns at CIA. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

These people believe that words matter; that what the President says is a statement of U.S. policy and intention in the world. Klain and Power and their colleagues see Twitter and social media as a tool for communications, not the way to run the government.

So we will see a return to a way of governing we understand. The question is whether that way of governing can get through to everyone under 40 who now get their news online.

If Biden and his people can marry his seriousness of language and purpose with the reality of a social media ecosystem, he might just find a way to drive an agenda that helps people and positions the U.S. as the world player it needs to be. Honorable, humane, responsible for past sins but aspiring to build a better future. Dr. King could get behind that.