My Joe Biden Confession

I was disappointed when the Democrats announced that Hillary Clinton would be facing-off against Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election. But not because of any ill-feelings I have towards the former First Lady.

She performed brilliantly in her role as Secretary of State and was a distinguished First Lady, suffering through her husband's infidelities with remarkable dignity.

No, my disappointment stemmed from a what I believe was a prefabricated agenda to serve the Democratic party. Not only would they be the first party to elect a Black president, but the first to elect a woman as well.

Instead of waiting to gauge the national mood and deciding on the best possible candidate for that particular election, Democrats decided to send Clinton into battle—regardless of her opponent.

Yes, there was a fair bit of arrogance in the assumption she would defeat whomever the Republicans ran against her. What's that old expression about counting your chickens?

As it turns out, Clinton was Trump's ideal opponent. Not only was she roundly despised by the GOP, but an issue involving e-mails she sent and received as Secretary of State played right into Trump's hands.

And a perfectly-timed announcement by the F.B.I. just days before the election cinched it.

Despite losing the popular vote by a count of nearly three-million, the orange-haired cretin ended up in the White House thanks to the electoral college.

Next election we were offered Joe Biden. He was a career politician and a longtime Senator from Delaware, yet I wasn't enthused. Nor were any of the Democrats I spoke with. This was the guy who was going to take down Trump and his obsessive-compulsive cult?

Eight years ago, I had rooted for Bernie Sanders. In 2020, it was Elizabeth Warren. Now I would have to choose between Trump and Biden. If I haven't already made it clear, I was under-whelmed.

I shouldn't have been.

It turns out that after four years of Trump's ignorance, arrogance and general fecklessness, Biden's grassroots, plain-as-day sensibility were just the cure Democrats had been looking for. (Modesty requires me to admit that at the time, I just knew his name wasn't 'Trump'.)

This time, Biden took the popular vote by seven-million and pummeled Trump in the electoral college. But despite the sound whipping, Trump's ego would not let him go gently into that dank, dark Republican night.

Nope. President Petulant displayed his rigorous ability to manipulate, stating before Election Day that if he didn't win, the election was 'stolen'.

How's that for covering your ass?

Despite getting the re-counts and investigations he demanded, guess what? He still lost. By 7,059,526 votes.

He carried the lie forward, as did the intellectually-disadvantaged folk who constitute his cult. Seeing a 'Trump Won' banner in 2023 was the saddest and most-pathetic example of voluntary stupidity I have ever seen.

Why not claim that water isn't actually wet? Or that Wendy's was selling nuclear arms to Libya?

Again, I have diverged from the original intent of this post. Joe Biden became president under very trying conditions, not unlike those of Barack Obama. Trump's non-intervention with the pandemic and its fallout created a crisis much worse than it needed to be.

But come to think of it, like anything that didn't directly affect billionaires, it was Trump's standard operating procedure. Like all Trump-centric criticism, it was a hoax. It's rigged. It's a witch-hunt. It's the product of radical left-wingers.

Sigh. Doesn't anyone like Donald?

But I warmed to Joe Biden. As bland and ego-less as he was, Biden settled the ship. He didn't appoint Trump-tards to every judicial opening. He didn't hand additional tax breaks to billionaires and their companies. He worked to maintain voter's rights and championed reproductive rights.

He decried the nation's runaway gun violence and worked to inhibit it.

Best of all, he didn't receive love letters from Kim Jong Un or pretend that Vladimir Putin was anything but what he is.

Yeah, his handling of immigration could have been better. And guilty or not, he was held responsible for inflation not returning to pre-pandemic norms. And let's not forget we're still sending weapons and money to Israel even after they have admitted to genocide.

But he has greatly restored America's position as a world leader and a tireless champion of democracy. That counts for something. Especially when your opposition seeks to destroy it.

And on July 21^st, he made a decision almost unfathomable in the politics of the twenty-first century. Owing to a poor debate performance three weeks earlier, he announced he was—for the good of the party—removing himself as a candidate for President of the United States.

Wait—you mean selflessness isn't dead?

Can you imagine Donald Trump doing the same thing? Even with a central nervous system suffused with fentanyl?

Of course not.

President Biden's acknowledgement of duty and responsibility happened in a city stuffed with preening egos and selfish power grabs.

“Wait. You're doing that because it's the right thing to do? Wow. You're setting a really bad example for the rest of us, bro.”

And so he was. 

Unburdened by the monstrous ego that controls his opponent, Biden took a step back, realized the momentousness of the occasion and realized he wasn't the best man for the job. Democrats are fortunate Donald Trump is incapable of making the same decision.

Thank you, Joe. You are truly a man amongst men.

Exhaling

Whew. It's over. Officially, incontrovertibly over.

For the first time in four years there is an emotionally-stable grown-up in the White House.

One who has a clue.

One put there by a plain and simple majority of Americans. Americans wearied and disgusted by the Trump brand of “leadership.”

Like his Democratic predecessor, President Biden has a massive job ahead of him. Not only must he lead a nation besieged by a runaway pandemic and its seemingly bottomless financial fall-out, but must undo the damage wrought by the (cough) “law and order” president.

It's a two-pronged job that will undoubtedly encounter strident Republican opposition.

Yes, moving forward while simultaneously filling-in craters behind you is no easy thing.

Mr. President and Ms. Vice President, I wish you nothing but the best. We are in desperate need of leaders—as opposed to sneering, podium-pounding “authority”.

I pray you are able to surmount the obstacles in front of you and can return us to a normal that, while not perfect—is infinitely better than what so many of us face today.

God bless you.

Sweet Relief

 

Thank God.

 

Thank God.

 

Thank God. 

 

The Dark Ages are over.

 

Oh thank God. 

Why It's Harder to Run As a Democrat

The most-illuminating moment of the first Democratic debate wasn't Kamala Harris' condemnation of Joe Biden's wildly-misunderstood comment about working with segregationists Herman Talmadge and James Eastland, but her response to a moderator's question.

After giving a lengthy explanation of her health care plan, I believe it was Savannah Guthrie who asked Harris how she proposed to pay for it.

Rising to the bait, Harris fired back. She pointedly questioned why no one asked the same of Donald Trump as he was giving away massive amounts of money to the wealthiest portions of our population.

Her reply shed light on a curious phenomenon in present day American politics: Entirely different things are expected of Republicans and Democrats.

Democrats need to bring actual ideas to the table and get buy-in from a bewilderingly diverse electorate. 

Republicans only need to appeal to gun totin' white guys, rich white guys and angry white guys who essentially hate anyone who isn't just like them, be it because of genitalia, country of origin, political belief, sexual orientation or religion.

Republicans need only to bellow louder than the candidate next to them to gain approval. It's a game called How conservative are you?, and the more obnoxious the answer the better.

Aided and abetted by Supreme Court-approved gerrymandering, it's no wonder defectives like Dick Cheney and Donald Trump assumed the presidency. (Oh—you thought George W. Bush was president? Awww. That's cute.) 

For a Republican, acting like the loudest drunk in the bar is a highly-effective campaign strategy.

As he works to undo the damage his feckless trade negotiations with China have wrought and publicly thumbs his nose at concern over Russia's interference in our elections, the Trump-whore tweets.

Yes, besides being the biggest dick in the room, Trump's most consistent personality trait is his Twitter addiction.

As if anyone were interested, Donald weighed-in with his thoughts on the Democratic debate. Among his profundities were “Boring!” and the incredibly ironic “How about taking care of American Citizens (sic) first!?”

Yes, the same guy who engineered the enormous giveaway to the one-percent and its corporations and routinely scales back work place, environmental and economic protections is now worried about American Citizens (sic).

Hmmm. Perhaps the error is ours that we haven't pressed Donald on his definition of Citizens (sic).

So while we tolerate things from Donald Trump even the staunchest of Democrats would have questioned had they originated with Barack Obama, we make Democrats stronger and weaken Republicans when we hold Dems to a higher standard.

Taking the high road inevitably means working at a higher elevation, and as any sentient being understands, the more-challenging the work-out environment the better the results.

We will use that muscle and kick Republican ass in 2020.