Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Sleepy Joe's a Dream

 I'm a judo player, and our platonic ideal is to use the energy of our opponents' attacks against them in order to defeat them.  It is in this spirit that I have wholeheartedly embraced the 'Sleepy Joe' moniker for President Joe Biden... we will all be sleeping better with an adult in charge of the executive branch.  

I was all-in for Elizabeth Warren in the primary, seeing Joe Biden as too much of a centrist for me, but I think today's Joe Biden is a better man than 1980 Joe Biden or even 2012 Joe Biden.  To crib a line from the Good Professor, Joe Biden has suffered incredible bereavement throughout his life... His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.  I believe that the Joe Biden who swore the oath of office today is wiser than those previous incarnations.

Joe Biden's ascent to the Presidency is an ascent to country wracked by the American Carnage that his ignominious predecessor spoke of, and subsequently created.  Even before he was sworn in, Biden's attendance at a COVID-19 memorial service signaled his empathy and capacity for compassion.  He will be burdened with the national pandemic response, a disaster that he inherits from an incompetent, corrupt scoundrel, and I personally don't see a turnaround in the bad situation for another six months or so... but he WILL respond.

Watching the inauguration ceremony, I was relieved to see that people with normal human emotions, empathy and camaraderie, had replaced an individual motivated purely by greed and grievance.  Kamala Harris, a transformative figure as the first female, African-American, and Asian-American Vice President, radiated joy.  Joe Biden himself delivered a much-needed call for unity (I expect that he will task his underlings in the DoJ to do the requisite ass-kicking):

But the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us.
On "We the People" who seek a more perfect Union. This is a great nation and we are a good people.
Over the centuries through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we have come so far. But we still have far to go.  We will press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and possibility. Much to repair. Much to restore. Much to heal. Much to build. And much to gain. 
 
Even more importantly, President Biden is demonstrating his commitment to a progressive agenda with his executive orders rejoining the Paris climate accords, aggressively responding to the COVID pandemic, rejoining the World Health Organization, extending moratoria on evictions and foreclosures, reversing the travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries, reining in oil and gas extraction at national monuments, working for racial equity in federal programs, committing to giving the 'Dreamers' a pathway to citizenship, and other policies that appeal to the more progressive members of the Democratic Party.  Today's Biden looks to me to be a changed man, much more liberal than the senator from business-friendly Delaware.

It's up to us to keep the pressure on the Democrats, to better reflect values of the progressive electorate that put them in the seats of power.  We need to force Sleepy Joe to be a dream for us, even if it means he is a nightmare to others... such as these creeps.

5 comments:

Anathema Device said...

I congratulate all of you on a splendid new President and amazing VP, and a happy, wonderful inauguration and party afterwards.

Best of all, on Day one, Biden threw out some of the worst things Trump ever did, and promise more. He also got rid of some of the worst people Trump tried to foist on him.

I hope he has four, good, strong years and Kamala follows on from him in like manner.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

It's genuinely a relief. Over the past couple of years, I honestly had to have conversations with friends about the possibility we'd have to hide immigrant, or LGBTQ friends in our attics or basements.

davidchop said...

I had a similar conversation with an immigrant friend in early 2017. "You have to marry my [undocumented] sister!" Cooler heads prevailed, but she was dead serious at the time.

StringOnAStick said...

I knew I'd feel relief once the reins of government passed from that hideous excuse for a human being, I had no idea how much though. It was the first inauguration I ever watched every bit of, and the first time I've ever cried over the transfer of power.

We have a ton of work to do and we can't let up because they and their media enablers never do, but for today I am enjoying a long list sense of hope and peace.

Anonymous said...

I mirrored your preference for Warren and concern about Biden.
but Considering the damage that has been done to the structural components of gove by demented donnies crew of incompetetnt theives and scammers I take comfort in Biden.
With his years of oversight experience from the senate and his 8 years as VP this is a man who knows the "mechanics" of government. He may not specifically know where the "administrative bodies" are buried but he does know where the bureaucracy would hid the bodie.
he understands the choke points in gov. and what positions are inportant.
Very little of a learning curve for him to Id those parts that are broken or being obstructive and how to fix them or clear the log jam.
At this moment that is a valuable asset to have in the Oval office.