APRIL 29, 2021 – In his first 100 days as president, Biden’s proving to be more than a caretaker just bidin’ time. He’s an activist president with an ambitious policy agenda. So far, the wind’s been at his back, but given the clown act he follows, “looking good”—or at least “normal”—is a low threshold.
I voted for Joe, and this choice required little thought, since his opposition had no thought whatsoever beyond a crass self-image framed in fool’s gold. Call me clueless, call me naive, call me whatever you like for my support of Biden, but in the same boat with 81 million other voters, I was traumatized by you-know-who and his “psycophantic” followers. Any words or actions that aren’t mean, clownish, corrupt, and based on falsehoods now seem refreshingly legitimate and reassuring.
But as I listened to Biden’s speech last night before a joint session of Congress, I did more than cheer. I began to think that just maybe the Republic will survive itself; that by some measure it could live up to higher standards. I found myself throwing all caution and skepticism aside and rolling with Joe all-in, 100%. The country is busted in so many ways, and when a vessel is as compromised as ours—by congenital defects and a host of other factors along our historical way—you don’t worry about the “out-of-plan” charges for making distress calls and emergency repairs.
A citizen can get behind an actual leader who has done more in his career than go bankrupt selling his “brand”; a leader whose words mean something when he says, “I ain’t given’ up and neither should you—neither should we!” “America’s back!” “Together we can do it!” and “I’ve come up with a legislative plan that recognizes years of neglect and its consequences and proposes big-dollar, all-out changes to save us from [an unfavorable comparison to Zimbabwe].”
Republicans can whine and fuss all they wish—and do—about “what it’s all going to cost,” except . . . WAIT! They lost all license to complain when they passed the Tax Cuts and Job Act (“TCJA”) of 2017—the net effect of which, as projected by the Congressional Budget Office, is to add $1.9 trillion to the federal deficit.
Let’s face it. The Republican agenda calls for serving the top 1% under the cover of “trickle down” economics—the operative word being “trickle.” Take a ride on the New York City subway system or take a look at the ancient, lead-lined pipes through which drinking water is pumped into the ramshackle dwellings of millions of Americans—then meet the people inside those homes. In many quarters you won’t even find a trickle of hope, and that condition threatens the viability of our Republic.
If the nation implodes or explodes because of our neglect, the staggering cost of our failure will be borne by us all.
Biden sees our reality and is rushing to address it. It’s time for the country—left, right, and center—to catch up.
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© 2021 by Eric Nilsson
