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| Judith, by Jan Sanders van Hemessen (Art Institute of Chicago) |
Sunday was an odd day. First thing in morning I wrote my Monday column, as usual. Joe Biden had not yet withdrawn from the presidential race. But the possibility was on my mind though, honestly, I didn't think he would do it. Friday's optimism had curdled. So I wrote a melancholy column about infirmity and age and when it is time to go. Then when news hit about 1 p.m., I leapt to give the column a quick going over, to reflect the developments. That went online. One editor liked it, but another suggested I was going to the dad well one time too often — that caught my attention like a right hook — and I should work up something entirely new. So I did. But that was never published — a third editor higher up the food chain found it "political," and decided not to run it. I was disappointed though, since I also liked the column they were going with, didn't argue too much. And as it turned out, many readers were grateful, and none said "Why are you rambling on about Warren Zevon when the tectonic plates of American politics are shifting?" Particularly since I knew that here, I have no higher ups, so you can read what the paper declined to print.
I'll admit it; I'd given up hope. Everybody is so selfish, maximizing their own advantage, ignoring the common good. So of course Joe Biden would dig in and cling to his prestigious job with its big jet airplane, even as polls tanked and Democrats scrambled over each other, begging him to leave. Saturday it seemed the whole tangled ball would tumble arguing and clawing and spitting over the precipice, leaving the path clear for juggernaut Trump to glide easily back into the White House. and end American democracy.
Then ... surprise, surprise ... Sunday afternoon, Biden did the right thing.
I will admit — I never liked Biden. Having read George Packer's "The Unwinding," Biden came off as the most plastic political hack ever, with his hair plugs and fake grin. Now I think he's a patriot, if not an American hero.
Biden endorsed Kamala Harris. Not that she's a sure winner. Far from it. Harris has the same handicap that sank Hillary Clinton: She's a woman in a sexist country. Where a third of the women can't be trusted by the men running their states to decide when to have a baby.
I will admit — I never liked Biden. Having read George Packer's "The Unwinding," Biden came off as the most plastic political hack ever, with his hair plugs and fake grin. Now I think he's a patriot, if not an American hero.
Biden endorsed Kamala Harris. Not that she's a sure winner. Far from it. Harris has the same handicap that sank Hillary Clinton: She's a woman in a sexist country. Where a third of the women can't be trusted by the men running their states to decide when to have a baby.
And honestly, in the four years she has been vice president, Harris has not exactly endeared herself to the nation. She has done what vice presidents do, keep busy, keep out of trouble, and stand by in case something happens to the president. That's okay. We'll get to know her better now. The slate is clean; she has a fresh start.
Harris is 59 years old — almost two decades younger than Donald Trump. And now the focus of the election can shift directed where it belongs — not on Joe Biden's age or agility of mind — but on Donald Trump's utter unfitness to be president.
And remember. The goal is not to appeal to the 40% who are zipping up their lemming outfits and hot to march after Trump into a brave new world of totalitarian America. It's to appeal to the 5% in seven states who could have sat out the election, thinking, "I'm not bothering to vote for the old guy" who now might be lured out and support a woman of color who can be counted on to do whatever is humanly possible to avoid a nationwide ban on abortion.
Hope blooms. We now have a candidate who can speak in clear, complete, powerful sentences.Americans can once again hope we have a future that doesn't involve becoming a vassal state of Vladimir Putin.
And who will she pick to be her running mate? I bet J.B. Pritzker is on the elliptical right now. I'd say go for Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan, but a ticket with two women would cause parts of the country to implode out of sheer door-jamb gnawing, toxic male insecurity. Pete Buttigieg could fill the traditional vice presidential role of tailgunner, directing scorn at Trump from now until November.
Heck, the whole thing could be decided at the convention in Chicago next month — we've sailed into uncharted waters. Chicago is the site of the last contested vice presidential slot, in 1956, when the choice came down to Estes Kefauver and John F. Kennedy. The Democrats, true to form, chose Kefauver, a senator from Tennessee.
Maybe Biden will start a trend, of old guys realizing they've lost a step or three and deciding to pack it in.
There's no shame there. The body decays, the mind crumbles. For every timely exit — and Biden's is late, but maybe in the nick of time — a dozen stay too long. Athletes whose legs are gone, singers whose voices are shot. It's not about the age — nobody is suggesting Mick Jagger quit, because he can still do his prancing rooster routine at 80. It's about whether you can still produce.
So much is at stake in this election. As I said Friday, just the top three — mass deportations, ruinous tariffs, and a nationwide abortion ban — should have been enough to clear the benches and get people voting. But the American public, well, they can be inattentive. Hopefully Biden stepping down and Harris stepping up will catch their attention.Because when you look over the Project 2025 plan the Heritage Foundation has set out for Trump, it amounts to nothing less than a revolution, an overturning of American democracy.
Who the president is matters. Up until Sunday afternoon, that man could have been Joe Biden, again, for another four years. But he gave up his chance because he recognized reality. Democrats pressed him because they recognize reality. Democrats are the party of recognizing reality, of facts and laws. Our work is cut out for us. But now we have a fighting chance.
Hope blooms. We now have a candidate who can speak in clear, complete, powerful sentences.
Heck, the whole thing could be decided at the convention in Chicago next month — we've sailed into uncharted waters. Chicago is the site of the last contested vice presidential slot, in 1956, when the choice came down to Estes Kefauver and John F. Kennedy. The Democrats, true to form, chose Kefauver, a senator from Tennessee.
Maybe Biden will start a trend, of old guys realizing they've lost a step or three and deciding to pack it in.
There's no shame there. The body decays, the mind crumbles. For every timely exit — and Biden's is late, but maybe in the nick of time — a dozen stay too long. Athletes whose legs are gone, singers whose voices are shot. It's not about the age — nobody is suggesting Mick Jagger quit, because he can still do his prancing rooster routine at 80. It's about whether you can still produce.
So much is at stake in this election. As I said Friday, just the top three — mass deportations, ruinous tariffs, and a nationwide abortion ban — should have been enough to clear the benches and get people voting. But the American public, well, they can be inattentive. Hopefully Biden stepping down and Harris stepping up will catch their attention.
This column is good too.
ReplyDeleteI like Pete Buttigieg & I can even spell his name correctly without screwing it up, but if he were on the ticket, it's a guaranteed loser!
ReplyDeleteThere are far too many people that flat out hate him for being gay. They don't care that he served honorably as a Navy officer & is a loving family man.
They just think he's a weird pervert & are constantly attacking him over the problems at Boeing & the FAA, even though he isn't responsible for Boeing, that most of Boeing's problems are related to its utterly incompetent management, most of whom are actually the scum from McDonnell/Douglas & their appalling greed, plus those problems started long before he became Secretary of Transportation, along with the fact that he doesn't actually have day to day responsibility of actually running the FAA, he just supervises the entire Department. And government departments change as fast as molasses in January.
The same goes if she were to pick Shapiro or Pritzker, then the anti-Semites will go crazier than usual in both parties & attack her, saying it's a Jewish plot to take over the government.
I would love for her to convince Whitmer to run with her, because that would lock up the women's vote & make the anti-abortion loons heads explode!
Agree with you re Pete -- Except for being gay, he is an ideal VP candidate with his keen intellect, outstanding communication skills, and compelling relationship skills, and we need to be responsible for understanding the mindsets of the people who need to vote for him and there is still too much LGBTQ discrimination and unconscious bias in this country. I think Sen. Mark Kelly or Il. Gov. Pritzker would have the widest voter support. And a female VP candidate???? You must be kidding if you think this misogynistic country would ever vote for two women -- it's a stretch to vote for one that I'm counting on.
DeleteI don't know who appoints the people to the FAA but there are at least two former Boeing people on the board
DeleteI would pick Pritzker -- I think it's about time to challenge the anti-semite bar, as long as we're spitting in the face of the misogynists.
ReplyDeletejohn
The "Jew bar" has previously been challenged. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who served four terms in the Senate(1989-2013), was the Democratic nominee for V-P in 2000. The less said about the eventual outcome of that contest, the better. He passed away four months ago, after being injured in a fall, at the age of 82. Born the same year (1942) as Joe. I won't type what I'm thinking right now.
DeleteLieberman turned out to be a real asshole after that! He turned very right wing & opposed national health insurance due to all the insurance companies with their HQ in Connecticut. He even ran as an independent & actually won, when the Democrats there got fed up with him, but then the Re Thug Licons returned him to the Senate for a final term.
DeleteShapiro of PA might be more well known than Pritzker. Also, a moderate is needed to bring in the fence sitters. That might be the Dem. Gov. of No. Carolina, Cooper or the Sen. from AZ, M. Kelly, a former astronaut.
DeleteNo, I wasn't thinking about what a shmuck Lieberman became. My wife had to remind me of that. I was thinking about how Joe was the same age, and could easily have fallen, maybe after a dizzy spell, and suffered the same fate. Meanwhile, everyone has been focused on the Other Guy's possible demise. Falling is a leading cause of injury and death for seniors...more than 100 senior deaths a day in the U.S. When I read that statistic, from AARP, I was staggered (sorry).
DeleteBingo. Looks like my guess was right, Mr. S. You made the necessary changes ad updates to a Joe column already finished. One editor liked it, but another really gave you a slap — and a third editor who's "higher up the food chain" (good one) found it "political," and ultimately killed it. Wow. Just...wow...
ReplyDelete"Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed" is a famous quotation by Red Smith (1905-1982), the sportswriter. Another sportswriter, Paul Gallico (1897-1976), wrote, "It is only when you open your veins and bleed onto the page a little that you establish contact with your reader."
Never realized, until now, that you had three layers of bosses, not just one or two...and that you need to jump through three sets of hoops every goddamn day...well...at least on the days your column appears in the paper. That's gotta be excruciatingly tough...especially when the highest level of the brass can nullify the okays of the lower echelons, and veto something you put a lot of time and effort into.
And sometimes, your heart and your soul, as well...and it shows. Like now.
Kudos, Mr. S. And mucho apreciado.
I like Biden, but he IS a lifelong politician. I don't think that served him well in the weeks since the debate debacle. He was surrounded by loyalists, and distrusted the message being given to him by Democrats outside his circle. He viewed those calling for him to withdraw as having their own political aspirations, and said so directly when Rep Doggett (D-TX) first suggested he step back.
ReplyDeleteI thought he gave a heckuva State of the Union address not that long ago, but could not "un-see" his struggles during the debate. I remained hopeful that he would bounce back with strong press conferences and interviews, but it didn't happen. He told George Stephanopoulos he 'wasn't sure' whether he had seen video of his debate afterward, and didn't need to take a cognitive test because he 'takes one on the job everyday'. I had hoped for better answers to both those questions, and believe Biden would have given those better answers not too long ago. Up until the debate, I had seen nothing in his presentation to make me question his ability to serve a 2nd term, though I would have preferred a younger candidate. Time will eventually provide a clearer picture and timeline of what was really happening.
Biden continues to have my respect and gratitude. I hope he has a good night when he addresses the nation tomorrow night.
Meanwhile, I wonder if the GOP nominee regrets making such a big issue of age during this election cycle.
I think this cartoon says everything about the GQP & the age issue
Deletehttps://tinyurl.com/3vj2at4z
Well, not *my* bible, but it's still a great story and art subject. Love the metaphor, being clear that Holofernes stands in for the FPOTUS, not the POTUS.
ReplyDelete