A Decent President

it’s time we had one again

This morning I watched the “dignified transfer” of remains from the latest attack in Afghanistan. Biden, his wife, and a dozen or so military folks were standing at attention as each basket was carried by six soldiers into the waiting hearses.

It made me remember how Bush refused to have the return of dead soldiers televised. It also, for some reason, made me think of the story of Obama returning from an early morning visit to Dover Air Force Base in 2009 to witness the transfer of remains of 18 American victims of the Afghanistan war, and how it was said that no one in the group said a word during the 45-minute return journey.

I like Biden more than I expected to, almost as I liked Obama. Frankly, I didn’t care if Biden would be a good president or not when I voted for him; I was so desperate that we be rid of Trump I would have voted for anyone.

My respect for Biden grows every day. Every president comes into office facing dreadful things and unreasonable expectations: bad presidents ignore them and make things worse, good presidents face them and work to make them better.

Just consider what Biden faced when he took office: a pandemic, devastating effects of climate change, racial unrest, an economy barely balanced on a razor’s edge, and an unwinnable twenty-year war. Plus whatever else is going on that we know nothing about.

Throughout the eight months he’s been president he has acted with dignity, treated people with respect, and overturned as many of Trump’s executive motions as possible as quickly as he could. He has acted to bring us together as a nation, and as far as I can tell, spoken the truth. Sometimes it feels a lot longer than eight months.

I do not care a whit if you agree with me nor will I entertain any of your reasons for disagreement. At some point we all have to turn away from politics and face the reality of what is. I’m so grateful that this time around we have a decent man in the White House again.