Hope, Unity, and Patience

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I was impressed with Joe Biden’s and Kamala Harris’ speeches tonight.  Here is a link to both video and text of the speech.  For me, one of the most welcome things to hear was …

“All those of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple of times myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance.  It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again, and to make progress.”

These are words that we have not heard since President Obama left office on January 20th, 2017.  This is the polar opposite of what we have become used to hearing and it was a breath of fresh air, a welcome relief after all the hate and divisive language we’ve become used to.

Now, a few people have let me know in no uncertain terms that they are not pleased with Biden.  It’s not that they wanted Trump to win, necessarily, but they have issues with some of what Biden will or will not do.  Let me start by saying that we cannot have everything on our wish list – this is a nation of 330 million people, people with different goals and hopes, differing priorities and values.  As John Lydgate and later Abraham Lincoln famously said, “You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”.

There is much wrong in this nation today and Joe Biden is going to have a struggle trying to prioritize what must be addressed first, getting legislation through Congress, and re-establishing relationships, both domestic and international.  We cannot expect to get everything we want, and we cannot expect anything to be accomplished overnight.  For the good of this nation, we all need to be patient and supportive of this administration, rather than constantly seeking reasons to criticize.  Some will call me a hypocrite for saying this, since I have been hypercritical of Donald Trump since long before his inauguration and ever since.  But there is a difference … Donald Trump never had the best interests of this nation and its people at heart.  Joe Biden does.

No president will be able to do everything we would like, and there will be times you and I disagree with the president’s actions … that has been the case in every nation and under every leader since the beginning of organized governments.

The things I am most pleased about in the Biden/Harris agenda are that they plan to re-join the Paris Climate Accord and reverse the withdrawal from the World Health Organization – these are two big ones, for climate change and the pandemic are the biggest threats to life, not only in the U.S., but worldwide.  Biden plans to repeal the ban on almost all travel from some Muslim-majority countries, and he will reinstate the DACA program allowing “dreamers,” who were brought to the United States illegally as children, to remain in the country.

Biden will also need to focus on filling cabinet positions, which may prove difficult if Mitch McConnell remains Senate Majority Leader and proves to be as unwilling to work with Biden as he was with Obama.  He will also need to re-establish relations with our allies, to earn once again the respect of other nations that has been shredded in the past four years.  He must re-implement environmental regulations that were rolled back by the current administration that was more interested in pleasing the fossil fuel industry than in the health of the world.

And, of course, the first order of business will be a strategic plan to control and contain the coronavirus pandemic that is raging out of control in this country.  To that end, Biden has already made plans to set up a coronavirus task force on Monday, in recognition that the global pandemic will be the primary issue that he must confront. The task force, which could begin meeting within days, will be co-chaired by former surgeon general Vivek H. Murthy and David Kessler, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner.  He has a plan.  He realizes that he cannot simply ignore it and hope it goes away.

Now, some of the things I’ve been told people don’t like are that he has already said he would not sign legislation that would provide Medicare-for-all.  He has, however, promised to build on ACA, to fix what needs to be fixed and expand coverage.  You don’t go from zero to a hundred overnight … small steps. I think that ultimately this nation will have either Medicare-for-all or some form of universal health care, but we have to start somewhere … you don’t build a city from rubble in one day.

I’ve also heard from some that they are displeased that he won’t ban fracking.  Okay, I would like to see fracking banned, as well, but again, it doesn’t happen overnight.  Win some, lose some – that’s the way it works in a democracy.  And I’ve also heard displeasure because he has no plans to ‘defund the police’.  Folks … you cannot simply defund the police.  I am as aware as any of the problems of systemic racism in our police departments and yes, it needs to be fixed!  But cutting funding to police departments is NOT the answer.  The answer is more training, psychological profiling, and accountability.  Federal oversight of problematic police departments is crucial, and any officer caught with his proverbial pants down is out … no second chances.  Sensitivity training, which the incumbent has called “un-American” is essential.  But you cannot simply shutter the police departments around the nation.

No, Joe Biden will not be perfect – he will make mistakes, he will sometimes do things we don’t agree with or that we don’t understand the reason for, but … he is a good and decent man who will do his best to heal this nation, to narrow the divide between right and left, to initiate conversations such that we can begin to try to understand each other once again.  And, he will uphold the U.S. Constitution as per his Oath of Office.

The next 73 days are going to be filled with garbage talk from the current administration and we will have to do our best to simply ignore it.  Biden’s win is sound enough to withstand challenges and recounts, so at this point, the incumbent is irrelevant, and we really can afford to ignore him.  What we cannot afford is to lose our hope, to allow the detritus to bring us down.  Keep remembering that awesome feeling when you heard, yesterday morning, that Joe Biden was the president-elect.

41 thoughts on “Hope, Unity, and Patience”

  1. unity, you clowns want unity, after 4 years of painting all trump supporters as racists, homophobic zenaphobic scum and you just expect that now that your man has won, everyone should smile and just get along? Bullshit! What if republicans had spent the whole 8 years of the obama administration calling him a communist and then when trump won, they said to you that we should all just unify and heal? Would you be okay with that or would you also call bullshit and want to hold them accountable for their reprehensible behavior?
    Think about it.

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    • Scott, no one should indict any group based on actions of a few. I agree with that part of your comment. That is grossly unfair. Indicting all Democrats for the actions of a few numbskulls is as inappropriate as saying all Republicans are racists because white supremacists tend to vote that way. Yet, you are forgetting that Donald Trump launched his political fame by saying the African-American president was not born here and beating that drum for several years. And, Mitch McConnell said his first goal in 2009 is to make Obama a one term president.

      I am tired of people arguing off anecdote and being hypocritical. When McConnell said that, my reaction was your first goal is to do your damn job and serve Americans. I have witnessed the most corrupt and deceitful president in my lifetime for going on four years. What he is doing now is not surprise. Like Democrats, Biden is not perfect, but he will try to unite us. We should not forget that General James Mattis, Trump’s first Secretary of Defense, said Trump “does not even try to unite us.

      So, from my independent’s chair, I see a huge difference between the two parties. And, I welcome a change. Keith

      Liked by 2 people

    • Since Keith has responded to you far better than I could have done, I will only tell you that I really don’t appreciate being called a clown, and I damn sure don’t appreciate you calling my readers clowns. CUT THE CRAP, Scott! If you’ve got a point, then make your point without name-calling.

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    • Well said!!! I have a feeling that Joe may not even make it through his first four years … he will be 78 when he takes the Oath of Office … 9 years older than me, and I don’t think I could survive four years in that stressful job. But, as you say, let us hope he sticks around long enough to help Kamala learn the ropes, and that she is up to the task if it falls to her.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Hello Jill. I am late to the party but I would like to address the issue of fracking. It really is a nonsense issue in that it is dying fast, and maybe gone by 2022. Fracking only made money for the first groups getting into it. It needs oil to be selling for $80-$100 a barrel to be profitable. I have been reading that it has been winding down since oil has been selling for $30-$40 dollars a barrel. They say it is only investors money they are using to stay afloat right now, and once that is gone fracking will simply stop. Just as oil it self is a ending industry that is trying to suck the last bits of money out of. The oil reserve is a finite resource and is running out. To all the people who claim we need oil to be secure, to have our economic engine run, that is Republican talking points not grounded in reality. I won’t belabor the points we all know, but I would ask if you are feeling better these days. You got your fervent wish, Biden won and tRump lost. Best wishes. Hugs

    Liked by 1 person

    • Heck, Scottie … I am always late to your parties … I’m always late to everyone’s parties!!!

      Thanks for the clarification on fracking! I wasn’t aware that it is only as good as the price of oil. Yes, oil and coal are dying industries, no matter what Trump, the Koch brothers, and others would wish. The future lies in renewable energy, whether people like it or not. Thanks again … for much of this is news to me. Hugs!

      Liked by 1 person

  4. a quote from twitter that sums up how some people feel.
    “And just like that the rioting and looting has ceased overnight. And now the half of the country that pummeled America like a battered wife is telling her to put on sunglasses, hide her black eye, be a good girl, and “come together as one.” Her answer? “Go f*ck yourself.”

    Liked by 1 person

    • Scott, we live in a very uninformed country. As a result, people who do not pay attention are told what to think. The significant majority of protestors were peaceful demonstrations, yet you cannot run against that. You must play up the rioting and looting that very few support. To be frank, Congressman Jim Clyburn noted this weekend the term “defund the police” was a poor choice of words – do you think? Of course it was as the subtlety of using some of the funds for mental health and social workers was lost. Defund the police became a bumper sticker to rail against and that slogan fed right into Trump’s hands.

      Now, we have a president who has been planning exactly what he is doing for over four months by defaming the mail-in vote in process and hiring over 1,000 lawyers around the country back in the summer. Whether one likes Bernie Sanders or not, he predicted with eerie accuracy what the president would do – claim victory, say he was being cheated and then contest the election. What saddens me is 70% of my former party believe this highly untruthful person. And, Senators that should know better are providing air cover for this corrupt person.

      I have no doubt you found that twitter comment. As Chris Wallace noted on election night when Trump claimed victory, that is reckless and inflammatory. But, the difference between the character of the two candidates is significant. Trump winning would have been bad for our country. Trump overturning what has been a remarkably smooth election process would take America down. As his niece said, Trump will burn down America to win.

      That is scares me greatly. Keith

      Liked by 2 people

    • What ‘rioting and looting’??? Methinks whoever posted that tweet has been listening to QAnon for too long. I’m so tired of the blame game … and tired of the lies, the conspiracy theories …

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  5. Fine speeches full of hope and Van Jones expresses that hope well. The ball appears to be in the Republican court, will they co-operate. I hope so, a good start would be to give Mitch’s job to someone else and remove his power. There’s a lot of rebuilding to be done and it will take effort on both sides. Wait for the day when Trump and his family are gone and it will be like the sun has come out after a long spell in the shade.
    Cwtch

    Liked by 1 person

    • I agree … we heard words in their speeches that we haven’t heard for four years now. I’m not sure how the republicans will respond once Trump is gone. Perhaps they will come ’round and realize that they are at a tipping point where they can either be part of the solution or part of the problem. They certainly haven’t given us much reason to expect conscience from them of late, but I’m willing to give them one last chance. Oh yes, I am so looking forward to being able to breathe again! To seeing the sun shine again. To feeling safe once again.
      Cwtch

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Thank you: ignore irrelevance, and “a struggle trying to prioritize what must be addressed first, getting legislation through Congress, and re-establishing relationships, both domestic and international. We cannot expect to get everything we want, and we cannot expect anything to be accomplished overnight. ”

    Good points.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I very much agree. From this side of the Atlantic, you all seem too far to the right, but simply put, Biden was the better choice so we must give him a chance. And ride him hard when he does not come up to scratch.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you, Mister Bump! Yes, we have drifted too far to the right, for sure. For one thing … really, I think the main thing … is the fact that big corporate donors are now allowed to practically buy politicians. Donate a million dollars, and the guy in Congress will vote against regulations in your industry that might lower your profit. Sigh. Thanks for visiting!

      Liked by 1 person

      • Yes your big problem is to revamp political funding. I think that knocks several things out, potentially. But I think you have a few things wrong, at your core, which require constitution changes. In that sense, I don’t see things changing as radically as they might.
        But, you know, there are inequities in every system, not least my own.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Political funding, gerrymandering, the electoral college … all contribute to skewed election results. But, as you say, to get rid of the electoral college would take a constitutional amendment, which isn’t likely to fly in the current divisive nature of both government and the people. Every nation has it’s troubles these days, in part due to the populist movement that is a result of the Arab Spring movement and thus the refugee crisis. You have your Brexit and we have our Trump. Sigh.

          Liked by 1 person

  8. It is the 73 days I am worried about. Now that Trump knows he is losing his cushy job, he is liable to work even harder to finish draining the swamp! We know he is a vindictive person, and the possibilities scare me to death!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Yes, the possibilities are endless, including possibly sharing highly classified information with foreign powers such as Russia or Saudi Arabia. Sigh. Something else I can lose sleep over.

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  11. A pity you have a transition period. When we have a change of government, the morning after the election a removal van is at the back door of number 10 Downing Street and the new Prime Mimister already on his way to Buckingham Palace. As for depolicing I can see actual real criminals would think this an excellent idea!

    Liked by 1 person

    • American police are more worried about normal people of colour than they are of the criminal element. No one wants the police abolished, all we want is the police to stop shooting innocent people, or even criminal people. They are police, not judges, juries, or worst of all, executioners. Well, actually, they are executioners in this new policing process, but they should not be. They are not doing their jobs, so why should they be paid. Instead of a salary, police should be paid by piecework: for every person they arrest who is properly convicted by a court of law, that is when they should be paid. Who else gets paid for doing such piss-poor jobs as they do? Oh yeah, politicians! Notice any similarities?
      Yeah, transition periods are a farce,aren’t they!

      Liked by 3 people

    • Most often, the transition period is a good thing, it gives the incoming president and his team to become informed of things that are in the works, information they might not otherwise have access to. However, this is one time I think the transition period is likely to do more harm than good, for I cannot see ‘Team Trump’ cooperating at all, and it gives Trump additional time to further the destruction of the nation. Sigh. But, it’s only 73 days now … we will get through this!

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Excellent post. “And, he will uphold the U.S. Constitution as per his Oath of Office,” you wrote. That alone will be a gigantic improvement over the incumbent who showed no respect for the Constitution.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks, Jerry! Yes, that will be a 180° turn from the last four years! Just listening to Biden’s and Harris’ speeches was the difference between night and day as opposed to Trump’s. Let us hope this nation can soon begin the healing process.

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  14. Pingback: Two great speeches – words of unity, healing and working together | musingsofanoldfart

  15. Jill, they both were well spoken. It was nice to hear words like unity, hope, doing things together, rather than demonization of any group. Biden and Harris are not perfect, but they will try to bring us together. But, we should also highlight the major occurrence of Harris as VP and what that represents for women, African-Americans, and immigrants. Keith

    Liked by 1 person

    • Yes, they both were and like you, I found it a breath of fresh air to hear positive words, rather than the negativity we’ve become so used to. They will do their best, I have no doubt … the question becomes, will the nation allow them to?

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    • Yes, I saw that clip yesterday and it brought tears to my eyes, too! I’m with you … I haven’t felt that there was hope for this nation since the day Obama left office, but now I feel hopeful once again. A lot of problems lie ahead … I just hope we can weather the storm.

      Liked by 1 person

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