Biden His Time

Four years ago, the day after the election, I wrote that I was happy about the results for two reasons.  One, that my father had died earlier in the year, so that meant he wasn't around to see this.  And the other was that it would give a lot to write about every day.

It is my hope that after January 20, I will not have a lot to write about every day.  I certainly still expect to write about politics, and regularly.  I just don't expect to do so almost Every Freaking Single Day for Four Years.  So, that would mean more Broadway music, social observations, movie discussions, sports, humor, random thoughts and folderol.  Yes, yes, there will be a lot of politics, because I like politics -- and besides, at the very least, it will take a while to decompress -- but the dynamic of life will change.  And life will be more normal.

More normal, because we'll still be in a pandemic.  And the racial divide will still be great.  And 70 million Americans voted for Trump.  

There's something I hope the press is careful about in its discussion of President-Elect Joe Biden's task ahead.  So many are saying that he now has to heal America.  But Joe Biden will not heal America.  I can't imagine anyone who would be able to heal America over the next four years.  There's at least one-third of the country who is virulently racist or thinks the election was stolen from Trump or thinks Biden is a socialist or who hates that a woman is vice president or who thinks Trump is still anointed by God.  And Trump will still be trying to stir them up.  And Russia will still be trying to attack the country through social media and stir them up.  They are not going to be "healed" anytime soon.  What President Biden can do is be a steady influence in the country and hopefully make life better for many people -- those who voted for him and didn't, and show decency  and manage the pandemic recovery well and, hopefully, heal enough people's disappointment that the country won't be as completely divided as it is now.

By the way, speaking of Russia, what I hope one of the first things Joe Biden does as President is call Vladimir Putin and explain the sanctions he is putting in place and make clear that the United States will be retaliating in kind after four years of Russian attacks on the U.S, and that unless Russia pulls back immediately from its ongoing efforts, then this retaliation will be much stronger than is currently planned.  Because the era of free access during the Trump administration is over.

What was so notable about Joe Biden defeating Trump was the reaction across America.  So many analysts, including foreign correspondents, said that it looked like what we see when countries overthrow a dictator.  My cousin Jim Kaplan said that he and his wife were awakened in their quiet neighborhood here in Los Angeles by banging on pots and pans, shouting with joy, and cars honking. Without even putting the news on, they knew what it was about.

What's notable, too, is that more world leaders have congratulated Joe Biden on being elected the next President of the United States than have Republican officials. I hope that Biden recognizes that while, as he has said, Republicans are opponents, not enemies -- many Republicans, including those in elected official positions, are indeed enemies.  Mitch McConnell said on the first day of Barack Obama's presidency that his Job One was to ensure that President Obama didn't have a second term.  He said before the 2016 election that if it turned out Hillary Clinton was elected president, he would do everything he could to block every Supreme Court nomination she might have a chance to make.  There are now reports that McConnell has said that he will try to block any cabinet appointments Biden makes if they're too liberal.  Mind you, I don't think he'd be successful at that.  But the point is that Mitch McConnell appears to see Democrats as the enemy, and if so, should be seen the same.  And he's not alone.  Other than Mitt Romney, not one Republican in Congress has congratulated Joe Biden on winning the election and becoming President of the United States.  When literally none of your 250 opponents in Congress except for one person even congratulate you on winning, you might want to regularly keep taking a close look to see if at least some of them might, in fact, be enemies.

The good thing is -- whether or not Democrats do end up with the Senate majority, or if they do in two years when 22 Republicans senators are up for re-election compared to only 12 Democrats -- Joe Biden will be President, and there is much he can do by Executive Order.  And much he can do to stop acts that Trump set in motion.  Biden has already announced just a few such things he will do on his first day in office.  He will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord.  He will rejoin the World Health Organization.  He will remove the ban on Muslims immigrating to the United States.  He will reinstitute the Dreamers Act.  He will created a commission to find a way to reunite the immigrant children taken from their parents.  And starting today, he is putting together a Task Force to deal with the pandemic.

These are no small things.  And he isn't even going to be sworn in as President for six weeks.

Election Day was still troubling.  There is great divide and anger in the country.  And there is still a pandemic with 243,756 Americans dead.  And Trump is still in office for another two months and will continue to cause problems, even more so since he is unable to handle being defeated.  But -- Joe Biden being elected president and Trump being defeated is such a glorious way to move forward.