Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
October 20, 2023
Another in a series of observations of life as I know it.
You know, history has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going. And the cost and the threats to America and the world keep rising.
-President Joseph Biden
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Well, here we are. In another hot mess. I have been on both coasts this week and I observed a deeply imbedded weariness. A desire to just get on with it and move on.
And yet, the stage is set for more flame throwing, molotov cocktails and personal attacks in Congress. Never one for deft finesse, Jim Jordan is lobbing grenades at his fellow party members. How clever. In doing so, he has alienated those who just last month considered him a comrade and fellow traveler in the arena of right of center politics. Instead of gaining supporters, he’s driving them away in droves. Not a great intellect, he thinks that piling on more is the best tactic. Sadly, more is just more, Jim. Not better. What a piece of work is man? I beg to differ. To wit: Kevin McCarthy stood this morning, without any remnant of a visible spine and nominated Jordan. That’s like King Charles I knighting his executioner. Kev gave away the store just to hang his coat temporarily in Nancy Pelosi’s closet. Now? It’s hard to say what his motives might be. Pure as the driven snow they are not. Maybe it’s sheer malice, with the hope that Jordan will suffer the same shove over a steep cliff. Clean up on aisle 5!
Meanwhile, the dominoes are starting to fall in Atlanta. The Kraken took a deal and has agreed to sing in order to avoid a cage. The Cheese just pled guilty. Watch this space. Those in the orange orbit are now realizing the dangers of the company they keep.
There is room for hope, however, in Joe Biden. The Old Man showed the world what honor and grace look like. He taught a master class in loving one’s neighbor. And issued a stern warning to Israel not to fall into the trap of retribution. An eye for an eye accomplishes nothing. Like a kindly professor, Joe schooled the warring factions and brought a glimmer of humanity to those caught in the crossfire. He was Churchill without the bombast. In Biden, we see leadership demonstrated in spades. This is what Democracy looks like. So take note.
Read. Mark. And inwardly digest. Follow the Master. Without Biden at this chaotic juncture, our nation would look even more like a ship of fools. A quagmire of self interest. A cesspool of dark money. As an ex president finds his coterie of crooks flipping against him, we are witnessing his polar opposite standing tall. If only he could bring the other branches of government to heel. To follow by example. To lead, in order to do the work the American people elected them to do. Gushing like a lovesick school girl is not my style. But we must give credit where credit is due. Amid the rubble of national political mayhem, Biden is lighting the way back to something akin to a spirit of ‘76.
