Fan Letter For Joe

Amid the ongoing challenges of this country, I have been delighted and inspired by our new President, Joe Biden. I was one of the less-than-thrilled Democrats when he won the party’s nomination over the rest of the diverse and freshly faced field. Biden appeared to be a legacy of the old guard of well-meaning white guys who were trying to do good but were actually part of the institutional problem that led us to our current mess. But as a leader, he has taken bold step after bold step to act in alignment with the values that I believe are at the core of our experiment in democracy.

From the beginning, he has ignored the taunts and antics of the opposition and focused on both a message of respect for all as well as on policies and people that reflect the actual diversity and challenges of our changing nation. Beginning with his selection of Kamala Harris, a woman of Asian and Black heritage, to be his Vice-President going to his Executive Orders yesterday targeted to limit gun violence, he has shown great conviction combined with flawless political acumen in moving forward. He is realistic (e.g. not proposing showy gun regulations to Congress that have no realistic path forward in a nearly divided Senate) but willing to move forward in the face of intransigent opposition in whatever way is possible. Several times I have heard him quoted as saying ‘Politics is the art of what is possible,’ and ‘In politics, timing is everything.’

Biden is a surprising President. The clear and focused energy of his whole administration is a welcome change from the chaos and drama of his predecessor. While the Republicans continue to stoke the culture wars to rouse the anger of their base, Biden moves ahead with policies and legislation that are broadly popular with all Americans. The COVID relief bill and the proposed infrastructure legislation are confident and specific actions designed to benefit many. They are demonstrations of the capacity to use the government to support the values of justice, equality and compassion that have been part of our nation since its inception. If the previous President embodied the unbridled narcissistic individualism that is one thread of our national character (and all of us individually as well), this President seems to live out the flip side: respect, voluntary mutual support and innovative collective solutions for difficult problems.

Our national struggle with polarization, disinformation and ill-will continues. But President Biden is demonstrating a way forward. Rather than focus on what ‘they ‘ did or said, we keep focused on taking principled steps to move us all forward. Biden is using all of his considerable political acumen to work the levers of government to pass legislation and implement policies he believes will support all Americans. He is not waiting for the political consensus that will not come but using all the duly conferred power of his office and position to work for the good of the many. For those still under the spell of the past-President’s disinformation campaign about the election being rigged, no amount of arguing will win the point. Without focusing on calling the opposition names, without calling out the Republican Congressional leaders for their obstructionist and anti-democratic tactics, Biden is making his continuing case to the American people.

Part of me now wants to lean back in my chair and ‘let Joe do it.’ I’m not a naturally political person, I’d rather work in my garden, write about the weirdness and wonder of life and practice meditation. Now that we’re not on the edge of democratic collapse, my tendency is to get back to ‘normal’ life, but I remind myself that the challenges to our nation and our world are ongoing and urgent. We have only barely taken the first steps in unbuilding our national legacy of centuries of racial violence. Income inequality is directly stunting the lives of so many, including innumerable children who are perhaps our most precious resource for a sustainable future. The web of life of earth, air, and water that supports our very lives is in terrible distress and moving quickly in the wrong direction. Gun violence proliferates. Voting rights are threatened. COVID continues.

In the face of these innumerable and ongoing challenges, we must each continue to do what we can to rebuild the fabric of our social and physical world:

–Actively make a friend who is not ‘like you.’
–Write letters and emails to let your voice be heard
–Get involved to take action with others around you who share your concern
–Find ways to honor the humanity of each person even as you stand for truth, justice and compassion
–Do your own inner work
–Let your life be a reflection of what you love

And perhaps we can all channel our inner ‘Joe Biden’ – seemingly mild-mannered but surprising shrewd and powerful crusader for justice, compassion and the mutual dignity of all.