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Although I won’t fully believe it until Jan 20 when Joe Biden has actually been sworn in, today marks the passing of three important signposts along the way.
First, after two weeks of hapless court cases, one of which was described by a conservative Republican judge in Pennsylvania as stitched together so haphazardly as to resemble Frankenstein’s Monster, the legal challenges to Biden’s victory seem to be somewhere between deathbed and grave. Mayor Rudy, farewell, RIP.
Second, after two weeks of extreme hissy fits, the defiant President of the United States has apparently communicated with the head of his General Services Administration. She says that she has now sufficiently “ascertained” that Joe Biden won the election, and that she will allow members of his incoming administration to be granted access to official governmental resources. How sweet of her.
Third involves the unveiling of the Biden administration. Quite by accident I happened to flick on the TV this afternoon just before the announcement and presentation of a half dozen or so high level Biden appointees, people who will be charged to lead the US back, first into some semblance of normalcy and then into leadership.
On the stage, masked and socially distanced, stood a batch of people most of whom I’d never heard of. Among them were Anthony Blinken (Secretary of State), descended from Holocaust survivors, Alejando Mayorkas (Secretary of Homeland Security), whose family fled Castro’s Cuba, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield (Ambassador to the UN), who was the first in her African-American family to graduate high school no less college. Not a lot of celebrities here. Rather than big names, what they had in common was education, experience, and expertise. These were highly intelligent people who had risen through the ranks, who could boast of impressive credentials that spoke to the fact that they had achieved prominence in their respective fields through effort, commitment, and excellence.
As stated about Avril Haines, incoming Director of National Security, these were people who would speak truth to power. They would not only question and challenge one another, but they would tell the Boss when they thought he was wrong. Loyalty was a condition of their employment, but they had been asked to pledge loyalty to open debate, sound decision making, and rational policies. For them, loyalty would mean a commitment to the greater good, not to party, not to their leader.
Am I getting carried away? Will some of these wonderful appointees make mistakes and prove unable to meet the challenge? Surely a few of these, or others, will come up short. It’s hard to believe that Biden would be capable of a batting a thousand. But we won’t have a Betsy DeVos who despises public education leading the Dept of Education. And we won’t have Ben Carson, the brain surgeon, masquerading as if he knew or cared a thing about Housing, the Department he headed.
It’s just so… normal, just so… inspiring, just sooo… different than the past four years.
Go get em, Joe. You are assembling a great team and making me excited about a brighter future to come.
To coin a phrase, I am coming to believe that Joe Biden can Make America Great Again.
I pretty much had the same experience today, Ed. Thanks for putting it into words. And…
“God bless America”