Last night in Wilmington, Delaware, President-Elect Joe Biden gave his keynote address to the nation that has chosen him to lead for the next four years. Anyone watching on TV (start at 39:20 in the below video) could tell we were in for a good speech the moment 77-year-old Uncle Joe came jogging out to join his right-hand woman, Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris, on the outdoor stage, give her the coronavirus-safe double-fist bump, and then surely gave his Secret Service detail palpitations by standing in front of the podium and looking like he wanted more than anything to jump out into the crowd and hug people.
“Whoa—my fellow Americans!” The first thing Joe Biden said was an acknowledgement of the people around him—”and the people that brought me to the dance, Delawareans!” His whole speech was a portrait in other-orientedness, a passionate outline of hard work he will do in service to the public.
He acknowledged the vital and supportive love of his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, and his kids and grandkids. He spoke of all the ways Kamala Harris has made history and embodies his fundamental belief in America as the land of possibilities. And he spoke, with spontaneous wit, of his honest love for the Harris family: “Kamala, Doug, like it or not, you’re family. You become an honorary Biden, there’s no way out.”
Standing before us was a man who really does want to hug all of us. That simple impulse lies at the core of his first policy priority, reining in the coronavirus pandemic:
Folks, our work begins with getting Covid under control. We cannot repair the economy or relish life’s most precious moments hugging our grandchildren, birthdays, graduations, all the moments that matter most to us, until we get it under control.
On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisers to help take the Biden-Harris plan and convert it into an action blueprint that will restore it on January 20, 2021. That plan will be constructed out of compassion, empathy, and concern. I will spare no effort, none, or any commitment to turn around this pandemic [President-Elect Joe Biden, speech to the nation, Wilmington, Delaware, as transcribed by Vox, 2020.11.07].
For four years, we have heard two kinds of speeches from the White House: mostly angry improvised rants filled with insults and lies, and occasional prepared speeches recited with wheezing disinterest. President-Elect Joe Biden gave us fifteen solid minutes of unfailing passion, optimism, and meaning. He spoke of our place in a great American history of rising to challenges. He spoke of curing cancer and Alzheimer’s. He recited a popular hymn to tie his speech and his nation together:
Folks, in the last stages of the campaign, I began thinking about a hymn that means a lot to me and my family that captures the faith that sustains me and which I believe sustains America. And I hope it can provide comfort and solemn to the Americans who lost a loved one to this terrible virus this year. Our hearts go out to each and every one of you.
Hopefully this hymn gives you solace as well. It goes like this: And he will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, and make you a sign like the sun and hold you in the palm of his hand.
Together on eagle’s wings we embark on the work God called upon us to do with full hearts and steady hands, with faith in America and in each other, with love of country, a thirst for justice. Let it be the nation that we know we can be, a nation united, a nation strengthened, a nation healed [Biden, 2020.11.07].
Joe Biden is here to save our country, and our world. And he’s not shouting any nonsense about how he alone can fix our problems. He spoke so passionately to all of America last night because he knows he needs all of us to help, to reject division, to choose cooperation, to make real our possibilities. He spoke so passionately to all of us because he knows he must do his grandma’s bidding:
The United States of America, ladies and gentlemen, there has never been anything we have tried and not been able to do. Remember, as my grandpop, our grandpoppy said when I walked out of his home, when I was a kid up in Scranton, he said “Joey, keep the faith.” And our grandmother when she was alive, she yelled, “No, Joey, spread it.” Spread the faith! God love you all! [Biden, 2020.11.07]
President-Elect Biden knows he cannot fix the United States alone. He must spread his faith in America to all Americans, and inspire us all to work alongside him, as he has for his entire adult life, to serve the public good.
Great speech from President Elect Biden and also Vice President Elect Harris! Time to go to work and put this pandemic in a box or we will have no economy to work with.
On a lighter tone, Mitt Romney had this to say about trump. ““You’re not going to change the nature of President Trump in these last days, apparently, of his presidency,” Romney told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “He is who he is. He has a relatively relaxed relationship with the truth. ”
“He has a relatively relaxed relationship with the truth”. My mother would have said “He is pretty reckless with the truth”. I like both descriptions of a serial liar called trump. I can stand a thief, but I cannot tolerate a liar.
Good speech by pres-elect Biden. He urges less demonization and an end to the name calling. We must all now work together to heal in many ways.
It was a breath of fresh air listening to Biden.
The end of the Trump presidency is like your doctor telling you that you no longer have cancer.
Not so fast my friend.
Ever heard of Hammer?
:D
Yes, I have. Hammer is backed by the Lyndon LaRouche crowd. Need I say more?
And, like clockwork (ha-my fingers started to type “clownwork,” which is more appropriate), Noem goes on national tv, on ABC’s This Week with George LongGreekName, to publicly humiliate herself and all “vote-frauders,” and embarrass this entire state, by whining about the election results and trying to compare Dump losing by thousands of votes in several key states to Gore graciously conceding after a few hundred vote difference in one state in 2000. And NOT ONE F’ING WORD ever about the raging wildfire of Covid in South Dakota. I’m registered Ind and I typically vote Dem, but I’m ’bout ready to register Rep so that I can help “primary” this moron in ’22, since that will likely be the only way to get this idiot out of office in a state where a dog turd would get elected if it was in the shape of an “R”. When the hell will some “moderate” Republicans start telling the country what an embarrassment she is to the party? Oh, yeah, right, the Rs have no shame, no soul, no sense, no decency.
kj, and why shouldn’t she? For the past four years, we have lived in an America that ignores — if not rejects — facts, acts on the wildest of claims from a cult of personality leader, and gaslighted a nation into a false sense of what is “true.” Governor Noem is just a bit late being all-in to that party. Even the reporting of the news has been cowered by the Trump cult: the calling state results – even when clear by mathematical models, was being delayed for fear of Trump backlash, giving him time to create another false self-serving narrative. The Trump cult has put all who adhere to fact and science on eggshells and emboldened the blowhards.
Tell us of Hammer, please, John Dale.
I think Biden will put the hammer down on this pandemic. Biden is already tackling the trump/GNOem virus by getting staffed up for the transition. I am feeling pretty confident that we can finally get a hold on this to save our people and our economy.
kj, GNOem is Rudy Giuliana in a dress. She even is getting that Rudy hump in her back.
GNOem needs New York to tell her how to handle herself in this pandemic. She sure as hell ain’t gonna get help from Chubby.
“Just a reminder that South Dakota has the highest positivity rate in the entire country – at a SHOCKING 51%! Ironically, Noem tries to drag New York for having a worse rate — they are at 2% positivity rate, one of the lowest in the entire country. It sounds like Noem should be calling Governor Cuomo up for some advice because she clearly has no idea what she is doing.”
She is a laughing stock. Come on Billie, get after her.
John Dale,
Please tell me you aren’t rehashing the Hammer and Scorecard hoax by con artist Dennis Montgomery who scammed the Bush administration with his fake software that could supposedly intercept Al-Qaeda messages, and is now being used to manipulate votes. There is even evidence of it on YouTube (complete with spooky background music)! LOL
I’d simply roll my eyes at this, like Chris Krebs, the head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, has been doing daily on his Twitter feed. But I’m tired of hearing opinions of people who are “so much more enlightened than the rest of us”, but have clearly not taken the time to do any research. This doesn’t even make sense on so many levels.
And on that same line wow how much more could Noem have embarrassed South Dakota in that interview with George Stephanopoulos. I love her admonishing school teacher tone towards him.
Anyway, Biden won, and except for 40% of America the world rejoiced. Maybe all this distraction of fraud and whatever will give Trump less time to do all the sh*tty stuff he’s going to do anyway at the end of his term, pardon himself and all his friends, hold up transition funds, etc… but I’m sure he’ll have time to fit it in between golf games and not fighting Covid.
All the while AOC and other Biden allies plan on “lists” and payback….so American
Steve is confused as usual. Santa makes the list and checks it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice. Santa may have actually been from Turkey. Kind of appropriate as it is close to that turkey time here. Thanks for bringing it up.