President Joe Biden’s first prime-time White House address, which he delivered shortly after signing a $1.9 trillion stimulus package, was as direct and unambiguous as they come: he directed state officials to make all American adult eligible for the Corona vaccine by May 1; expands ways to administer the shots, including recruiting anyone who knows how to push a needle in an arm (veterinarians, dentists, it’s all good); plans to boost the economy posthaste; invest a massive effort to reopen American schools safely; and calls for national unity—which the $1,400 stimulus checks should help bring about, seeing as their popularity is skyrocketing; condemns hate crimes against Asian-Americans.
All the while taking a number of underhanded swipes at former President Donald Trump and even taking credit for steps that Trumps already accomplished; nor did Biden give Trump any credit for Operation Warp Speed and the rapid development of the vaccine which made this all possible.
But he offered empathy which, coming from the most grandfather-like president of the United States, was strangely effective:
“I know it’s been hard. I truly know,” Biden said. “As I’ve told you before, I carry a card in my pocket with the number of Americans who have died from COVID to date. It’s on the back of my schedule. As of now, total deaths in America, 527,726. That’s more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and 9/11 combined.
“They were husbands, wives, sons, and daughters, grandparents, friends, neighbors, young and old. They leave behind loved ones, unable to truly grieve or to heal, even to have a funeral. But I’m also thinking about everyone else who lost this past year to natural causes, by the cruel fate of accident or other diseases. They, too, died alone. They, too, leave behind loved ones who are hurting badly.”
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“You lost your job, you closed your business, facing eviction, homelessness, hunger, a loss of control. Maybe worst of all a loss of hope. Watching a generation of children who may be set back up to a year or more because they’ve not been in school because of their loss of learning. It’s the details of life that matter the most, and we miss those details, the big details and the small moments, weddings, birthdays, graduations, all of the things that needed to happen but didn’t.
“The first date, the family reunions, the Sunday night rituals. It’s all has exacted a terrible cost on the psyche of so many of us. For we are fundamentally a people who want to be with others, to talk, to laugh, to hug, to hold one another. But this virus has kept us apart. Grandparents haven’t seen their children or grandchildren. Parents haven’t seen their kids. Kids haven’t seen their friends.”
[…]
And strong words of encouragement and advice, again, the kind you’d expect from grandpa:
“Look, we know what we need to do to beat this virus. Tell the truth. Follow the scientists and the science. Work together. Put trust and faith in our government to fulfill its most important function, which is protecting the American people. No function more important. We need to remember the government isn’t some foreign force in a distant capital. No, it’s us. All of us. We, the people.”
[…]
Also from the nation’s grandfather, absolutely no delusional talk about how bad things are today, no promises that this thing will fade away by magic, but just as his recognition of reality is not obscured by wishful thinking, so is his plan to get out of the crisis real and believable:
“Just 14% of Americans over the age of 75 – 50 days ago had gotten their first shot. Today, that number is well over 70%. With new guidance from the centers for disease control and prevention, the CDC, that came out on Monday, it means simply this. Millions and millions of grandparents who went months without being able to hug their grandkids can now do so and the more people who are fully vaccinated the CDC will provide additional guidance on what you can do in the workplace, places of worship with your friends as well as travel. When I came into office you may recall I set a goal that many of you said was kind of way over the top. I said I intended to get 100 million shots in people’s arms in my first 100 days in office.
“Tonight, I can say we’re not only going to meet that goal, we’re going to beat that goal. Because we’re actually on track to reach this goal of 100 million shots in arms on my 60th day in office. No other country in the world has done this, none. And I want to talk about the next steps we’re thinking about.”
In a time of national crisis, God often uses history to provide precisely the type of leader a nation needs. President Joe Biden is not a genius, he seems to be facing some memory and cognitive issues related to his advanced age (although these days 70 is the new 50 for many folks). But on Thursday night his speech offered clarity and decisiveness to a torn and aching nation, trapped in sickness and poverty. He offered a way out of the mess, in detail, and without lying. Well, almost without lying, those pesky fact-checking websites caught him in a few fibs. It’s OK. Americans can always say it’s just grandpa, you know, he forgets stuff, even when reading off a teleprompter.
As of this morning, Joe Biden enjoys a 53% approval rating, compared with 40% of Americans who disapprove of his record so far. But they might change their mind once they each receive the $1,400 check.