The 2024 election was held, a winner has been declared, and we are preparing for big changes in government once again. In the interim since Election Day the losing ticket has undergone extensive self-postmortem examination resulting in many shrill volleys of accusations aimed at multiple individuals and causes. Blame for failure has been levied, accountability for it has been awarded, and now it is time for all to face the music. Indeed, elections do have an array of consequences up to and including swallowing one’s pride and tolerating the intolerable. Inauguration Day is upon us and it is time to hand the nuclear launch codes back over to the one man who is arguably the least qualified to occupy the office which he won fairly and squarely. Assuming that his most ardent apologists are correct and that he really does not pose a threat to American democracy, then we have no worries whatsoever. Four years from now we will be celebrating the swearing in of a new chief executive because that is how the American system works. Given that the 45th and now 47th POTUS will be the oldest man ever to affirm the Oath of Office at age 78 years and 220 days, there is a significantly increased possibility of there being an appointed replacement before January 20th, 2029. As an increasingly detached observer, I will state for the record that I am not wishing nor hoping for that. However, the issue of cognitive decline and overall health and wellbeing of a late 70-something with questionable sleep patterns and dietary habits is going to be increasingly difficult to dismiss.
We will never know the number of votes FOR the 45th President or AGAINST the Democratic ticket, but the anti-incumbent wave worldwide appears to have been a definite factor in the outcome of the November General Election. Long story short, a decided majority demanded a change in leadership and change is what we got. We now find ourselves once again in that disquieting state of flux that became familiar eight years ago when even Republicans bit their lip and hoped for the best. This week as we return to government by midnight tweet, it is imperative we remember that it is not what he says but instead what he does that matters. If history is our guide, any over-the-top rhetoric is little more than a smoke and mirrors tactic to grab the attention of the media-addicted masses. It is for the most part a tool for distraction. Regardless of who may be taking up space in the Oval Office, results of the policies they foster, dictate and implement is what matter. That is the ball we must not take our eye off of.
The silver lining in this cold winter slog back to yesteryear is the nation’s economy. Not only has it recovered from the worst universal calamity of this century, but it has done so in grand fashion. America’s economy has bounced back the strongest of any nation since pandemic. It has become a cyclical dynamic that an outgoing Democratic administration will hand over to an incoming Republican one a very strong and vibrant economy. It is almost becoming sport to predict when a Republican will crash it. Such was the case eight years ago. The brief but costly upset in the stock market in the spring of 2018 generated by ill-advised tariff manipulation was relatively easily corrected by an overall strong economy. The huge crash caused by the 2020 pandemic was far worse and both occurred on the watch of the 45th President. America did bounce back; however, it will forever be a mystery as to how well the U.S. economy could have done had it not been for the novice-like handling of it at the executive level. Going forward it is my sincere hope that certain things put into place by the outgoing administration can and will continue, chief among which is the booming stock market, low unemployment and a trending down rate of inflation. At sundown on Inauguration Day, America will still be a land where the Almighty Dollar reigns supreme.
Four years ago, with the country in a mess of epic proportion, it took a seasoned public servant to guide the nation out of the depths of a very dark and frightening place in time. Even though a lot of beneficiaries of them cannot cite one accomplishment for which President Joe Biden has been responsible since January 20th, 2021, it is what he hasn’t done that will carve his place in history as a successful leader. None of his implemented policies have done anything remotely seen as harmful to the economy. Despite his party’s failure to capitalize on so many of his successes, he has been a good leader regardless of all the cheap rhetoric even from the ranks of his own party. Six months from now, perhaps a lot sooner, his maturity and guidance will be sorely missed. This nation owes President Joseph Robinette Biden a deep and sincere expression of gratitude. Thank you for your service, Mr. President!
It matters not who voted FOR the incoming President or voted AGAINST his opponents, America remains a very politically and ideologically divided nation. All the talk of his “sweeping mandate” has been subdued given that Congress is narrowly divided and the fact that after all the votes were counted, he failed to garner half the total receiving only 49.8%. One of his tall order tasks upon entering office is to “unite the nation.” As it was eight years ago, he has a lot of work ahead to accomplish this. Commands from his bully pulpit of “Stop resisting” are plain silly. It is a weak leader who must demand respect. He could command much more by publicly demonstrating a little more selflessness. However, unlike most newly elected chief executives, he has a record by which we can judge. Whether he shows us any real change from his first term remains to be seen. That is the funny thing about MAGA administration 2.0; changes may not be permanent, but change is. Hopefully America is still a strong enough place to withstand even those policies and tolerances that nearly toppled it in his first term. The one reversion that is going to hurt the worst is a return to a norm of incivility. Elections do have consequences, and he has at very least earned the right to try to win over as many of us as he can. We now march backward with a pervading sense of cautious pessimism. We may hope against hope that we will not be forced to confront the same fate as last time.
Thank you for reading.
The Fox has been deliberately let loose by the American people into the Hen-House… and the results of that are entirely predictable:
Blood and dead chickens everywhere.
And thank you for writing. It’s funny how I once thought I was in control of my life, that I was responsible for whatever happened and that I could
head off potential perceived crises based on my judgement and sense of decency. How senseless and silly of me. My life is in the hands of not only One whom I believe to be omniscient, omnipotent and omni-loving, but also in the hands of those mortals who have shown themselves to be the worst power/money/attention-hungry beings here on earth in my time. What shall I do? How does one rise from her seat in the back corner of the arena of the Real Life Shit Show and make things right? I really need to consider this. I am stumped right now. Thank you, President Biden, for your service to the USA. Thank you, Kamala Harris, for your strength and intelligence and first-class modeling of the American spirit in a non-Caucasian male mantle. I wish my vote had counted more for you. I must accept the fact that the American people have spoken, and we must still cower behind a wealthy elderly white man to protect us and makes us “great”…”again.”