Learning to Hate a Good Man

For the first 6 years of the Obama Administration the Democrats held a majority in the US Senate. In that first year Ruth Bader Ginsburg was 76 years old. By the last year, and with a highly potential loss of Senate control projected by the Democrats, RBG was 82. She knew the nature of the Supreme Court, the far right conservative leanings of the majority, especially with Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and her friend Antonin Scalia. 

She was in very poor health contracting colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, and coronary artery disease before or during Obama’s first 6 years. She was lobbied by Obama, the Democratic leadership, and incalculable numbers of the electorate to retire and let Obama nominate a center left judge. She wouldn’t do it. Why? 

She was not ambiguous. She wanted to carry out her duties for as long as she could. It is not unreasonable to assume she felt she could do a better job than any replacement. It is also quite reasonable to assume her desire to remain in office was more important to her than the future of the Nation. For example, her decision essentially caused the repeal of Roe v Wade to become reality. 

To say that RBG’s choices are analogous to Joe Biden’s is a given, only in Biden's case the consequences are far, far more dire. Just as with Ginsburg no one is saying that Biden has not performed his duties adequately. Those with even a modicum of intelligence and a willingness to open their eyes can argue that Biden, and the team around him, have done an excellent job of managing this monolithic ship of state we call America. Yet here we are. 

The moving essay in the New York Times by George Clooney encapsulates the dilemma those of us who are not neck deep in the MAGA cabal find ourselves in. At the beginning Clooney writes “I love Joe Biden.” He follows with all the tender accolades and advice that he might have said were he sitting across from Joe in a comfy library room. The problem is that Biden cannot hear him, except those words that outline his accomplishments. Like Ginsburg, he still sees himself more than capable in solving the issues of the next Presidency, the first one being the election. Amazingly and regrettably it appears Jill Biden is equally blind for reasons of her own. 

This flaw in Joe Biden - call it narcissism, call it ego, or call it dementia if you like – is not something to be admired, cushioned by his past. Certainly not with the risks we see impending. When we look at Trump’s behavior, his promises, the goals of his long time supporters to unravel our Democracy (think Project 2025), the sacking of Ukraine, and a super Conservative majority in the Supreme Court for decades, this intransigent position of Biden’s overshadows his entire career. In hindsight, I don’t think anyone lauded over the long, accomplished career of Captain Edward Smith after he sailed the Titanic into icy waters.

Joe Biden has been a good President, perhaps much better than good as history will decide. Still, I expected him for three years to announce that he was going to be a one-term President, a transitional President to a new generation, as he proclaimed in 2021. That appears clearly to not have been his intention. After all the primaries, I tuned into the “debate” apprehensive that my hopes he could carry off an election, and take his Party with him, were not just me being in denial. I learned I had to face the truth. 

Biden’s inability to respect the opinion of those around him and, by all accounts, a majority of the electorate irrevocably erases, at least in the near term, all the good a memory can provide. It draws into question not only his ability to get elected, but that of his Presidency as yet unfinished.  Frankly, I don’t want a President whose decisions can only be changed by the “Lord Almighty”. 

At this point I don’t like the 2024 Joe Biden, I don’t like him a bit. That’s a 180 for me from 2020. Now the question is can the Democratic Party and its leadership convince Biden to willingly free his delegates. Otherwise it's like taking a loved one, who has turned cognitively angry and belligerent, out of his home. There’s just sadness left, and sadness is the last thing the Democratic Party needs now.