There are some personal benefits which the Biden administration achieved that I find noteworthy, because they address personal needs of my own and are a demonstration of a president who cares about people more than raising money to be re-elected. One of those things is getting insulin prices capped at $35 a month for senior adults. That directly affects me. The price of insulin is ridiculously high, mostly due to profiteering. I hope this restriction on prices lasts, because there is no way I would be able to afford insulin otherwise, it is too expensive.
And then, it appears that he has achieved some success in getting the attacks on Gaza stopped, or at least, to getting a cease fire deal. It's his agreement they're working with. He deserves the credit for that.
So thank you...
...for considering the suffering and deprivation of people coming to the United States and offering them asylum.
...for getting us out of Afghanistan, and for not getting us into any other war.
...for the infrastructure bill, which I have personally witnessed making improvements in my community. And for fighting inflation and being successful at it.
...for being a President with integrity, who tells the truth, so much the opposite of the failed, immoral, worldly, licentious, pathological liar to which the other party is mindlessly addicted.
The Legislative and Political Accomplishments are Great, but the Integrity is Greater
There are long lists of Biden's political accomplishments that will be part of the historical record. But there is something that Americans need to learn, once again, how to value in the people they choose as leaders, and it is something that many of them have set aside, either as a result of their own ignorance, or a deliberate choice to be ignorant, that is still part of what I consider to be the moral qualification of a President. And that's a person's integrity.
It's not possible to live a public life and hide a lack of integrity. And frankly, I think that is the primary qualification for anyone desiring to serve in public office. As a voter, it is important for me to trust the person I'm voting for, to know they they are genuine, they tell the truth, and they value the responsibility for the public service they have because they love this country and care about its people. In a system that has become increasingly corrupted by money needed to campaign and by the increasing ability of money to buy the loyalty of politicians, as well as their favor, integrity in a political candidate is increasingly rare, and at the same time increasingly important.
Joe Biden is a man of integrity.
I don't expect politicians to be perfect, they will inevitably make mistakes. But when it comes to their integrity, demonstrated by the consistent practice of values that include morality, and respect for all human rights. I've heard conservative Evangelicals excuse their preference for a worldly, immoral leader by claiming they are not voting for a pastor-in-chief, but for a commander-in-chief, but I think the qualifications, when it comes to immorality, are the same. A vote cast for someone who lacks integrity or moral values is an indication of a lack of one's own personal character and morality. President, or pastor, it doesn't matter. Both positions require exceptional standards, and Joe Biden certainly meets those standards.
A Missed Opportunity?
When I look at this term, and evaluations of the Biden Administration's performance as a Presidential administration, I have to wonder just how much better off the United States would have been if Joe Biden had been able to mount a campaign and run for President following the Clinton Administration. The course of politics is not predictable, and that's something that we will never know. I am glad that he was able to reach the Presidency, though, even though it was late in his life and at the end of his political career. He deserved it. He was certainly exactly what this county needed after the most disastrous, failed Presidency in history.
And looking back over his long career, Biden was a huge support to helping Carter, Clinton and particulary Obama be successful. He may very well be one of the last great statesmen to serve in the White House. We are beyond the ability and use of statesmanship to maintain a bi-partisan kind of cooperation with the GOP in order to make government work. Biden was successful. The responsibility for that now is all on the other side, and they are in winner-take-all mode.
History, and All That...
The Presidency has an interesting history in this country, and people have different opinions when it comes to who did a good job and who didn't. Not everyone who served did so with integrity, or with pure motives, or had the best interests of the country in mind while they were in office. And the way that "history" rates them, or the interpretation of history rates them, includes a combination of their integrity and their achievements, and those who managed to lead the country through a crisis deservedly get higher praise.
My personal favorite was John Quincy Adams. A one term President, who was the first to be elected without getting a majority of the popular vote, and who was overshadowed by the flamboyant and loud Andrew Jackson, was ahead of his time in moving the United States government into a greater role in the economic development of the nation, as well as making an impression on its national conscience with regard to its addiction to slavery. That's the kind of progressivism we need, and why there is such resistance to it defies explanation. Those are problems that still need to be resolved.
The media's failure to fairly and accurately give this President his due may obscure part of his place in history, but there is no denying he has been one of the best so far this century. And that's not without competition, since Obama's Presidency also occurred this century. Being preceeded, by, and succeeded by Trump will raise public opinion of Biden by the tremendous contrast between his character, and by Trump's complete absence of any at all.
Biden made the statement, recently, that he believed he would have won this election. That's not something we'll ever be able to know, now. He still holds the record as the candidate who received more votes than anyone in the history of the United States. He'd have won this time if he'd have been able to turn out just half of the difference that stood between him and Trump in 2020. More Americans have trusted Joe Biden, so far, than anyone else, a confirmation of his integrity and character.
Thank you, President Biden.
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