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On a personal note: Thanks and farewell, Joe! [1]
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Date: 2025-01-17
This article first appeared in The Paradise Progressive.
Commentary
Jan. 17, 2025 by David Silverberg
Watching President Joe Biden deliver his farewell address from the Oval Office last Wednesday, Jan. 15, I had the feeling that he wasn’t just saying goodbye to the presidency and the American people but that we the people were saying farewell to decency, democracy, patriotism and public service—all of which are embodied by Joe Biden.
As a reporter and editor in Washington, DC, I had the opportunity to cover Biden as a senator. He was always thoughtful, empathetic, and staunch in his belief in America as a place of freedom and opportunity.
And loquacious. My God, he could talk. And talk. And talk.
I used to cover afternoon hearings of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when he was chairman. All the witnesses had testified. All the other senators were done with their questions. I had to pick up my son on time in daycare in a Virginia suburb and if the hearing wrapped up at that moment, I’d have a good chance of getting there promptly and avoiding an extra charge.
I’d be primed to spring up and race off Capitol Hill.
Then Joe would start talking. He was chairman and there were no time limits. The reporters at the press table would groan. He’d begin exploring the topic of the hearing. He’d ponder the issues at hand. He’d speculate about the past and future. He’d offer observations and opinions.
It was interesting and insightful. And I’d be late to daycare and have to pay a fine.
But now all is forgiven. Americans are losing a thoughtful, empathetic, very smart president with decades of experience who was deeply committed to democracy and the “soul” of America.
One example of his decency and empathy was the fact that when he ran for president in 2020 he was the only candidate who used the word “heal” in his speeches.
In contrast to all the hostile campaign propaganda thrown at him, Biden was an extremely effective president. He guided the United States out of an incompetently handled COVID pandemic, righted the economy, restored American prestige and standing in the world, fully backed a besieged fellow democracy and held off an authoritarian thug, expanded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and made crucial investments in infrastructure and manufacturing. He protected the environment and advanced clean energy solutions. He understood the threat of climate change and worked to meet it. He would have enacted a comprehensive, bipartisan border solution except for the sabotage by the man who will succeed him and the subservience of Senate Republicans.
All of Biden’s good works and accomplishments are going to be under assault by Donald Trump and his regime in the days ahead. It will be like a mirror image of the real world, where they project their own crimes and shortcomings onto him. They will do all they can to diminish him and rewrite history to their liking, casting him as a villain. This will be done while objective facts are distorted by an avalanche of “alternative facts,” a phrase created during the first Trump presidency.
“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power,” Biden warned in his address. “The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.
“We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families, and our very democracy from the abuse of power,” he said.
Americans will need to approach their media with a much deeper sense of skepticism than they have in the past when they could rely on professional journalists to ferret out the truth. When it comes to the history of this era and particularly the Biden presidency, they need to reject the revisionism and falsehoods.
That revisionism is already well under way. For example, at one point Trump called the insurrection and attempted overthrow of the US government on Jan. 6, 2021 a “day of love.” There is a near-certainty that this kind of revisionism is going to infuse his inaugural address.
Americans who know the truth shouldn’t allow this rewriting to happen. Even if the truth can only reside in their memories, they should cherish it, record it, protect it and pass that truth on to their descendants.
Another truth is that Biden was one of the best and most effective presidents of the 21st century. The other was Barack Obama. Both are going to have their achievements and legacies attacked and defamed in the days ahead. But as Americans enjoy reasonable healthcare, buy medicines at affordable rates, obtain the necessities of life and still believe themselves to be a free people, they should remember the presidents who helped make it possible.
Biden’s departure coincides with the passing and mourning period for Jimmy Carter, another deeply committed and patriotic American who set an example of humanitarianism and faith.
The era that is coming will be one of darkness and insanity, full of lies, distortions, selfishness, greed, groveling and corruption on a gargantuan scale.
Much of the coverage of Biden’s farewell address has focused on his warning of an emerging American oligarchy and its potential abuse of power.
“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead,” he said.
This is certainly true.
“…In a democracy, there’s another danger to the concentration of power and wealth,” he continued. “It erodes a sense of unity and common purpose. It causes distrust and division. Participating in our democracy becomes exhausting and even disillusioning, and people don’t feel like they have a fair shot.”
But for all the threats and perils to America and democracy, Biden also issued a challenge to all Americans: “…we have to stay engaged in the process.”
He compared the future to the storms that can lash the Statue of Liberty, which he noted, is walking forward, trampling the chains of slavery and oppression.
“Yes, we sway back and forth to withstand the fury of the storm, to stand the test of time — a constant struggle—constant struggle, a short distance between peril and possibility.
“But what I believe is the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. And it’s up to us to make our dreams come true.”
Then, as he did in ending his presidential campaign, he passed on the torch.
“After 50 years of public service, I give you my word, I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands, a nation where the strengths of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure.
“Now it’s your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith.
“I love America. You love it too.”
Thanks, Joe. Well said.
And this time I don’t have to rush off to daycare.
Liberty lives in light
© 2025 by David Silverberg
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