51 Comments

Steven - thus is more than ticking the 'likes' box - this summary in your words is spectacular. Not a dry eye at our house either. May Joe, his Love & family have many good years ahead AND to K & T - a win too large to question. TY, SB

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Thank you, Mary.

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In Joe Biden, we have a man who rose to meet his destiny. Consider the scale of his accomplishments: he rose to the challenge of defeating a thug who had assumed the presidency through a series of unfortunate circumstances and was poised to do so again; he rescued this nation from the ravages of a pandemic made worse by the willful negligence of his criminal predecessor; he has created the strongest economy in the world by discarding the old, tired Reaganesque norms of trickle-down economics, focusing instead on building up the middle class by creating jobs, supporting unions and bringing back manufacturing to our shores; he has worked tirelessly to contain costs and make health-care more accessible to all; he has rebuilt NATO, is saving Europe from a megalomaniac's evil clutches, and has shored up support for democracy around the world. And all of this while faced with the most intransigent domestic opposition whose only goal is to secure power, and to do so by any means whatsoever, however criminal those might be.

But now, in realizing that elections are won, not so much on the basis of achievement and vision, as on appearance in this age of social media, Biden has decided to step down and pass the torch to the Vice President whom he has nurtured and trained. For he recognizes that we have to win in November, and that we need to do so by overwhelming margins. All we have to do to support him is to vote.

Joe Biden is much more than a politician: he is a statesman. Generations yet to come will owe him their undying gratitude for the breadth of his vision and for the morality of his leadership at a time of great peril.

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So very well stated. Brought tears to my eyes. I am so grateful that I lived to see this great presidency of JOE BIDEN’s. And also to look forward to the next great presidency for 8 years.

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“Let me know in my heart

When my days are through

America, America

I gave my best to you.”

Never were those words spoken in a more heartfelt way, Betty. Or by anyone more deserving of reciting them. They brought tears to my eyes too.

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Thanks Homi, Much better said than the way I said it.

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On the contrary, Lynn, you've said it all beautifully: "Let's help Kamala be great and greater."

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Wonderfully written.

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I am not persuaded that Biden could not defeat trmp again, and knowing the heartbreak he faced when trusted lifelong friends insisted he would damage the party made watching his speech difficult. We may never see another politician who can match Biden on any level. He was not fully appreciated by the voters and certainly not the press. We were lucky to have him when he ran because there were no others who could reverse what trmp had done as completely as Joe Biden. Kamala and Tim will pummel trmp. The gender gap is enormous, and women are not going to live under a trmp administration. Joe was never as irrelevant as the party and press advertised. We need to remember that. It will be recognized and reported by historians long after the Boomers have transitioned … Thank you Steven for your excellent essay.

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When Biden took office the US almost 3,000 people a day were dying from Covid and the death rate was rising. No one really wants to remember that. I think it is one of the reasons he never received lasting recognition for it. Our collective memory separated the other issues (complaints) like the supply chain and prices from Covid.

The degree of difficulty for the Biden administration was greatly increased by TFG refusing to share information. To hit the ground running, Biden’s transition team had to plan for vaccine distribution working around them & directly with the providers.

It’s just one example of his caring, foresight & tenacity.

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I remember on 1-20-21 watching the first Pfizer coronavirus vaccines leaving a wharehouse facility under police guard! The vaccines had been ready for several weeks but of course Traitor Trump was too busy formenting insurrection to actually do his job! It was some HOAX virus that cost over 1,250,000 Americans their lives including my middle brother! RIP brother Karl!!!

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I’m sorry to have brought back those memories.

He fanned the flames of every problem and then handed them off to Biden. Covid should be DJT’s “legacy” headlining his obituary and written on his tombstone.

He bragged (or admitted) to Bob Woodward that he knew how bad it could be but love “playing it down.” He knew it was airborne and much more serious than the flu. That was February 7th, which means he knew even earlier.

The rest of us had no idea that within a year everyone we knew would have grieved for a family member, a friend, a friend’s family member, a teacher, a neighbor …

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Hello Ann: I am the retired Director of the Lung Injury Laboratory at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. I knew about the unknown respiratory virus spreading rapidly through China the week between Christmas 2019 and 1-01-2020. I had a Chinese doctor work with me for 16 years in my laboratory and I talked to him and he consulted with his Chinese doctor colleagues. When he told me the virus was centered at Wuhan, I got chills because I met the head of the Wuhan Virus Research Institute in 2005 at the International Avian Flu Conference in

Paris 2005. She came to my poster and we talked for 45 minutes. Was she smart enough to potentiate respiratory viruses? No question! Where did the respiratory virus originate? Who knows for sure???

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I guess I should have said I or we. About that time hubby and I had started to FL to visit a friend who was back from a cruise. Then we would house sit because she had another cruise planned. After we drove about 100 miles she messaged she had strange symptoms sort of flulike. Just letting us know. Her Dr office was overflowing with pts with similar odd symptoms. Hers weren’t as serious so she couldn’t get an appointment for a week.

We’d seen enough reporting to know that odd symptoms & cruises were problematic. Despite her insistence we visit anyway, we turned around and headed home. We did not understand the full scope of what was to come. It is still hard to understand how a narcissist was allowed to grab the wheel to screw up the response for so long.

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I cried the day Biden stepped down. It was like losing a beloved relative. The first thing I thought was, "Ageism is alive and well in America."

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Joe Biden is not our greatest orator, but his speech last night came from his heart and was inspiring because he is a man of character. It shows the shallowness of TFG's character, that I'm sure he can't fathom why Joe would willingly give up the power and prestige of being President of the United States. The adoration of the crowd spoke for millions of us who thank him for his fifty years of service to our country and for all the things he and Kamala accomplished these past 3 ½ years. He has truly been a gift to us.

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Joe can willingly give up power because he isn’t worried about being convicted of crimes and going to jail for those of which he’s already convicted. CFDT’s get out of jail card (ie, reelection) has been run over by a big blue bus with HARRIS WALZ on its sides.

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A Special Man, still the special man he was before he dropped out of the race, still the man he has been of decades, still the special man we all knew was special. Where was all this praise when he was being a great president? It is not time for a eulogy, he is still very much alive, still has wisdom we need. I enthusiastically support Kamala Harris. However, while we are fixing America's faults, let's fix the way we do followship. Let's start the praise of a great person while he/she is working. Cut this crap of constant looking for way to tear greatness down to our size. We can grow. Let's help Kamala be great and greater.

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Steven, Isn’t it lovely to have something so special, so heartwarming, so beautiful as last night’s event was to write about today?

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It is, Gloria.

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I couldn’t listen to the highlights of President Biden’s speech without crying so now I’m here in the peanut gallery crying all over again. I expect Kamala and Tim to make him proud. Now, all we have to do is get out the vote to make that happen 💙💙💙.

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Such humility. Such incredible character.

What a mensch! I listened intently and couldn’t keep the tears from welling up. We can all take a lesson from his love of family, country and, well, all of us. Except Grump and JD.

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Steven, I laughed and I cried. How could you not, if you adore this man and his love of country and its people? He will be forever in my heart and as he said, he will be best “volunteer” ever for the Harris-Walz campaign.

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A true man of service and one who loves his family. We watched this true man of character work with all walks of life. Leaders throughout the world respect and trust President Biden. Union workers know he's got their backs. He's a family man. The American public know Joe Biden's heart.

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Bravo, Joe!

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So beautifully written. I saw the same thing. And I cried many times. I think there is a lot of unprocessed grief in this country too. That’s why HRC’s amazing speech got me too. We have the grief of turning this country over to a sick and dangerous cult of personality in 2016. The literal assault to our CAPITOL on January 6. And the 1.4 and counting people who were alive at the beginning of 2020 and have now died of COVID.

There were a number of vulnerable speakers and no masks. No testing. Thousands upon thousands of people screaming joy while sitting on top of each other and we are in the midst of a huge surge of COVID (esp in the Midwest right now). This was on-going sense of unease for me … this will be a highly spreading event and part of our compartmentalizing a pandemic we desperately want to be in the rear view; is our ongoing struggle to protect ourselves and each other.

That said; it’s a joyous week and there is certainly no shortage of AMAZING talent in this Democratic Party.

Like the old soul I am - I was sad they had to bump James Taylor. Good decision. But sad nonetheless.

❤️❤️❤️

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Agree with you about the “unprocessed grief.” But reasons for hope and the possibility of repair.

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Absolutely!

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Outstanding speech by our President. ❤️

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Steven, thank you for your succinct summary of Biden’s speech last night. Being an early bird, I missed most of it, but glad that I was able to appreciate the essence of what he said through your essay. I did manage to watch his daughter Ashley’s introduction which highlighted her personal recollection of his life as a dad and that of his public life in the Democratic Party.

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Tears. I’m glad it turned out so well, but he didn’t know that, did he?

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Thank you Steven !!!

I love him so much, isn't it awesome to know that all of us love him and admire him so much. Such beautiful soul, and such a lovely human being.

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