Past Present Future

PAST

Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson wrote Original Sin about Joe Biden's mental and physical decline when he was in the White House. They relied on stories from people who witnessed it, many who wanted to remain anonymous. 

In reading it, I was chuffed and angry.

Chuffed because there were no surprises. I'm not a genius, but much of what they said, I already thought. The book merely filled in details, sorta like a child's coloring book. The outlines are there until the crayons fill in the colors.

Angry because so many who knew but put party before people. Some must have thought of their own careers and income. In one way I can understand that income and position are hard to self-destruct but the stakes were so high - America itself - that ordinary reaction was gambling on the future of millions of American.

Over all I've been pro Joe Biden. I credit him with being an ordinary man who has lived through some horrible things. He has been responsible for some very positive legislation over the years, some passed, some rejected. That's the story of many politicians. I thought of him as a basically decent human being, something I can't say about many politicians.

I don't blame Biden for being old. We share an age. I recognize my growing limitations and hate every one of them. I also know there are things I can no longer do. In a couple of cases it is an excuse to not do what I was never crazy about doing in the first place. I also know, I do not have the strength to spend the next four years as president, never mind the lack of qualifications. 

While I understand giving up that role had to be hard, Joe Biden's hubris tilted his accomplishment side to his failure side of the political ledger without negating what he did right in a long career. When he did finally bow to the inevitable, he did it with grace.

Tapper/Thompson have been criticized for not publishing this sooner. They started work on it after the election. Were they waiting for a book deal? Should it have been published at all? I am not accusing them of any bad motives. It takes time to convince people to talk and to put the information together in a book especially while living other lives. 

Meanwhile the current occupant of the White House probably has a form of dementia on top of rank stupidity and ignorance. He is filled with such hate and exhibits cruelty. Who is documenting that?

PRESENT 

Had Biden given up earlier, would whoever ran have defeated Trump. I certainly hope so. As an ex-American, I still care deeply for my birth country. Over the years it has done some really spectacular things both good and bad, but the founding principles remain sound. Its current path follows signposts saying "Destruction Ahead."

Like Biden's advisors and fellow Democrats who ignored signs that Biden would not have the capacity for four more years, the Republicans go along with all the bad things Trump is doing. They do not scream at the obvious incompetence of the cabinet. In fact, most of the cabinet should never have been appointed but the Republicans bleated their approvals.

The Supreme Court is complicit in the destruction. Corruption is obvious on so many levels.  

FUTURE 

I imagine at some time in the future there will be another book about number 47 showing why Trump never should have been elected. It will tell who was responsible. 

Because of the details, the Tapper/Thompson book will be studied by historians to determine what went wrong with America.