BIDEN STEALS THANKSGIVING
Trump finds himself in the unusual role of Mr. Irrelevant
Hard to believe but in just a matter of weeks, the commander in chief has become Mr. Irrelevant.
Donald Trump, the former reality TV star-turned president, has always known how to draw attention but lately it’s his soon-to-be successor, Joe Biden, who’s commanding the spotlight.
While Trump continued his fruitless legal challenges, Biden spent Thanksgiving Eve giving an optimistic address to the nation which was meant to show stark differences from the past four years.
“LIfe is going to return to normal, I promise you,” Biden said. “This (pandemic) will not last forever. I believe that this grim season of division, demonization is going to give way to a year of light and unity.”
Biden’s speech — riddled with the usual stops and starts and mispronunciations — was hardly inspiring but it was carried live by the cable networks. One of the cable network Biden sympathizers seemed awestruck by the speech, saying just “wow” at the end. Yuck.
“We want solutions, not shouting. Reason, not hyperpartisanship,” Biden proclaimed in what was an indirect shot at the president.
You can hardly blame Trump for being angry about the different treatment Biden is getting compared to him four years ago.
Trump can no longer count on the networks to go live with his speeches and it must be frustrating for him to watch Biden morph into the president before the former vice president has even been inaugurated. Trump did get some attention for pardoning Michael Flynn, but it wasn’t good attention.
Admitting that Americans face a “long, cold winter” Biden tried to pivot into a more hopeful tone — even making promises that he can’t possibly keep about the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic.
“Starting on Day One of this presidency, we will take steps that will change the course of this disease,” Biden said.
The president-elect didn’t announce details of how he would make this miraculous transformation but we’ll assume it means more warnings about face masks and social distancing — things that are already being practiced now without any apparent dent on the virus.
“I believe you always deserve to hear the truth, hear the truth from this president,” Biden said, drawing an implicit contrast with Trump.
“None of these steps we’re asking people to take are political statements. Every one of them’s based on science, real science.”
He added: “It’s going to take time. I hope the news of the vaccine will serve as an incentive for every American to take these simple steps to get control of the virus. There’s real hope, tangible hope. So, hang on …This Thanksgiving, in anticipation of all the Thanksgivings to come, let’s dream again.”
Yes, let’s dream. But it won’t be the president who pulls us out of the pandemic — it will be the brilliant scientists who developed the vaccine under Trump’s watch.