Office Hours: Are these the best we can do?
America's crisis of leadership
Friends,
Out of some 260 million adult Americans, our two major candidates for president in 2024 are an elderly man who will be 86 by the time his term ends and a sociopath who mounted an insurrection against the United States.
Their major challengers in their respective parties are a fascist governor who bars abortions after six weeks and flies undocumented immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard and a nutcase with a famous name who believes vaccines cause HIV, the flu, and Lyme disease.
Now, I like Joe Biden, and I’ll vote for him. And I’m not ageist (hell, I’m 77). But considering all the major candidates for president from both parties, I hope you’ll forgive my bewilderment at America’s seeming inability to do better. I mean, out of 260 million adults, is this really the best we can do?
Before you conclude that it’s due to a flaw in our political system, I invite you to consider America’s most “successful” business leaders, in terms of wealth and power.
One bought a key social media platform last year for $44 billion and promptly fired three-quarters of its employees, causing its value to plummet to $22 billion, and then opened it to all manner of election-deniers and conspiracy theorists. He subjects his employees to horrendous working conditions and hates labor unions.
Another wears only gray shirts and darker-gray hoodies. He went through a stage where he ate only animals that he personally killed. Oh, and he — along with the business leader I mentioned a moment ago — have challenged each other to a “cage match” fight.
So, today’s Office Hours question: Out of 260 million adults, how can America have spawned these leaders?
Yeah, you'd think we could do better. but being the President of the United States of America is a shitty job. Some of the people love you, some outright hate you, and the rest just don't give a damn. You work very, very, long hours, you are on display 24/7. We, the people expect you to have all the right answers at your finger tips, no matter what happens. And we expect you to solve all our problems in four years even though you are not allowed to write a single piece of legislation. You have 24/7 surveillance on you, because there's always some psychopathic numbskull out there trying to assassinate you. Not only do we expect you to know the Constitution and both civil and criminal law; but also, to fully understand social welfare, economics and history. You must also be a great orator and diplomat. All this and we frequently give you an impossible Congress with which to accomplish anything. All this for a piddling $400,000 per year. Frankly I'm glad to have a person as honest and experienced as Joe Biden. He definitely has both my vote and my gratitude.
I continue to be amazed by people whose sole criticism of Joe Biden is his age, while proclaiming "I'm not ageist."
President Biden has achieved more in his short tenure than most do in a full term, or two. If not for his age, there'd be no argument against his running for re-election.
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