President Biden to America: Now It's Your Turn to Stand Guard & Be Keeper of the Flame

 

I watched President Biden's farewell address with a sense of sadness and futility only to be buoyed by a clarion call to stand guard.

In a 20-minute address, Biden began with today's announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. I won't elaborate much about the deal as I plan to write about this in a separate post. But Biden noted it would be the responsibility of the Trump Administration to implement it and made a point of saying great pains were taken to ensure the incoming administration was kept apprised of developments as they will own this deal in five days.

Biden may have delivered his address in the Oval Office, but he might as well have been standing on Ellis Island because he spoke at length about the Statue of Liberty and how she sways back and forth but never falls. 

However, I could not help but think of the famous scene at the conclusion of the original Planet of the Apes when Charlton Heston sees the severed Statue of Liberty and his fall to his knees shouting, "Damn you all to hell!!!"

Indeed, Biden acknowledged that it would take time for his achievements in office to be felt in its full impact but said that the seeds were blossoming. Yet chances are the second Trump Administration will uproot those seeds and burn the ground which grows them.

Of course, Biden did not ignore the threats facing democracy - the emergence of an American oligarchy and a tech industrial complex and how it is promoting disinformation while undermining freedom of the press. Yet at the same time, he wished success to the incoming Trump presidency which will not only exacerbate these threats but welcome them with open arms.

Yes, I understand President Biden is committed to the peaceful transfer of power as expressed through the will of the American people. Right or wrong (and I say wrong), we chose Donald Trump. That choice must be respected even if we will soon face the consequences of whom we have chosen.

There were a laundry list of things Biden wants us to do - reform the tax code, prohibit members of Congress from trading stock, pass a constitutional amendment stating the President is not immune from the crimes he committed while he was in office and pass a constitutional amendment on what Biden appeared to suggest limiting Supreme Court justices to a term of 18 years. None of these things will ever come to pass while Donald Trump is in the White House. 

But there was one thing President Biden asked of us which is more than fair. "Now it's your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame."

The light of democracy in this country is not yet extinguished despite the outcome of the election. We still have some free will. The question remains is how we keep the flame. Do we use the flame to shed light and acknowledge the light is good? Or do we use the flame to burn down all we have built and built back better until the light is extinguished?

Donald Trump will return to the White House. But it is President Biden who has thrown down the gauntlet.