What an afternoon for President Joe Biden
What an afternoon for President Joe Biden: his massive, and much needed COVID Relief bill passed the House, and will be on its way to his desk to sign by Friday – and Merrick Garland was confirmed as Attorney General, placing the Department of Justice in the hands of a good, smart, decent man. Quite a change of pace from the Trump era.
Speaking of which, imagine if Donald Trump had had such a historic, victorious day when he was President. He’d be crowing incessantly on Twitter and boasting and preening before the White House Press Corp and calling in to Hannity to say how wonderful he was, how no President had ever had such a tremendous day – and so early in his term! He’d declare himself the most effective president ever and say nobody would’ve believed anybody could achieve what he had just done.
Will Biden do any of that? No, of course not. He’ll issue a statesmanlike statement congratulating Merrick Garland, saying that DOJ will now be able to focus on dispensing justice even-handedly for the American people.
And, on Friday, at a signing ceremony for the COVID Relief Bill, he’ll again be very professional. He may note the legislation’s historical significance, but he will, no doubt, focus on how it will help the American people, provide assistance to those who really need it, help schools open up safely, ensure the continued efficient rollout of the vaccines, and assist us in turning the corner on the pandemic. He’ll still, prudently, urge people to continue to follow CDC Guidelines – mask up, wash your hands, and social distance. He won’t hold a massive self-congratulatory super-spreader event at the White House, hang a “Mission Accomplished” banner off the Truman Balcony, or act like the pandemic is over – much less say that he deserves all the credit.
But he does deserve tremendous credit – for compromising where necessary to secure passage, but to boldly move forward when he did have the votes. If Trump had accomplished so much so early, he’d be insufferable. But Biden is too self-assured to need to be his own cheerleader. He just gets the job done. But we can certainly cheer for him.
