The mainstream media is so Trump obsessed, reporting every turn of the president’s various twisted manias, and every piece of drivel he utters, that many Americans were starting to believe that Trump’s slander of Joe Biden as “slow Joe” might be true. But when Biden accepted the Democratic presidential nomination last week, all suspicions of his competency vanished. He showed up as who he really is — by far and away the most qualified, knowledgeable and experienced person in the nation to fulfill the profoundly complex and volatile role of President of the United States.
His speech was focused and fluent; his demeanor serious to the point of righteous ferocity at times; his message and metaphors embodied the candor and values that make it clear he was on the side of all of us. As one friend of mine observed, Biden wanted to show himself to be what he really is — the diametrical opposite of Donald Trump. And he did, in the best speech of his life, given at exactly the right moment. And while Biden went to great lengths not to be brutally partisan, he did direct much of his address at exactly the right audience.
As he said, “One of the most powerful voices we hear in the country today is from our young people. They are speaking to the inequity and injustice that has grown up in America. Economic injustice. Racial injustice. Environmental injustice. …
“May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of American darkness began here tonight, as love and hope and light joined in the battle for the soul of the nation.” And he spoke about winning. “Winning it for the generous among us, not the selfish. Winning it for the workers who keep the country going, not just the privileged few at the top. Winning it for those communities who have known the injustice of the ‘knee on the neck.’”
Biden was candid about this “being one of the most difficult moments America has ever faced. Four historic crises. All at the same time. A perfect storm. The worst pandemic in over 100 years. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The most compelling call for racial justice since the ‘60s. And the undeniable realities and accelerating threats of climate change.”
As strong a speech as Biden gave, former first lady Michelle Obama’s keynote address at the Democratic convention last week was the most moving and effective political speech of my experience, delivered with authentic compassion and authority, as only she could.
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s speech two nights later, delivered remotely from a solar array near El Rito in northern New Mexico, addressed directly and forcefully the most urgent issue facing humanity the world over, a rare and admirable coming to terms with the harshest reality all of us must face.
The first lady’s speech gave utterance to the deepest feelings of hundreds of millions of Americans who’ve been abused, neglected and disgusted by a president who is all about himself, and nobody else, not even the interests of his “base.” As she said, “whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy.”
Mrs. Obama hit upon, I think, the central anguish so many of us feel about Trumpism, but have a hard time expressing fully. It’s about being governed by a person who flaunts and disrespects at every opportunity the prime social lesson of moral behavior that children learn around the world. “The ability to walk in someone else’s shoes,” she said, “the recognition that someone else’s experience has value, too.” Trump and his GOP consider empathy a weakness in a world run by the “law” survival of the fittest, by a cutthroat social Darwinism that is the source of most of the ills in all cultures. She said, “I know that regardless of our race, age, religion, or politics, when we close out the noise and the fear and truly open our hearts, we know what’s going on in this country is not right. This is not who we want to be.”
We don’t want our country to be run by people who think the Golden Rule is for “suckers” and “losers,” who don’t understand or agree with the self-evident core value of American culture — that all of us are created equal, and are of equal value just because we are human beings. As she said, “This is who we are: compassionate, resilient, decent people whose fortunes are bound up with one another.”
And when she quoted the late John Lewis, in that perfect way, she encapsulated everything so many of us feel deep in our hearts, that when “you see something that is not right, you must say something. You must do something.” That, she said, “is the truest form of empathy: not just feeling, but doing; not just for ourselves or our kids, but for everyone, for all our kids.”
Embodying the same values in a different context, Governor Lujan Grisham’s speech had a similar directness, saying unambiguously what so many Americans fear is self-evident in the midst of the current climate change caused pandemic. “We know time is running out to save our planet.” Just saying that at a national political convention, when our current leadership thinks climate change is a hoax, is to honor reality in a dramatic way. Just as all Americans have a right to equal justice under law, all Americans, and every person in the world, are under the threat from climate change. As she said, “We have the chance this November to end two existential crises: the Trump presidency and the environmental annihilation he represents.”
It used to be close to political suicide to advocate, as she did, investing in “green 21st century jobs” and embracing “the clean energy revolution our country — our young people — are crying out for and the leadership the rest of the world is waiting for.”
Our governor chose not to play it safe with meaningless platitudes. She got right to the point. If we hope to have a chance to mitigate climate change before it gets so powerful we can’t stop it from wiping us out, we’ve got to move now. And because it’s not all just up to us as Americans and our economy, we have to elect a someone who understands the climate crisis and can work with foreign leaders, and his own Congress, to forge policies that might give us all a fighting chance.
But time is running out, and it’s running out for every single one of us, those too poor to
have a roof over their heads to those who live on the 100th floor of a skyscraper. When floods, heat, pestilence and massive storms sweep over us, no one will be spared.
Just as institutional racism is the scourge and sin of American culture, so is climate change denial the curse that will bring about unlivable conditions for every culture and individual on the planet.
Michelle Obama and John Lewis are right. When you see something wrong, you must do something about it. In our case, each of us has to do our part in giving all the rest of us a chance not just to survive but to somehow prevail.
*Nullius in verba: take nobody’s word for it
Love it….