Hard Words?

A tentative step into politics before returning to food

With apologies to those readers who may be offended by my step into politics: the times are harsh, the issues are critical, and I am deeply fearful for the future. I will return to the peaceful nature of the Kitchen Porch next time around.

"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
     "And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head—
     Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

By the time you read this, the dye may have been cast. In fact, the dye may well be cast before I finish writing it, but I feel I have to say it anyway, even while conscious that President Biden, to whom my words are directed, will most likely never read them.

But here’s the thing: I am older than Joe Biden by several years. I know what he is going through right now and I sympathize. I understand his reluctance to give up the car keys. I feel certain that his mind is sharp, most of the time, and that his long years of experience on the national and international stage give him wisdom and insight that few others can claim, no matter their age or background. Moreover, his life has been touched deeply by personal tragedies that give him an extra depth of compassion and fellow feeling. Like many Americans, I feel in turn the greatest compassion for him.

But as a Certifiable Elder, I also know the incalculable stresses and strains that age puts on our shoulders, and the often overwhelming demands on a human energy system that just doesn’t have the vigor it once had. In my personal life, I’ve learned to stagger those demands. If I drive a long distance (yes, I still retain my car keys), I schedule a stop every couple of hours, get out of the car, and walk around even just a highway rest stop, to give my brain cells a shake. If I’m to give a talk on a Tuesday, I plan nothing for the Monday before and the Wednesday after, necessary down-time that helps make the up-times possible. I eat less and I eat earlier, knowing that helps to get a good night’s sleep. You get the picture.

I’m grateful that I can still live an active and challenging life, even in old age. But I am not the President of the United States.

Knowing all this on a personal level, I believe fervently that President Biden should step down and make way for a younger, more energetic, more vigorous candidate, one who can follow Biden’s example and advance his most auspicious policies. I believe that President Biden could and should take on a new role as Elder Statesman, still functioning as a guide and shepherd for our democracy, while turning over the reins to someone more dynamic and robust.

I believe that if President Biden persists in this mad scheme to continue his candidacy, we risk losing everything—every thing—that we have gained in almost 250 years of our national experiment. And risk losing it, moreover, to an unstable, unhinged felon who has nothing in mind but his own insatiable interests.
"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
     "I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
     Why, I do it again and again."

Journalist and editor Clark Hoyt, writing on the Op Ed page of the New York Times on July 10, said it better than I can: “[Biden is] a decent, honorable, principled man with a long record of accomplishment. At this late date, only he can decide whether continuing his re-election campaign risks everything — especially his reputation for selfless public service and, should he lose to a convicted felon with contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law, the very future of our Republic.”