"Sleepy Joe" ... Not Really

Thought for the day

Last week, 30 of my USC fraternity brothers and I attended a celebration of life for one of our own. Because he lived nearby, we didn't just email each other; instead, we played golf together.  

More than a few of my fellow Trojans in attendance made a point of telling me how sorry they were our late fraternity brother was going to miss a Trump-Biden rematch next year.  That's because he was a proud MAGA booster who couldn't pass up an opportunity to bash "Sleepy Joe" Biden (his words, not mine).

Having worked on Capitol Hill for Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose) in 1972, and the Democratic National Committee in 1974, I am as partisan as they come; still, every once in a while I've been known to throw Donald Trump a bone.  For example, I took a lot of heat from my political friends for publicly supporting the former president's outreach to Kim Jong Un in 2019.  But that was then and this is now.

Since Mr. Biden took office, his list of accomplishments have positively impacted the lives of countless millions of Americans.  First, according to the Centers for Disease Control, 270 million people have received at least one COVID shot.  That's up from 13 million people when Trump left office.  

Second, the president's Inflation Reduction Act already has set in motion thousands of infrastructure projects coast to coast with another 20,000 scheduled to begin soon.  Trump said infrastructure projects would be a cornerstone of his administration, but that never really happened.  

Lastly, have you seen the record number of jobs "Slow Joe" has created?  When he delivered the 2023 State of the Union address in February, the number was 12 million in two years.  According to the Wall Street Journal, 339,000 new jobs were created in May alone, blowing past the 190,000 predicted by analysts.  I'm guessing my late fraternity brother would have been astonished.

My SC bros and I haven't agreed on much since the Vietnam War; yet, despite our many political differences, we warmly embrace each other every time we meet. I wish last week's get together could have been under different circumstances, but at our age (75-plus) we seem to be attending more celebrations of life than christenings or bar/bat mitzvahs.

So RIP my old friend.  I'm sorry you won't be around to see Joe Biden take the oath of office for a second time in 2025.  It would have been fun debating the election results with you on the first tee.

-DF