50 Important Things About Joe Biden

For the next 7 months, we are all going to be carpet bombed with political memes, advertisements, rants, pronouncements, judgements, propaganda, lies, half-truths, incomplete details, hearsay, rumors, malformed thoughts, passive aggressive negativity, sour grapes, woulda shoulda coulda, pansy tweets and retweets, shared but not vetted posts, we was robbed weenie talk, the MSM and the DNC conspiracies, Russians—all regarding a Mr. Joseph R Biden. I would urge Two simple rules in all of this:

1. Think for yourself.
2. Question most of it.

But regardless of what anybody claims or thinks, Joe Biden is anything but ordinary. Yes he’s elderly, but he’s not done. Elderly often means experienced, been there done that, here’s how we handled it or didn’t handle it then, often associated with wisdom (birthed by deep pain and grieving), an abiding love and appreciation of Life and the value of each day, they carry the ghosts of friends and relatives they’ve lost and pure survival. In good cultures, the elderly are revered. But, also keep in mind, today’s 78 is yesteryear’s 68 due to all manner of advances.

Here are some things to remember about Joe:

1. He commuted every day by Amtrak train 90 minutes each way from his home in Delaware to DC to stay connected to his family and to live like other people lived, not above them. Others took jets and limos.
2. Trained his mind to overcome a bad stutter at an early age and basically can intercept his mental short-circuit and as his mother said, “His mind moves quicker than his mouth.” This process requires him to pause and find a better word while speaking on occasion but is mostly not perceptible. He still stutters on occasion.
3. His so-called gaffes are generally innocent misspoken things recorded by a “gotcha!” society and then amplified far beyond the scope of the original intent.
4. He has suffered unimaginable loss on a personal level, including his only daughter and his first wife and his son, Beau (a nice name) more recently.
5. He grew up in a time of physical affection, a hand on a shoulder, a handshake and God forbid, a hug, yes maybe smelling someone’s hair that just used a great floral shampoo.
6. He loves and cares deeply about people of all stripes and stations. Enough so that he dedicated his life to public service. This is built-in to his personality at a fundamental level and will never change.
7. He is kind-hearted, humorous, affable and adores children and animals.
8. He cares about the Earth and supports the Green New Deal and believes in science. He understands the critical nature of this existential threat and will do everything to transition to a zero emission society ASAP.
9. He politicks in a way that adds voters, not subtracts because he knows if you don’t win, it doesn’t matter how good your ideas and policies are, you are going to be next to powerless to enact them.
10. As a Senator, he voted for many good things such as against the first Gulf War, for the Brady Bill, for bans on assault weapons and he often used clever rhetoric against Republican detractors in efforts to win compromises, often successfully, sometimes not.
11. When he did vote for things he may regret now, in hindsight, he almost always voiced reservations, added positive amendments, or only voted for them because certain other conditions were met or promised, later to be broken by others. He always voted with good intentions and malice toward none and perhaps at time with naive trust in others to do the right thing.
12. Regardless of how misguided his efforts were to stem the out of control crime/murder rate in the 1980’s (how high would it go?), Biden’s motivation was to protect youngsters from crack, predatory drug dealers, gun violence that his constituents were freaking out about and he reluctantly allowed a vote for a crime bill that also included good like Violence Against Women act, assault weapon ban and other lauded Justice components. He was not in favor of allowing states to privatize prisons but had to compromise. In the Senate, you rarely get what you really want and even if you vote on the opposite side, you lose.
13. Regardless of his beginnings as a completely dedicated advocate for civil rights, he naively convinced himself that some policies were more “racist” than they appeared. He was not opposed to the objectives of busing—a better education for the underprivileged using better schools across town, but instead was for making ALL schools equally good so no matter where you lived, you could get a good education in your neighborhood. To this day, there is a huge disparity in the quality of schools, facilities, books, equipment and teachers. Busing was the chosen solution and we still have huge problems.
14. Biden has apologized for the way Anita Hill was treated, not by him but by the committee he chaired. He regrets not attacking the attackers more. He said then and now he believed her story and he voted against Clarence Thomas.
15. As for his Iraq War vote, he regrets it as do many others but was also operating on false information at a time when the country was looking for retribution. He only voted for it because there was a promise and requirement to exhaust all possible diplomatic solutions first. Were he President he would not have pulled the trigger, I am positive. He is basically a dove when it comes to matters of war.
16. Of all people in the United States, the first African American President, chose Joe Biden as his running mate.
17. Joe Biden doesn’t have a racist bone in his body and African Americans know it better than anybody and support him overwhelmingly.
18. Joe performed many acts of anonymous kindness outside of political gain such as showing up to pay respects for a humble funeral in a laundry room for a poor constituent that gave him $18 every campaign since his first. There were no cameras or news reports. Just respect.
19. Joe learns from his mistakes, makes efforts to correct them and to adjust both his thinking and his conduct accordingly such as he did becoming an early public supporter of gay marriage as he learned more about its importance to so many.
20. As for sexual assault allegations, he denies them, but even so we are not privy to the facts of the case regarding any miscues, flirtations, implied attractions or other complexities that occur between women and men to create ambiguous situations. Regardless, even in her account he immediately desisted his overture and retreated in what sounds like humiliation and rejection. If true, I don’t in any way condone this sort of behavior but I also don’t make judgements based on a single private case we may never fully know about.
21. Joe has been married to his 2nd wife, Education Dr. Jill Biden since the 1970’s and he obviously enjoys a loving relationship where she is fully supportive of his political efforts and policies and they are a team.
22. Joe is obviously pro-education and would make it a high priority to improve education from pre-K to grade 16, making daycare free. He wasn’t the most stellar student as an athlete and law school bored him but he finished and passed the bar in Delaware.
23. Joe supports debt forgiveness for many college students and is open to making community college free for as many people as possible but especially for those in the middle class and the economically challenged.
24. Joe has voiced a very clear disdain for Trump’s policies and stances on many subjects and when entering the race started with a strong rebuke of his tacet support for white supremacists marching in Charlottesville that resulted in murder.
25. Joe, growing up in Scranton, PA has a very strong love of the working middle class, how he grew up. He has always supported unions and higher wages and wants a $15 minimum living wage. He was endorsed by Andrew Yang who is quite forward thinking on these matters.
26. Joe’s approach to Healthcare are twofold: 1) Reduce the age limit on Medicare to 60 from 65 and 2) Improve on Obamacare by adding a Public Option, a non-profit, at-cost insurance which other companies would have to compete against thus being forced to lower costs. If proven popular, such a system could be easily transitioned into Medicare for All.
27. Even more, Joe is pro research and was tasked with a National Effort to find a cure for cancer and you can bet your life he would double-down on this effort if given a chance. He knows a lot about it too. He also realizes that each breakthrough can lead to lower healthcare costs benefiting everybody.
28. Joe has been consistently pro-gun control, voting for the Brady Bill and assault weapons ban and is not afraid of the NRA. He will work hard to limit access to the most dangerous weapons and solidify sensible background checks. Joe is fine with the 2nd Amendment, but he understands it needs context for each generation, like how machine guns were banned, even though they are “arms” you don’t have a right to bear them outside the military (militia).
29. With regard to marijuana Joe is not going to reverse Obama-era gains in states that have legalized both medical and recreational use. He’s just not ready to say its good for you or especially young people with developing brains which most doctors agree with. He also wants to federally decriminalize it and expunge all marijuana convictions.
30. Joe wants green energy companies to get priority over Big Oil. He recognizes the future depends on transitioning to clean, renewable energy quickly!
31. Joe is pro infrastructure and would see to it that our roads, bridges, airports, schools and other dilapidated structures would get major attention and priority under his administration.
32. Joe is pro-Dreamer and would immediately reinstate protections for this vulnerable group of young people who have grown up as Americans and give them a real path to citizenship.
33. Joe would immediately end all construction on “The Wall” and work with Congress for real immigration reform while concentrating on removing only the criminals, not the moms and dads who are law abiding contributors to many communities.
34. Joe would immediately restore soured relationships with our main allies in Europe and Asia and hopefully negotiate a better deal with Iran to take us further from the precipice of accidental nuclear war.
35. Joe would work with Congress to secure our elections and furthermore increase the voting power of each individual and make it so elections were publically funder on a fair playing field including overturning Citizens United.
36. Joe would appoint highly qualified judges, including an African American woman to the Supreme Court.
37. Joe has pledged to pick a woman as his running mate, realizing that the time has come and passed for a woman to be in reach of the the White House and at the highest levels of government.
38. Joe is a straight shooter will always level with the American people and will put his own personal interests well behind those of the nation.
39. Joe will be highly protective of American interests and will not hesitate to protect us but will be extremely cautious about deploying our forces abroad. He understands the costs of war both at the time and ongoing with the VA.
40. Joe is good friends with many people on both sides of the aisle, including Bernie Sanders and the feeling is mutual in almost all cases. Joe is not a bridge burner but a builder.
41. Joe is a good listener and will hire people for their expertise and not their loyalty to him personally. He will take in information from reliable sources and make carefully considered decisions based on facts.
42. Joe’s been everywhere in the US and the World. He’s worldly and understands the plight of people better than most and he looks down on none.
43. Joe is a fighter. He doesn’t give up. Once he take up a cause he believes in, he pursues it relentlessly with a clear goal in mind, and with great vigor. He is anything but sleepy. He led a previously bottom of the heap high school football team to a championship. He was also class president.
44. Joe Biden admits when he’s wrong, learns and moves on. He regrets things he said, ways he said them and votes he cast long ago but doesn’t dwell on them. He’s grown and improved himself as a person. He doesn’t blame others and owns his own actions completely.
45. Joe respects the Constitution, reveres it as a sacred document and understands the importance of Separation of Powers.
46. Joe, like all of us, is imperfect but he’s not immoral and freely admits his flaws.
47. Joe was fully engaged in his role as Vice President, supporting Obama’s initiatives and working every day for the good of ordinary Americans. He understands pressure and he knows what to do from day one.
48. Joe wears his heart on his sleeve and demonstrates great empathy and compassion.
49. Joe likes to smile and his smile is genuine. He’s an optimist.
50. Joseph R Biden was the 46th President of the United States.