Assessing The Body Politic

“Sir, you are drunk.”

“And you, Bessie, are ugly. But I shall be sober in the morning, and you will still be ugly.”

This was an alleged exchange between Winston Churchill and Bessie Braddock, a member of Parliament. It popped in my head relative to the Biden-Trump debacle. Will Joe be soberly robust the next day?

Apparently, he was and the day after that while Donald remains thoroughly ugly.

It also calls into question how does any president function in real time. Does he require oratorical skills? Must he confront a delusional adversary spewing insults? Are decisions made alone or rather in a room of advisors with expertise on the matter at hand?

Joe Biden is clearly over the hill. So am I and just about everyone I know but we all have our moral compass, our principles, our sense of civility and a measure of empathy.  

 Yes, I agree with you. A younger, more vigorous candidate could have refuted Trump more decisively. And yes, the Democratic Party should have been grooming four or five surrogates to gain national recognition along the way. Certainly, they are out there. But it is too late. Get over it.

Half-intoxicated Sir Winston led the U.K. through its finest hour. Obese and with lungs dealing with as many as ten cigars a day he led the way. During his lifetime one estimation has him imbibing 42,000 bottles of champagne. Perhaps he was in a stupor while rallying the troops from his underground bunker. Yet the bluebirds came over the white cliffs of Dover.

Biden has done a masterful job rivaled only by LBJ in his domestic accomplishments. He shows no fatigue on the world stage. The only question that matters is his electability.

Yet it is not Biden to be judged. It is us as a body politic whom history will assess. Are the American people enfeebled or enlightened? Can we discern deceit from honesty, vulgarity from decency, vengeance from justice and know the difference between a self-serving man’s lust for power and one striving to bind our wounds?