Mario Como said,"We campaign in poetry and govern in prose." True enough - although our poetry is rapidly becoming pornography. Como's theory is true except for Joe Biden. He campaigns, governs, walks and lives in poetry. Biden is American poetry - sharp, sweet and subtle; roundly wise and humorous; gracious and open; simply stated and clear of mind.
A little while ago President Obama gave his Vice President the President's Medal of Honor with distinction. Like a true poet, Biden wept, spoke in terms of lavish praise and deep humility. His profound and rich Irish soul reached out to everyone in the room; especially to the man who was honoring him. That was today.
In not to many tomorrows we will leave the Age of Obama and enter the Season of the Infantile. Biden's poetry will be replaced by zealotry, witless sycophancy, and duplicity masquerading as loyalty out of pure self interest. Dark clouds are gathering all around this America that has for too long pandered to the lowest common denominator; traded the common good for the merely trite and traded its dignity and civility for practiced stupidity and proudly held bigotry.
Other countries have weathered this storm in long ago yesterdays. Italy, Spain and Germany paid a terrible price for this indulgence in the simpleminded comfort of mob rule and scapegoating. I suspect we will too.
Nonetheless at this moment we have Joe Biden's poetry. Let us celebrate this day, mark it for remembrance sake. We will need good things to look back upon as today fades into tomorrow and becomes yesterday.
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