This column is by Madeleine May Kunin, a Democrat who was the 77th governor of Vermont, serving from 1985 until 1991. She is the author of “Coming of Age, My Journey to the Eighties.” Her new book of poetry is “Red Kite, Blue Sky.”
Whenever I feel down in the dumps about politics — both domestic and foreign — I tell myself, ‘Don’t worry — remember, Joe Biden is president.”
That thought cheers me up for a short time, but not long enough.
My peace of mind was interrupted by TV footage of the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas. These photos of dying children were wrenching. I ask myself, naively, why do they persist in trying to destroy one another after all these years of hostilities?
If experience matters, it should work for Biden in mediating this long and bitter conflict. That should make him an effective negotiator. He may have played a major role in obtaining the cease-fire, using old-fashioned, quiet diplomacy. Thank God a cease-fire was achieved, but it is fragile, tenuous — and remains worrisome.
I had hoped that after five months of the Biden administration we would not still be talking about Donald Trump. He is off Twitter, but not off our dinner conversations. Will he ever concede the election? Not likely. He struts and raves as if the election were held yesterday. He continues to fan the flames of the Big Lie. What I had not expected that so many Republicans continue to believe him when there is zero evidence to back him up.
What takes people away from the truth and allows them to turn to an alternate reality?
I am perplexed. I have heard one explanation that comes from Joseph Goebbels. if you tell a lie that is big enough, and repeat it long enough, it will be believed.
How do we fight back? By broadcasting the truth and keeping promises.
For example, the Biden Rescue plan is enabling many Americans to afford to stay in their own homes and feed their families with a new sense of security.
When a parent can find good. affordable child care for the first time, they may conclude that the Biden administration made that happen. That gratitude won’t arrive with a thank-you note, but it may arrive in the form of support for the Biden administration that helped them move up a notch on the economic scale.
We can’t expect that the Biden administration will score 100% on every issue and please every constituency. But when I remind myself that Biden is our president — not Trump — I still feel better.
Because I know he is telling the truth, I believe he is a decent man. I am confident that the people he has chosen to govern with him are honest and capable, and that he remains a fierce guardian of democracy.