Opinion

Editorial: Biden's compassion and concern replaced selfishness and cynicism

Friday, Jan. 21, 2022 -- It's not been an easy task to right the meandering and misguided course of Donald Trump's presidency. It is no small or undeniable achievement. President Joe Biden's put the nation on-course to fully revive the economy; restore the health of its people and reclaim its leadership on the world stage.

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CBC Editorial: Friday, Jan. 21, 2022; Editorial #8731
The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company.

It’s been a year since Joe Biden took the oath of office and became the 46th president of the United States. A lot has changed – most of it for the better.

To appreciate the significance, consider Wednesday’s two-hour White House news conference. It wasn’t glamorous. It didn’t contain dramatic fireworks.  There was no rude, bizarre or belittling behavior from the president.  No personal insults hurled toward reporters – even when one challenged Biden’s mental fitness.

There was a job to do. Biden, as he’d done for the last 12 months, set to the task at hand.

It is a tough job, being president amid an unprecedented pandemic and working to restore decorum and trust in a degraded institution. The presidency had come more to resemble the dishonesty of trashy reality television than the world’s most powerful voice for democracy.

For the last year Biden’s been devoted to doing the job of president -- not shirking obligations or shifting responsibility.

Given what he’s inherited from the previous four years, that determination to duty alone is a praiseworthy accomplishment.

Biden came into office a year ago with a big agenda – high expectations self-set.

Even recent events – the stalled push for voting rights legislation and Build Back Better package; the Supreme Court’s rejection of his COVID vaccine mandate for large employers and growing COVID infections numbers – are not defeats but delays commanding even more determined focus and effort.

One month doesn’t make a presidency. As Biden has shown in the past, what seems comatose now may well later jump to life.

In the first year, Biden’s accomplishments have set the nation on a positive path as well as established a strong trajectory for unmet priorities and new initiatives for the coming three years.

He has faced the frustration of the lingering deadly COVID-19 pandemic -- and the significant minority of uncooperative citizens who deny science and endanger their fellow citizens by refusing vaccines and other basic safety precautions. Millions are able to get vaccinated at no cost. COVID tests are being shipped, free, to any family that asks. Hundreds of millions of safety masks are being distributed.

Biden’s American Rescue Plan, enacted last March provided key benefits for unemployed workers and families with children struggling through the COVID-related recession. Employers received critical aid to help keep businesses intact and support their workforce.  It also provided funding to help schools and even local and state governments avoid revenue shortfalls.

Biden has demonstrated genuine empathy to the challenges Americans face and works to uplift them as they struggle to cope.

He understands the challenges too many families confront in dealing with schools and childcare services looking to make sure they are available and don’t jeopardize children’s, teachers’, staff and administrators’ health – as well as all of their families.

When a year ago most children were at home and learning was remote Biden provided the leadership to get teachers back in classrooms where most students are doing their learning -- 95% of the nation’s schools are open.

In the year since he was sworn-in, 75% of the nation has had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 72% of the nation’s population over the age of 12 is fully vaccinated.

In the nation and in Congress, Biden confronts a closely, and too often, deeply entrenched partisan divide. The Senate is split with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans – and Biden is dealing with obstructionist Republicans who reflexively oppose anything his administration initiates and fellow Democrats who live up to Will Rogers famous description of the party’s lack of conformity.

While critics focus on the economy’s rising inflation rate, too overlooked is the astonishing economic recovery. The nation’s unemployment rate has dropped from 6.7% to 3.9%. In North Carolina there are 130,870 more people on the job than a year ago. In the last year, there were more than 24,200 new jobs created in the state.

While pundits look to the impediments Biden’s agenda faces in the coming months, one very significant change from a year ago – as well as much of the previous four years – must not be overlooked.

People can get an honest answer from their president. Truth and reality take priority over blind loyalty, deception and demeaning theatrics.

It’s not been an easy task to right the meandering and misguided course of Donald Trump’s presidency.

It is no small or undeniable achievement. Biden’s put the nation on-course to fully revive the economy; restore the health of its people and reclaim its leadership on the world stage.

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