The political process in this country is like having an extended therapeutic relationship. We bring forth all the hurts, play out all the drama, and lay out our future hopes for improvement and normalcy.
It's not surprising we are seeking out Joe Biden, the calming voice of our past relationship, the safety valve for the horrendous trauma of the last years and very questioning of our deep seated base of norms and standards. We are grasping. We've been questioned to the core. The standards and practices we use for political coping no longer work. The very government we look to for life sustaining policies and programs, such as Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, VA care and benefits, clean air, clean water,seems to have a foundation crack, and the house is beginning to tilt ever so slightly. We are unnerved, and Joe is familiar, he's comfort food for the psyche. He's the family member we trust, the neighbor who smiles and silently helps by watching the kids. It feels good. It works while we get back on our feet.
We've done this before. On November 2, 1976 we elected a former Governor of Georgia, and peanut farmer, to our highest office. Jimmy Carter came on the scene after the tumultuous years of Nixon, and the pardon by Ford. We wanted/needed calm, a normal, functioning government, and Carter promised, "I will never lie to you."
As history has proven, we could have had a better president then, but perhaps not the president we needed.
Sometimes the knights we need do show up, and sometimes they disappoint. But they are what we think we need, even if it doesn't work out on paper.
Our therapy is never over. We always go back to the couch. And we're forever trying to figure things out, before we totally lose our mind.
Our Friend, Joe
