Sleepy Joe shows some decency on his way out the door

Actually, from what we know now, Joe was apparently irrelevant to his own presidency throughout his four years in the White House. Think on that for awhile. What does that tell you about American democracy? What it tells me is that the standard-bearer of the democratic world order is a faux democracy, as fake as a three-dollar bill. Yup, the Exceptional Nation that has busied itself spreading democracy hither and yon these past few decades doesn’t actually have one at home. Instead, it has a bustling hive of conniving opportunists, careerists, lobbyists, and grifters of all stripes, each committed to the lofty American ideal of lining their own pockets at the expense of what in simpler times might have been called the “common good.” Needless to say, when the DC hustlers realized they were advising a dementia patient, they ran with it. Gotta make hay while the sun shines, dontcha know! And did they ever make hay! Under Biden, hundreds of billions in US dollars flew out the door to “save democracy” in Ukraine, in Taiwan, and in Israel! For almost a year, the hive buzzing around Biden claimed they were working 24/7 for a ceasefire in Gaza, to no avail. Do you really believe Trump’s golfing buddy Steve Witkoff has more influence in Israel than the entire US State Department? Or is it more likely that Sullivan, Blinken, et al were never interested in a ceasefire? How else to explain Trump’s Middle East envoy securing a ceasefire with one visit to Jerusalem, a ceasefire that eluded Antony Blinken and the entire state department for a year? But enough of that; I come to praise Caesar, not to bury him under mountains of well-deserved opprobrium. History will look after that. In the dying minutes of his last day in office, President Biden granted clemency to Leonard Peltier, who has languished in the US prison system for nearly fifty years for the alleged murder of two FBI agents. Over the decades, everyone from the Dali Lama to Mother Teresa to Nelson Mandela to Amnesty International has lobbied successive US administrations for clemency. Every president, including Clinton, Obama, and Trump, has ignored Peltier’s plight. Until today. Good on you, Joe.