Unity Under Joe Biden?

I hope your Christmas was blessed and that you were able to spend time with family and friends. As I write, I’m tunneling out from under all the wrapping paper and storing up the leftover food. 

As we look back on this past year, we see that we have gone through many challenges. Some are still alive and well. 

One year ago, we were preparing for a new president to take office. Many had high hopes of a better, less hostile environment. We had hopes that somehow we might come together and be able to disagree without being disagreeable. After all, that was one of President Biden’s’ campaign promises. But the president is closing out his first year in office just as he opened it, divisive.

Last January, in his inauguration speech, he said, “On this January day, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together, uniting our people, and I ask every American to join me in this cause… With unity, we can do great things, important things.” He also said, “Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end here and now. It’s time to put away harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again.”

We all stood and cheered and said, “Amen.” We knew that’s what this country needed and we were so tired of the rhetoric and name calling and petty schoolyard antics. We were ready to move on.

Then President Biden went on to talk about, “A rise of political extremism, White Supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.” This is good. Most Americans are disgusted by White Supremacy and Domestic Terrorism. We’re all in when it comes to defeating this monster. But what does this mean? Does anyone have a real definition?

Well, now we know that the President and his administration identified parents as “domestic terrorists” when they showed up to protest at school board meetings. I’m still trying to figure out the definition of white supremacy. It certainly appears to have morphed into different forms than most of us thought.

Bloomberg News claims that having a border wall is a monument to white supremacy. Most Americans favor a border wall. Does that make us all white supremacists?

We also now learn that the U.S. Army’s Equity and Inclusion Agency has an entire manual on white supremacy. A handout distributed to personnel identifies the slogan, ‘Make America Great Again’ a form of white supremacy. Other forms of white supremacy include, “Denial of white privilege, All Lives Matter, There is only One Human Race, anti-immigration policies, celebration of Columbus Day, talking about American exceptionalism, and English-only initiatives. It is impossible to make this stuff up.

It appears that many of us can be branded with this broad brush. If you are white and very poor, as my family certainly was, you have a hard time believing that you were born with some kind of advantage. That hardly makes one a “white supremacist.”

I have always celebrated the discovery of this wonderful country. I constantly talk about how exceptional America is and how blessed we are to be born here. Uh oh. I think I might be in trouble.

So much for the era of unity from the Biden Administration. Now, to end the year, the White House is waging war on the unvaccinated. The administration recently praised those folks who have received the vaccine, but then went after those who have not taken the jab. While talking about the new Omicron variant, the President said, “We are looking at a winter of severe illness and death for the unvaccinated, for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they’ll soon overwhelm.”

The administration is doing all that they can to demonize those who are refusing to receive the vaccine. This is scapegoating at its worst and will certainly do nothing to encourage those who have chosen to not receive the vaccine. There are lots of reasons that some have made this decision. I have heard many of these reasons and they are very compelling and it’s a decision for these people to make.

In New York, a really frightening pattern is developing. A bill is awaiting action by the Legislature that grants permission to the Governor, or his or her delegates, including but not limited to heads of local health departments, to remove and detain cases, contacts, carriers, or anyone suspected of presenting a ‘significant threat to public health’ and remove them from public life for a period of time. The language is so vague, it appears that it can be indefinite. Scary. 

At least the White House hasn’t gone that far. Not yet at least.

Happy New Year. Hope you’re Blessed with all life has to offer.