“The evil that men do lives after them"

“The evil that men do lives after them" - Mark Antony, Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare

Tom Toles

There may be chaos for the next few weeks until Biden and Harris are inaugurated, but even without that, once Biden takes office, he faces a huge plate of problems with extra sauce and meatballs. He will have to work hard to undo so much evil wrought upon our country. And it will take years.

Yet, I feel hopeful for the future. It will be a time of healing and progress. Though Joe isn't the most progressive, we have a good chance of righting our ship and getting her back on course.

I envision Joe Biden helping us to:

• Unite the country against our common enemy, COVID
• Cement healthcare for all Americans 
• Pave the way for humane and just immigration. We must find the parents of those 545 caged children and close inhumane detention centers immediately!
• Revere and listen to science
• Take climate change seriously. Let's rejoin the Paris Accord and be the world's leader again
• Reform the Supreme Court
• Reform the criminal justice system so that it is truly just, from the traffic stop up to bail, sentencing, and parole
• Further equal rights
• Affirm that black lives matter
• Rebuild allied international relationships
• Sever damaging international relationships
• Reverse tax cuts for the uber-rich.
• Pledge liberty and justice for all
• Rid our nation of the Electoral College
• Return the White House to the People's House (Mr. Biden, tear down those walls!)
• Have a functional Executive Branch with a full slate of permanent Cabinet members
• Engage in normal, reasoned political discourse
• Sleep well at night and not wake up with the pit of despair looming. Boring ol' government! What a relic!
• And related, not think about the government daily and have faith that they are doing their jobs 

And speaking of Cabinet members, while we are dreaming, let's guess at who would be good for Biden to choose. Progressives turned out for Biden, and he should bring some progressive voices in. Elizabeth Warren certainly needs to be appointed to Secretary of the Treasury. I would love the country to be moved further left, but I don't think it would be bad if Biden chose a Republican or two to help run the Executive Branch, for the sake of healing our fractured nation. Cindy McCain (Secretary of Education!), George Conway, Michael Steele, and Steve Schmidt are my first thoughts. Is that weird? These folks all have been instrumental in calling the current iteration of the GOP to the carpet and rejecting 45's toxicity, as well as bringing along some conservative votes. How deliciously ironic it would be to have George Conway take a role in the new White House! Former Ohio GOP Governor and former presidential candidate John Kasich has sounded like a very reasonable person lately, as well as former Sen. Jeff Flake. Maybe just one of those folks to help build those bridges.

Other good picks for Biden senior advisors: Stacey Abrams, Amy Klobuchar, Andrew Yang, Mayor Pete, Beto O'Rourke, Van Jones. How about Susan Rice and Tammy Duckworth? 

It's exciting to consider the possibility of having smart, capable, normal people running the Executive Branch, who have experience and who believe in the offices they run. There are such possibilities! Who are your picks?

There's been a lot of talk about reaching out to the right and showing compassion. Ok, compassion is at the top of Libs' traits. We have always had compassion for conservatives who need help and protection. And most liberals I know have no argument with conservatives voicing their opinion on, and working toward, policies they believe in. If you wanna talk about taxes, fracking, spending, regulations, let's talk about those. I've said it over and over. I have disagreements with conservative policy but not conservative people. The last four years were not about policy (oh to talk about policy again! Oh happy day!).

What we do take issue with is racism, misogyny, and hate for LGBTQ folks and attitudes and actions that hurt people. That's pure hate. And if you're there, expect more rejection. As long as you don't hate my neighbor, I don't hate you. 

But we all understand the mourning the MAGAts are going through. Loss stings. So, my advice to them to cope with their loss: do what we did. Call your members of congress and express your views. Organize neighborhood meetings on how best to maintain tax cuts for the 1%. Go ahead, vote against your own interest. Guess what? We snowflakes will be still be fighting for you and will be there to pick you up again. 

I saw this map yesterday, and I love it. 

Showing red vs. blue maps leads people to see America as more divided—and judge people more by their state's stereotypes.

Data: purple maps of state proportions are more accurate, and reduce perceived polarization and stereotypes.https://t.co/tHFsWsx6Ilhttps://t.co/z16GdnYKHN pic.twitter.com/jod8EiRgpf

— Adam Grant (@AdamMGrant) November 7, 2020

 

Or how about this one. The solid red and blue blocks are misleading. People vote, not acres. Here's a cool graphic from 2016:

So, onward.

• We still face a Senate fight. Two – count 'em two – Senate seats in Georgia are up for run-off on January 5, and the control of the Senate is in the balance. Stacey Abrams got the vote out in Georgia for president. Let's help her get two blue seats for Georgia. Donate or volunteer to Abram's organization, Fair Fight, today. Check this website to volunteer for a postcard-writing campaign. I'm not sure if Postcards to Voters will re-up for Georgia, but check here in the next few days.

• It's unknown who our Governor Newsom will appoint to take over Senator Kamala Harris's seat. I hope he picks Rep. Karen Bass from LA. She checks a lot of the boxes. 

• Don't hold your breath for a concession speech from Babyfingers. Yes, it would help toward healing the nation. Yes, it would reflect a bigger character. This grub does not have character. He does not care about healing. He does not care about the nation. He doesn't care! He doesn't care. 

You wanna talk character and caring? Watch Al Gore's or John McCain's concession speeches. Now, those were statesmen.

• SCROTUS doesn't even care enough to plan a news conference right. What a fitting end to a whimpering campaign: a botched reservation at the Four Seasons sent his team to the Four Seasons Total Landscaping parking lot, next door to Fantasy Island, an adult-video store, and across the street from a crematorium. *chortle* The Onion couldn't have done it better. Pathetic. (And please read this poem appearing in The Atlantic) 

• Biden is not waiting until January 20 to govern. He has already hit the ground running for COVID response. He is readying a task force, which he will unveil tomorrow, Monday November 9. He has already reached out to governors and mayors. He has a plan. He simply can't wait on this. In the 70+ days until his inauguration, at current pace it's possible that there will be nearly 8,000,000 new cases and 70,000 more deaths in the United States. Unacceptable. 

• COVID remains our #1 crisis. Please watch this space for a personal COVID story, coming soon.