In Support of Our Friend Joe Biden

I endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States

Lately, I’ve been seeing quite a few articles here on Medium which are very critical of former Vice President Joe Biden. Most of these are lamenting the fact that he is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Personally, I think these articles are the last thing we need right now. Given that we are up against Donald Trump, this is not the time to be complaining about Joe Biden.

At the suggestion of another Medium author, I am writing this article as a response to all these anti-Biden articles. I was not planning to post anything political on Medium, and I promise I won’t post anything political after this (at least not until 2024), but just this once, I am going to get political.

While Joe Biden is a strong and likeable candidate in his own right, the primary reason why we need to unite behind him is that the alternative is Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is a disgrace. He is the worst president in U. S. history. In fact, not only is he the worst president in history, I think he is the worst president possible. I don’t think it’s even hypothetically possible for a president to be any worse than Donald Trump.

Let me list some of Donald Trump’s faults. His faults are innumerable, but I will list just a few of them here:

1. Everything he says is a lie. He might as well just say, “2 + 2 = 5.” Most of his statements are provably false.

2. He is deeply racist.

3. He is deeply sexist.

4. He bragged on tape about how he likes to grope women.

5. He is a very stupid person.

6. He doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about.

7. He is extremely immature.

8. He spends half his time on Twitter, hurling childish insults at random people.

9. He is severely narcissistic.

10. He has embarrassed our country to the rest of the world.

11. He has more loyalty to Vladimir Putin than he has to the United States of America.

12. He has pulled out of several major international agreements, including the Paris Climate Agreement and the Iran Nuclear Deal. This has been disastrous for our foreign policy (and for the climate).

13. He cares more about ratings and making money than he cares about helping the American people.

14. His response to Covid-19 has been totally incompetent.

15. He is a criminal, as are quite a few of his cabinet members.

16. He labels all honest journalism “fake news.” If you told him that 2 + 2 = 4, he would say, “fake news.”

Okay, that’s probably enough. It is obvious that he is the worst president in U. S. history. He is a disgrace.

On the other side, we have Joe Biden. Joe Biden is a trusted public servant with decades of experience. During his time in the Senate, he worked with other senators to advance legislation and cosponsored the Violence Against Women Act. He was an effective vice president. He is knowledgeable about foreign policy. He knows what he’s doing, and he knows how to work with other people. And unlike Donald Trump, he is a decent person, a functioning adult, a faithful husband and father, and a friend to all.

As you can see, Joe Biden is not merely an alternative to Donald Trump; he is a worthy candidate in his own right.

But even if you don’t like Biden, the fact remains: it’s either him or Trump. And given how appalling Donald Trump is, we need to unite behind Joe Biden.

Let me identify and respond to some of the reasons why some people are reluctant to support Biden:

1. He was accused of sexual assault.

2. He is perceived as unintelligent.

3. He is perceived as being a member of the Establishment.

4. He is perceived as lacking charisma.

I will respond to each of these, in order.

1. Biden was accused of sexual assault.

Joe Biden was accused of sexual assault. That doesn’t mean he actually did it. Anyone can accuse anyone of anything. Just because someone was accused of something does not necessarily mean that they did it.

I sincerely believe that Joe Biden did not grope Tara Reade. I know that he has a history of touching women more than they would like to be touched, but touching is not the same thing as groping. I do not believe Reade’s accusation that Biden groped her.

Reade’s story is inconsistent, and she has changed it several times. She claimed she had filed a record of her accusation in 1993, but no such record exists. Also, Reade was known to be a supporter of Bernie Sanders during the 2020 primaries, and I suspect she invented the story in order to hurt Biden’s campaign, in order to help Sanders’ campaign. She also seems to be enamored with Vladimir Putin, which should raise some red flags.

Also, Reade is the only person to accuse Biden of groping. From what I’ve heard, most of the men who like to grope women (like Donald Trump) don’t just do it once; they do it many times. For example, at least 23 women have accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulting them. And I’m sure he did. But Reade is the only person to accuse Biden of groping. Several women have accused him of touching them a little too much, but only Reade has claimed that he went so far as to grope her. That seems strange. And that’s another reason why I don’t believe her.

I realize that most of the time, when a woman accuses a man of sexual assault, she is telling the truth. But there are exceptions, and I believe this is one of them. I believe that Tara Reade is not telling the truth.

For more information on this controversial topic, you can consult a recent USA Today article, as well as several other sources.

Even in the unlikely possibility that Reade’s story is true, I would still endorse Joe Biden. Remember, the alternative is Donald Trump. Joe Biden certainly has much more respect for women than Donald Trump has.

2. Biden is perceived as unintelligent.

Well, Joe Biden is certainly more intelligent than Donald Trump.

Personally, I think that Joe Biden’s intelligence is above average but not exceptional. I think he is generally a smart person, but I don’t think he is as smart as Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, both of whom are exceptionally smart. But I also think that Biden has a real talent for leadership, even if he isn’t book-smart.

But regardless — the alternative is Donald Trump, who is about as stupid as you can possibly get.

Earlier this week, Donald Trump claimed that the reason the U. S. has had so many deaths from Covid-19 is because we test people too much. Wow: he thinks that if you don’t look at something, then it doesn’t exist. I guess Donald Trump doesn’t even understand the concept of object permanence. And remember when he said that we should rake the forest to prevent forest fires? Or that we should drink bleach to cure Covid-19? Or that windmills cause cancer? Or maybe you remember this Trump quote from 2017: “You know what uranium is, right? This thing called nuclear weapons, and other things, like, lots of things are done with uranium, including some bad things.” Wow, sounds like he really knows his stuff.

It is unbelievable just how stupid he really is.

When I say that Donald Trump is stupid, I am not trying to be funny or snarky. I’m just stating it as a fact, because it’s true. Donald Trump is a very stupid person.

Also, even if Joe Biden isn’t the brightest politician we’ve ever seen, if he becomes president, he will be surrounded by a cabinet of very smart people. In contrast, Donald Trump is surrounded by a cabinet of criminals, liars, ignoramuses, and far-right conspiracy theorists.

Joe Biden is a generally intelligent person, while Donald Trump is profoundly stupid. That’s why we need to elect Biden.

3. Biden is perceived as being a member of the Establishment.

Yes, Joe Biden is a member of the Establishment. But so be it. Barack Obama was also a member of the Establishment, and he was an excellent president. Franklin Roosevelt was a member of the Establishment, and he probably accomplished more than any other president in history.

It is true that the establishment of the Democratic Party has some flaws. But so does every institution. No institution is perfect.

In times like these, it is imperative that we weigh our options. Joe Biden is not perfect, but the alternative is Donald Trump, the most corrupt president of all time. This is not the time for a protest vote.

4. Biden is perceived as lacking charisma.

Of the four objections that I’ve listed against Biden, this one is the most laughable. Charisma is nothing but an appearance. It is not substantive.

You do not need charisma to be a good president. Lyndon Johnson had no charisma at all, and he was one of the most effective presidents we’ve ever had.

Given that we are up against Donald Trump, it would be so dumb to complain about Joe Biden just because he doesn’t have enough charisma.

Conclusion:

The world is complicated, but this election is not. The options are Joe Biden, who is a decent person and a competent, experienced public servant, and Donald Trump, who is a disgrace. Clearly, we need to elect Biden. We need to unite behind him. We need to throw all our support behind him.

I endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States.