46

This week Joseph Robinette Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.  It was a long time coming with Joe's first presidential run in 1998 and his second in 2008. However, Joe was made for this moment in 2020 where the soul of the nation - as he put it - was on the ballot.

Joe's election means that decency is back, truth is back, and problem-solving is back. He faces the three challenges of a global pandemic, racial injustice and our long history of inequality, and an economic crisis. However, he has assembled a very capable team to take on these challenges simultaneously.

In his Inaugural address, Joe clearly did not shy away from the challenges ahead. However, he also made it clear that the antidote to all three crises is unity. If we socially distance, wear masks, and coordinate the federal and state response to COVID, we will hasten its end. If we accept that our nation has a history of white supremacy and that people who espoused that philosophy of hate were responsible for the attack on the Capitol and so many other incidents of domestic terror, we can defeat it. If we invest in getting schools back open, forestall evictions, and get people the financial support they need in this pandemic, we will lift individuals and families out of poverty and hunger. In sum, we are the ones we have been waiting for to solve what ails us as Americans.

I, for one, am ready to report for duty. Godspeed Joe!