Random Notes, January 2025

Here we go again. 

I want to say Trump doesn’t have the attention span or the stamina to get his entire agenda through. However, this time around he has more enablers around him. He’s already doing quite a bit of damage, and so far I’ve only seen a handful of executive orders be halted by legal action. It’s been a productive first two weeks, for most of the wrong reasons. At least the federal funding freeze was put on hold. The cabinet confirmation hearings have been cringy. The portly old man wanted panic, division, and confusion, and he got it.  
 

Other notes: 

+ The laptop I’ve been using for 6 ½ years crapped out right after New Year’s. Geek Squad diagnosed a heat maintenance issue, and suggested buying a new laptop. I had to use my sister’s Best Buy credit to purchase the new computer. A week later, I discovered that my new writing device wasn’t compatible with my 13-year-old printer. On a lark, I opened my old laptop... which was working fine, albeit slowly.

+ I don't have the latest version of Microsoft Office on my new computer, so I have to type this on Google Docs. I can't find my font, so this is probably how my blog will look from this point on.

+ Speaking of money... I inherited my parents’ health care plan, and my monthly premium with Blue Cross had increased to a point that I need to weigh my options. (It’s triple what it was in 2018, but that’s a whole other conversation.) I went on the ACA marketplace around Thanksgiving, and found a plan with BCBS that was similar to my old plan. I didn’t realize I was supposed to cancel my first plan after my second plan started, and after a long customer care call, I had to wait two weeks for a refund. At least I did this while Biden was still in charge.  

+ Do you want to donate to southern California wildfire relief? Click here.  

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These Last Four Years: Grading Another President

 In years past, I've tried to sum up outgoing presidential administrations in a letter grade. I did this with Bush 43, Obama, Trump's first stint, and now I tackle the impact of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. 

In spite of what the right-wing media yells at you, the Biden administration was not a disaster. In the wake of Jimmy Carter's death, I see some parallels between the complicated, one-term legacy of both him and Biden. Both won a crowded, wide open Democratic primary (1976 and 2020), both succeeded a scandal-plagued Republican administration (Nixon/Ford and Trump), both inherited a wobbly economic situation, and both lost re-election to galvanizing Republicans (Reagan and Trump again).

Look at what Biden & Co. achieved in four years: a tighter, cohesive response to the pandemic; low unemployment; slightly higher incomes; job creation; more benefits for veterans and their families; reforming the military justice system; more energy transition spending. It's a decent list, but the early part of the Biden years were spent fixing the errors of the previous guy (which will almost certainly get reversed again). On the flip side, health care in the US is more expensive than ever, immigration and inflation were ineluctable concerns, and the administration's response to Ukraine and Gaza got mixed reviews to say the least. He didn't achieve lasting peace, but at least Israel and Hamas agreed to a nine-week cease-fire just under the wire.

As I said three years ago, Joe Biden frequently said the right thing and tried to do the right things, but he never came across as a leader on any major issue. In a time when Democrats are bringing sternly-worded letters to knife fights, he was the avatar of a party that insisted on approaching everything with decorum, staying steadfast and traditional, in a the face of the unrelenting, upending MAGA movement. His executive order to curb immigration last summer was probably too little, too late. He seemed to resist more than he fought. 

It's a cliche, but Biden's fatal flaw was his age. He was inaugurated as the oldest president ever, a record that will be broken for the third time in eight years on January 20th. His befuddled performance at the very first Summer presidential debate threw his party into a tailspin, which hit a crescendo when Biden was forced off the ticket with 3 1/2 months to go. Vice President Harris had a higher approval rating, and ran a solid campaign, but the Democratic ticket was the underdog the whole way, and the flip to Harris-Walz wasn't enough to close the gap. Pardon the over-simplification, but if Biden was ten years younger, one wonders what he and Harris would've accomplished in a second term. 

Joe Biden will leave office with an approval rating under 40%, joining a certain melon-shaped felon in that indignity. However, for his flaws I think we'll grow to appreciate the impact Biden made in the long-term. If his pal Barack Obama merited a B, then I'll give Scranton Joe a B-. God only knows what the next four years behold, though. 

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