If we’re serious about

Preserving democracy

Somebody tell me what I’m missing. Since Nov. 6, the President of the United States has essentially disappeared, on a farewell tour of various countries other than the one he’s in charge of governing and ceding the public arena to his less than overwhelmingly popular successor. I understand the disappointment, probably some anger at himself and those who ‘forced’ him to withdraw his candidacy for re-election, and a lot of concern for the future of the country he devoted most of his life to serving, but he’s still President until Jan. 20 and there are some things he could do to give his country and his political party a leg up for the future.

1) Lift the Trump tariffs that he inexplicably left in place to drive inflation throughout his term. Set the incoming president up for a major public relations failure when suddenly prices that had come down go back up by 60% or so.

2) Formalize the addition of the Equal Rights Amendment as part of the Constitution and throw a roadblock in the path of those who would stuff the female population of this country back into roles that were rejected long ago.

3) Pardon anyone who was involved at all in the prosecution of the Felon President and his clique of advisors so that they at least don’t have that hassle to worry about as they transition to life outside of government.

4) Hold fireside chats from a comfortable room in the White House at Thanksgiving and in the midst of the December Holiday season so that people remember the potential for good that our system of government has and what can be accomplished when people of good will are in charge.

Joe Biden has been one of the great retail politicians of our time and now, even though his physical capability has been diminished by age as all of ours are or will be, this is the time to call on all the resources he has to engage in some serious political theatre. We’ll have to wait a couple of years to begin rebuilding what the Trumpistas are slavering to tear down and 4 years to remove the stain from the White House, but using the bully pulpit can lay a strong foundation for the return to a government devoted to, engaged with, and respected by the people of the United States and the rest of the world.