On The Fence Voters

After a more than two week nationally televised hissy fit from the Mad King, it’s finally over. The sore loser, in a tweet, of course, released his stooge lapdog at the General Services Administration (GSA) from her blind devotion to him – allowing the official transition of the incoming Biden/Harris administration to commence.

It’s morning in America, my friends. Yes, we have another two months of the current loser president to put up with, and there’s no doubt the lunatic can do a lot of damage in the interim. But it’s over for him, whether he accepts it or not.

Already this week, President-elect Biden announced some major nominations to his upcoming cabinet, initially in the area of national security. The wealth of experience, competence, and diversity is on full display – including Avril Haines, who would be the first woman named as Director of National Intelligence, and Alejandro Mayorkas, who, if confirmed, would be the first Latino to head the Department of Homeland Security.

Biden also picked economist and former Fed Chair Janet Yellen to be U.S. Treasury Secretary. If confirmed, she’d be the first woman ever named to that post. The early nominations make it abundantly clear that Biden is well on the way to fulfill his campaign promise that his cabinet would look like America.

But perhaps just as important, Biden is filling the cabinet with people who give a damn about serving in government. They will not be there to “deconstruct the administrative state,” as the Mad King’s former advisor Steve Bannon famously declared was their primary goal. No, it’s about re-establishing good governance and respect for the rule of law.

As the editorial board of the Washington Post so aptly put it, “If confirmed, beginning next year, the United States will have national security principals who are capable, conscientious, well-versed in the issues they will face and not vulnerable to being undercut by presidential tweets. That’s a big step toward recovery.”

Indeed it is. And while the incoming cabinet will not always be perfect in their assessments or decisions, it’s refreshing and calming to know that they will all be loyal, first and foremost, to our Constitution. Not the sort of creepy ass-kissing and eternal subservience to one man that we’ve witnessed the last four years. Differing opinions within the cabinet will be welcome – not subject to presidential rage tweeting.

However, you would think that all of these positive developments would warrant a unified front, at least on the Democratic side of the aisle. But, of course, we’re talking about Democrats, and sometimes we can’t seem to relish a clear and resounding victory.

There are already rumblings from the party’s far-left wing – the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez/Bernie Sanders wing, if you will – who aren’t thrilled that Biden is appointing, or is about to select, individuals who do not pass the liberal purity test.

For once, it would be nice if Democrats could all be on the same page, at least for a while, because we all know what awaits on January 21, 2021: A unified, vindictive, and obstructionist Republican Party. We know they can’t govern worth a damn, and getting in the way of any meaningful progress for the American people remains what they do best.

We all aren’t going to get what we want in a new Biden administration. But lets at least give him a fighting chance. Playing into the hands of a corrupt adversarial political party that only wants Democrats to fail is not a good remedy for success.

Dissent is a given, especially with a Democratic Party whose tent is much larger than their Republican counterparts. But the man hasn’t even taken the oath of office yet. There will be plenty of time for disagreements.

So, in the meantime, let’s celebrate a tremendous victory. Let’s rejoice in knowing that the Mad King and his band of misfits and corrupt sycophants will no longer be in charge.

In due time, the adults will take over the room from the petulant little children: no more vindictiveness, pathological lying, or rule by chaos. I don’t know about all of you, but I’ll take boring governance and competence over crackpots and unqualified hacks any day of the week. The challenges ahead are enormous. Amateur hour is officially over on January 20, 2021.

Yes, my friends, it is morning in America. Finally, a sigh of relief – and lower blood pressure. What an excellent combination.