How you doin’? Me, I feel as if a large boulder which had somehow been strapped onto my back and which, yesterday morning, when initial results for the US Presidential election started emerging, dug painfully into my shoulder blades. Now that massive rock had rolled away. I feel light, buoyant, breathing easy. The world may not be and will not be a perfect place, but I’m hopeful it will have removed that orange-faced ogre from the White House. Joe Biden wouldn’t have been my first choice to represent Democrats, but then I’m not a Democrat. (But yes, Virginia, I am a democrat.)
If you ever wondered why protestors sometimes carried blow-up images of Trump as a giant baby, yesterday should have dimmed your wonder. “Stop the voting!” he cried, and his supporters cheered. “This is a massive fraud!” Where have you heard that tone and similar sentiments? It was when you were in primary school, or maybe nursery: the kid who got really pissed off when he found he was losing and who yelled for a cancellation of the whole game.
One thing the commentators haven’t missed was Joe Biden’s age. The tenor of comments, even from the Democratic side, were frequently ageist. That is, they were judging (negatively) candidate Biden on his age. Not on what he had accomplished, not on what he may go on to accomplish, but on his age. If this had been a woman, and constant remarks had been made about her looks, and was she attractive enough to draw votes, there would rightly have been an outcry. But nobody seems to mind, really, when it comes to ageism. True, the older you get, the more likely you are to become ill or even die. I think most people know that. But the emphasis has been on (Trump’s phrase ) Sleepy Joe. It’s as if people at a certain age become dim and a bit confused and better off backing off and taking a seat in the rocker in the corner. Age didn’t prevent Trump from producing chaos and division; age shouldn’t be used when judging Biden’s abilities.
But that’s a sour note on which to finish. Yes, the blue tide promised didn’t materialise. Yes, Democrats won’t dominate in the Senate. But Trumpism, if not extinguished, is in retreat. I haven’t felt this way since Thatcher left 10 Downing Street with a tear in her eye, muttering “It’s a funny old world”.
You betcha, Thatcher. You betcha, Trump. The body politic in the US has had something deeply malign surgically removed. Rejoice in that.
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