HE’S A SOUL MAN

Comin’ to you on a dust road
Good lovin’, I got a truck load
And when you get it, you got something
So don’t worry, cause I’m coming

I’m a soul man, I’m a soul man
I’m a soul man, I’m a soul man

–Sam & Dave

Joe Biden says he’s fighting to restore the soul of America.  Makes you wonder where the soul of America has been hiding the past few years.  Under the couch?

Donald Trump thinks he is America.  He doesn’t seem to know it because he is no student of history, but his America started slipping in the 1960s with the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war.  It had a mild resurgence after 1968 with Richard Nixon—although if you look at his legacy beyond Watergate, you’ll find environmental protections and diplomacy with China—initiatives that today would be considered liberal.  Trump seems to think he can win reelection by pandering to his base and calling attention to the economy prior coronavirus, which, he says will disappear one day “like a miracle”.  He will try to scare the bejesus out of you by contending that if Biden is elected anarchy will break loose, cities will burn, and suburban housewives will be raped by black men moving into their neighborhoods.  He decries the removal of Confederate monuments who he claims are there to honor America’s heroes.  He cottons to the old rebel cry: “Save your Confederate money boys, the South will rise again.”  Well the South is heavily infected with the virus so I don’t think any rising will happen soon, despite Trump’s lobbying for schools and business to open.

Back to Uncle Joe.  What is his restoration plan?  He contends that no progress can be made on the economy or anything else until the virus is under control.  He advocates for the development of rapid testing, massive national production of PPE and other supplies with a full court press on a vaccine, and most of all a national plan that will be a full court press following the advice of scientists and the experts.  No miracles here.  Just a plan that has helped every other major country get their virus under control.  Beyond that he will advocate for policies that address climate change, end the erosion of environmental protections, protect the post office, protect social security and Medicare, and restore decency and integrity to the presidency.  In other words, protect democracy and restore the soul of America.  It won’t be easy, but if he does do that, it will be a miracle.

America’s soul has been hiding under the couch the past four years under the Current Occupant.  The Current Occupant who has authoritarian inclinations, who thinks he has the best mind and can recruit the best people—many now who are in jail or under indictment. He was elected with the promise of building a wall that Mexico would pay for, and with the promise to drain the swamp in Washington.  Well, we’ve come to realize that he’s not drained the swamp but has brought the swamp to his tenure.

Can America’s soul be restored, and democracy saved?  I think so if we elect a soul man.