Days Until the election: 46
IN THE FINAL DAYS, THE FINGER-WAGGERS NEED TO FOCUS ON THE REAL PROBLEM.
HINT: IT’S NOT JOE BIDEN
MR. O AND I were talking last night about the problem of finger-waggers. You know, the nitpickers, the second-guessers and constant critics – the ones who are forever telling everyone who's working desperately to win the election how badly they're screwing up.
The finger-waggers just can’t help themselves. Even in the campaign's closing weeks, the fault-finders, the tut-tutters and the scolders persist in pointing out the many ways that so many are getting so much wrong.
We’re talking about you, Bernie Sanders, how you’ve been giving Joe Biden the business, albeit ever so politely, ever so gently, telling Joe how he needs to sharpen his message to Progressives. On MSNBC the other day:
The finger-waggers just can’t help themselves. Even in the campaign's closing weeks, the fault-finders, the tut-tutters and the scolders persist in pointing out the many ways that so many are getting so much wrong.
We’re talking about you, Bernie Sanders, how you’ve been giving Joe Biden the business, albeit ever so politely, ever so gently, telling Joe how he needs to sharpen his message to Progressives. On MSNBC the other day:
| “I think Biden’s in an excellent position to win this election, but I think we have got to do more as a campaign than just go after Trump. We also have to give people a reason to vote for Joe Biden. And Joe has some pretty strong positions on the economy, and I think we should be talking about that more than we have.” |
We’re talking about you, “Top Latino Democrats,” who were reported recently in the Washington Post as . . .
| “. . . voicing growing concern about Joe Biden’s campaign, warning that lackluster efforts to win the support of their community could have devastating consequences in the November election.” |
And even you, Charles Blow, one of our favorite New York Times columnists, prodding the “good people” the other day, trying to make them feel guiltier than they usually do about not doing good enough, or conversely, about not doing enough good:
| “Stop thinking that things will simply work themselves out. Stop thinking that evil will stop at the gate and not trample your own garden. Gather the energy. Gather your neighbor. Fight, vote, email, post. Do all you can to stand up for the vulnerable, for the oppressed, for the planet itself. Don’t let history record this moment as it has recorded too many others: a time when good people did too little to confront wickedness and disaster.“ |
LOOK, WE GET IT.
We are all scared out of our freakin’ minds that Joe Biden will squander his frighteningly thin lead in the polls. We can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t read a good book or enjoy an after-supper Original Klondike Bar for worry that 2020 might still be 2016.
But that doesn’t mean we have to turn on each other, belittle, criticize and arm-chair-quarterback our teammates.
(Mr. O and I should point out here that we are NOT finger-waggers. It’s not a character thing, just simple biology: sweet dogs and politically astute opossums don’t have fingers to wag. We do have claws, which, when it comes to our friends, we keep in check.)
So, here’s our message to the wagging fingers: give them a rest.
Leave the Good People alone. The Good People are NOT the problem.
WANT TO KNOW the real problem? The Ungoods.
Point your fingers, if you must, at the Ungoods' demon clown, the one with the strange hair and the poison tongue.
Wag away at the clown’s worshipers, who leer and cheer and sneer whenever they hear the demon’s latest insult, sneer or fib. Tee off on the Ungoods' sycophants, who help the clown lie, hide his accounts, cook his books, set fire to the earth and super-spread the virus.
Point your fingers at Mitch McConnell and his Ungood enablers, without whom the demon could not accomplish his dream that “only I” can destroy democracy.
So, we beg you finger-waggers: Call it off. Stop carping, second-guessing and hectoring.
The Good People have been working so hard during these past long four years, organizing, planning, analyzing, worrying, demonstrating, letter-writing, telephoning, arguing, writing, testifying, reporting, investigating, cajoling, singing, praying – and just lately, voting early – to bring reason, sense and sanity to our country.
AND HERE'S A NEWS FLASH: The Good People aren’t perfect!
And that includes Joe Biden. Not the perfect candidate. But just maybe he’s the best candidate, with the widest appeal and the wisest mission: to rescue America’s soul.
Joe’s not the smartest, most articulate, savviest, best looking or youngest candidate in history. But he’s now history’s last hope.
So leave Joe alone, and remember what your mother used to say; or maybe it was Joe’s mother: “Shut up.”
Bernie, Charlie and Top Latino Democrats, remember this: Joe Biden’s trying his best.
And so are the rest of the Good People, despite their imperfections, which, as the finger-waggers correctly point out, are limitless.
The Good People misspeak, miscalculate and miss the mark.They fumble the ball and drop the ball.
The Good People preach to the choir and sometimes to the congregation. They make the same point twice and too frequently, they go off message.
The Good People head north instead of mid-west.They speak to this group instead of the other one.
And far too often, the Good People misplace their keys. And they forget to set the alarm, turn off the stove and check their Twitter feeds.
NONE OF THAT MATTERS.
What counts is that Good People are trying. Really trying.
So let’s declare a truce. Let’s all of us stop our nagging, hectoring, cajoling and finger-wagging at the Home Team in the home stretch.
Here’s the truth Charlie, Bernie, Top Latino Democrats and all the finger-waggers near and far: the Good People are really trying.
And you know what? Good for us. We may just pull it off.
We are all scared out of our freakin’ minds that Joe Biden will squander his frighteningly thin lead in the polls. We can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t read a good book or enjoy an after-supper Original Klondike Bar for worry that 2020 might still be 2016.
But that doesn’t mean we have to turn on each other, belittle, criticize and arm-chair-quarterback our teammates.
(Mr. O and I should point out here that we are NOT finger-waggers. It’s not a character thing, just simple biology: sweet dogs and politically astute opossums don’t have fingers to wag. We do have claws, which, when it comes to our friends, we keep in check.)
So, here’s our message to the wagging fingers: give them a rest.
Leave the Good People alone. The Good People are NOT the problem.
WANT TO KNOW the real problem? The Ungoods.
Point your fingers, if you must, at the Ungoods' demon clown, the one with the strange hair and the poison tongue.
Wag away at the clown’s worshipers, who leer and cheer and sneer whenever they hear the demon’s latest insult, sneer or fib. Tee off on the Ungoods' sycophants, who help the clown lie, hide his accounts, cook his books, set fire to the earth and super-spread the virus.
Point your fingers at Mitch McConnell and his Ungood enablers, without whom the demon could not accomplish his dream that “only I” can destroy democracy.
So, we beg you finger-waggers: Call it off. Stop carping, second-guessing and hectoring.
The Good People have been working so hard during these past long four years, organizing, planning, analyzing, worrying, demonstrating, letter-writing, telephoning, arguing, writing, testifying, reporting, investigating, cajoling, singing, praying – and just lately, voting early – to bring reason, sense and sanity to our country.
AND HERE'S A NEWS FLASH: The Good People aren’t perfect!
And that includes Joe Biden. Not the perfect candidate. But just maybe he’s the best candidate, with the widest appeal and the wisest mission: to rescue America’s soul.
Joe’s not the smartest, most articulate, savviest, best looking or youngest candidate in history. But he’s now history’s last hope.
So leave Joe alone, and remember what your mother used to say; or maybe it was Joe’s mother: “Shut up.”
Bernie, Charlie and Top Latino Democrats, remember this: Joe Biden’s trying his best.
And so are the rest of the Good People, despite their imperfections, which, as the finger-waggers correctly point out, are limitless.
The Good People misspeak, miscalculate and miss the mark.They fumble the ball and drop the ball.
The Good People preach to the choir and sometimes to the congregation. They make the same point twice and too frequently, they go off message.
The Good People head north instead of mid-west.They speak to this group instead of the other one.
And far too often, the Good People misplace their keys. And they forget to set the alarm, turn off the stove and check their Twitter feeds.
NONE OF THAT MATTERS.
What counts is that Good People are trying. Really trying.
So let’s declare a truce. Let’s all of us stop our nagging, hectoring, cajoling and finger-wagging at the Home Team in the home stretch.
Here’s the truth Charlie, Bernie, Top Latino Democrats and all the finger-waggers near and far: the Good People are really trying.
And you know what? Good for us. We may just pull it off.
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