Biden, Backtracking

ALL POLITICIAN, and for that matter all humans, make statements they wish later they had never made. The rule is; think before you speak. Conversely, people seeking and holding elective office often fail to make statements they might rather wish they had made. Joe Biden has had such along career in politics that he has, like his political party, like his country, evolved considerably over the decades. In the nineteen seventies he was opposed to busing during a time when all good liberal democrats were in favor of it, and he worked closely with and compromised with southern conservative democrats when no good northern, eastern, or northeastern liberal democrat deigned to so do. Forty and fifty years ago there were still conservatives in the democratic party, and liberals in the republican party, and it was often difficult to tell the two parties apart, as it had been for much of their existence. Not so anymore, in our era of bipolarized political in which democrats are far to the left, republicans are far to the right, and never the twain shall meet. Now running for president, Biden has some 'splainin' to do. he says that he was always in favor of busing, as a social, educational equalizer, but that he was opposed to it being implemented through the heavy handed of the federal government, preferring a more localized approach. It sounded lame. It sounded remindful of confederate sympathizers and their lame appeals to stats rights. Here's a suggestion for candidate Joe Biden. do not pretend to be enthusiastic about busing, then or now. Say something like: "although I understand that busing is a noble attempt to equalize society, to mitigate the effects of racism, I always considered it, and still consider it, a wholly inadequate means of dealing with a pervasive, deeply rooted american problem, that of racism inequality and prejudice. Busing is a band aid applied to a gaping wound, which will never facilitate real healing. Real healing will occur when the hearts and minds of the American people, as reflected in American social patterns and American institutions, are changed, fundamentally. The answer, of course, is the only answer, the same answer as always, the answer which ultimately solves all problems: education. We must teach ourselves, and our children, and our children's children the sheer stupidity of racism, its history, its scientifically baseless illogic, the shallow, unreasoning impulses behind it, and we must remind ourselves that skin pigmentation is ultimately no more important a factor in human worth than hair color, height, weight, age, or gender." And with regard to his past cooperation with racist, segregationist united Senators within his own party, maybe he should try this: 'I strongly disagreed with them then, just as I strongly disagree with most republicans now, on most issues. That does not, however, mean that I cannot at least try to reach out to them, respect them, and work with them for compromise, in the hope that we as leaders of our nation can produce results through cooperation beneficial to us all and set an example for the american people that merely disagreeing strongly with someone need not prevent nor even impede mutual respect, communication, and the sacred spirit of compromise, which has been a hallmark of American history and progress since our founders molded our nation out of disparate interest, from compromise." It might produce more support for Biden than his chosen tactic of backtracking and showing regret and remorse, the tactic currently in style. then again, maybe not. Americans today seem to prefer a good gut wrenching mea culpa to someone standing behind their actions. Either we shed tears and show remorse, or we dig in and double down. Its a shame. Sometimes its best to merely stand behind what you say and do, without all the drama.