Friday, January 17, 2025
D+73
1945 Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews from the Nazis, was arrested by Soviet secret police in Hungary
1961 US President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered a televised farewell address to the nation three days before leaving office, in which he warns against the accumulation of power by the "military-industrial complex".
1966 Martin Luther King Jr. opened the Chicago Campaign, a nonviolent campaign aimed at achieving fair housing practices
1984 Supreme Court ruled (5-4) that private use of home VCRs to tape TV programs for later viewing does not violate federal copyright laws
1998 US President Bill Clinton faced sexual harassment charges from Paula Jones
In bed at 9:30, awake at 4:10, and up at 4:20.
Prednisone, day 248, 5 mg. + 2.5 mg., day 10. 5 mg. Prednisone at 4:30. Other meds at 6:30. Trulicity injection at 6:45. 2.5 mg., prednsione at 7 pm.
"Don't unestimate Joe's ability to fuck things up." A statement attributed, perhaps apochriphally, to Barack Obama. Yesterday's story on the NBC News web site prives these excerpts:
Joe Biden ascended to the highest office in America with a pledge to unite the country, strengthen his party and defend democracy. Instead, in the 82-year-old’s Oval Office denouement, he leaves a nation divided, a party in tatters and the American people questioning the self-described institutionalist’s respect for the rule of law.
Many Democrats are blaming Biden for handing the White House to Donald Trump, criticizing the aging politician for staying in office too long and reeling after he pardoned his son. Exacerbating the frustrations, Biden recently expressed doubt about his ability to serve another four years after dismissing voters’ concerns about that very issue as he sought re-election
The president harbors similar resentment toward members of his own party. Once the elder statesman who was to serve as a bridge to the next generation of leadership, Biden departs with an array of fractured relationships. He is estranged from some of the people who were once among his most powerful allies. He harbors, along with first lady Jill Biden, a simmering resentment toward former President Barack Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several former aides, including Bob Bauer and Anita Dunn, all of whom he believes either failed him or pushed him out of the 2024 race, according to several people close to him.
Biden has not expressed his frustrations with Obama directly to him, a person familiar with their conversations said. One former top Obama aide who publicly argued after the June debate that Biden should drop out pointedly noted this week that Biden recently named aircraft carriers after former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, he has not offered any similar honor to Obama.
In an alternate universe, one in which Biden would have stepped aside as the Democratic nominee in 2023, the president would have ridden waves of accolades in his final weeks, cutting ribbons at airports named in his honor or banking hundreds of millions of dollars for an Ivy League policy center in his name, Carville suggested.
“Joe Biden had many successful acts in his life. Unfortunately, you get remembered for your last act,” James Carville said. “Right now, he’s remembered as the guy who stayed too long.”
The problem with Joe Biden is his Super Ego, not his superego, but his Super Ego. Early on in his life, still in his 20s, he believed he was super enought to be a United States senator. Towards the inevitable end of his life, he thought he was super enough to be president until he was 86 year old. He will leave office on Monday with a dismal approval rating of about 35.6%, despite his several major accomplishments during his one-term incumbency. Trump's approval rating at the end of his first term was 38.6%, despite his 2 impeacments and his terrible leadeership at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Geri was released fro the Orthopedic Hospital at 3:15. Steve and I picked her up, drove to the Mequon Walgreen's for her pain meds, and then home. She is in remarkably good shape and good spirits despite getting much less than her normal sleep last night. Steve has been a Godsend, bringing food from Sendik's, getting ice from Sendik's for her Cold Therapy machine, and generally tending to his mother. Quite a blessing. David is in Kansas on business, a 10 hour car ride away or he would be here ttoo. Our dear friend Caren Goldberg texted to see that Geri was home and offered to bring over sandwiches and soup from Panera's tomorrow and to offer whatever help she and Dan could provide. Cousin Sue Clark arrives tomorrow afternoon for a week's stay, God bless her. I guess I've been distracted tody: at 7 p.m., I discovered my Apple Watch wound down to a 4% charge and my iPhone was completely drained of 'juice.'
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