Bilbo Biden and the Seat of Power

It’s been a long time since I cared to express my thoughts on politics in a public forum. I haven’t even cared to think about politics for years, though I do, of course. Think about politics. All the time. Out of necessity, really. Things have been so dire at home and abroad for so long, playing the apocryphal ostrich and burying my head in the sands of escapism and oblivion just hasn’t seemed prudent.

But oh! my friends, there’s been a sea-change. The hanging-on-by-our-fingernails Dems have found a foothold. From counting ourselves out, we’re back on our feet, dancing like butterflies and stinging like bees. Yesterday we were being inexorably dragged to the edge of the Authoritarian Cliffs; today we’re back in the race for the White House.

The sea-change is all due to a change at the top of the Democratic ticket. President Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed his VP Kamala Harris for the job. In so doing, he galvanized the Left – and maybe some disaffected Republicans – like nobody has ever seen before, as a certain blithering, blathering blowhard might say. Unbelievable galvanizing. The best galvanizing in history. Gals. Gals galvanizing. Guys, definitely guys, too. Unbelievable guys, the best guys. So much gallivanting by the best guys and gals. It’s beautiful, all the gallivanting, so beautiful. In so many ways.

But I digress.

Biden has won his fair share of praise for his decision, and rightly so. But for me, the excitement over Harris, the cohesion and momentum her ascension instantly generated, and the abbreviated time she has to campaign have unfairly abbreviated the attention Biden’s actions deserve.

Well, it’s Lughnasadh Eve, Feast of the Games (well done, Summer Olympics), start of the Harvest season, and, in my mind anyway, a Sabbat associated with sacred kingship. A fitting time, then, to honor the remarkable and heroic thing Biden has done.

The political maelstrom has ruined many a reputation, eroded many a good soul, tainted many a loyal heart, and confused many a moral compass. But not Bilbo Biden’s. After serving in one public office or another for nearly 50 years, everyone agrees, he’s a good man. A decent man. A man who cares about this country and its people, and sincerely tries to do right by them.

Four years ago, Biden challenged the insanely corrupt incumbent, Donald Jitterbrain Trump, for the Seat of Power … and won. Minutes after he was sworn in, he sat himself down in the highest seat in the land – perhaps the highest seat anywhere – and got to work. Folks used to say the guy in the Oval Office was “The Leader of the Free World.” When Bilbo Biden plunked his ass down in the leather chair behind the Resolute Desk, the title started making sense again.

Bilbo Biden’s clear intention was to use the Seat of Power only for good. While he hasn’t been entirely successful in that endeavor (imho), I believe he thinks he’s doing good with every policy decision he makes. And the palpable, demonstrable good he has done … omg.

He got the bipartisan infrastructure package passed, and the American Rescue Plan that put 500-million COVID vaccines into American arms and cut child poverty in half. He pushed through the only significant gun regulations in forever. He invested billions into climate change through the Inflation Reduction Act, capped drug prices for seniors, and gave Medicare the power to negotiate prescription drug prices. He provided as much college debt relief as he could, gave us historically low unemployment rates, and levied a 15% minimum tax on some of our largest corporations. He signed the CHIPS and Science Act, reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, appointed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, and signed marriage equality into law. He brought America back into the Paris Agreement, strengthened our NATO alliance …

I could go on. Frankly — and I think this holds true for most folks who cast their ballot for him in 2020 —  Biden surprised the heck out of me. I voted for him because he wasn’t a creepy, brainless, narcissistic wanna-be dictator. Turned out, he was the best thing to happen to this county since FDR.

Ok, so, election time rolls ‘round again. And just like in LOTR, the ancient evil that nearly destroyed the world and was only narrowly defeated is back. “Gosh darn it,” says Bilbo Biden, “He’s back, and I’ve not finished the job I was elected to do. I’ve got to challenge Dim-Don again, and defeat him as I did once before!”

A noble ambition, but, sadly, nobody spends four years in the Seat without falling in love with it. Only a handful of presidents have declined to seek a second term, usually prompted by failing health, family tragedy, or abysmal poll numbers. All the rest wanted more time in the Seat. That’s why we have rules about how long a person is allowed to rest their bum in the Comfy Chair and the peaceful transition of power.

Anyway, that’s when Biden started getting a little scary. You know, like when Bilbo gets testy, starts muttering to himself, freaks out when he can’t find the Ring in his pocketses. Bilbo Biden was getting kinda testy about folks hinting he shouldn’t run again. He was convinced that the anti-Trump coalition that had united to elect him in 2020 would unite once more. And he was super-sure he was the only one who could beat the Orange Menace.

What he didn’t see – wasn’t able to see – is that it’s impossible to be constantly against something for years on end without losing hope, without losing faith. The coalition was desperate to be for someone. But the Seat had blinded Bilbo Biden to the will of the people he loved so much. He wasn’t stepping down. Period. That Seat was his. He’d earned it. He knew how to use it. It was precious to him.

And, of course, there was the age thing. You know, like how Bilbo was so dang old, how the Ring had stretched him too thin, like butter spread over too much bread? Bilbo Biden had impressively managed to do the incredibly heavy lifting required of the President of the United States for four years, but my gosh, giving voters a choice between Really Old (Dumpster-Fire is 78) and Even Older (BB is 81), especially when they’re a pair of old White guys, both convinced they are the only person in the world who can save America … yeah. Not an inspiring choice.

Then came the debate debacle. For those of us who were resigned to putting our shoulders to the wheel for Biden and praying he’d give us a fiery performance, it was shocking. You know, like when Bilbo slips the Ring on at his party and slips away, leaving virtually the entire population of the Shire at sixes and sevens? Only Bilbo Biden didn’t vanish. Would that he could have, would that he had. His performance was excruciating to watch.

After that, the calls for him to step down grew louder. Same time, others were insisting it was too late to change horses mid-stream. I was in that camp. I wished he’d chosen not to run for a second term, but since he was running and fiercely determined about it, I was terrified that if he stepped down this late in the game, the Dems would devolve into their signature schismatic in-fighting, the August Convention would be a shit-show, and Project 2025 would be a solid GO!

Biden was surely aware of the polls and projections, and deluged with advisors advising, but he wasn’t moved by any of it. You know, like when Gandalf tries to persuade Bilbo to leave the Ring to Frodo, and Bilbo gets all huffy and defensive. Neither Baggins nor Biden was asking for advice. Bilbo had Sauron’s essence whispering in his ear, and from the sanctum of the Oval Office, all Joe could hear was a voice reassuring him that his butt and his butt alone belonged in the Seat of Power.

Fact is, in both cases, the choice was Bilbo’s – Baggins’ and Biden’s. Gandalf could only stand by and hope Bilbo would find it in his hobbit-heart to leave the Ring behind. Which he did. Great moment of fiction. Great moment of history: Biden did, too. Stepped away from the greatest political power a single individual can wield in this nation, and, arguably, in this world.

When he announced he was dropping out of the race and passing the baton, he said it was clear to him that his candidacy had become a source of divisiveness within his own party. This astonishing, laudable, drop-dead beautiful act of abdication cast a magic spell over the can’t-agree-on-anything Left – you know, like when the Ring burns up, and the desperate warriors of Gondor (plus Aragorn & Party) are suddenly filled with hope and wonder. Instead of imploding into factional chaos, the Dems miraculously and instantaneously united, practically tripping over each other in their haste to stand behind Kamala.

Frodo gets a heckuva lot of acclaim despite that he couldn’t let go of the Ring, epically failed to destroy it, and all would have been lost if another Ring-possessed maniac hadn’t bitten off his finger and accidentally saved the day by falling into the fires of Mount Doom. For me, it’s the Bilbos who deserve the fame and glory, the Bilbos who are the true heroes. There aren’t many among us with the strength of will, the integrity, and the compassion to relinquish unimaginable power for the greater good.

Well done, Joe, thanks big time.

And Happy Lughnasadh.