Biden at Mid-River
Celebrating the first half of Biden's term with 3 pictures and a recipe
A few days ago we marked the mid-point of President Joe Biden’s first term.
Though I prefer dry land, I decided to celebrate this date around the painting of George Washington in a little boat on a choppy Delaware River, another President in mid-progress.
Given the unrelenting political climate-change we’ve all been through in the past 8 years, I decided to update that famous painting.
The original “Washington Crossing the Delaware” was painted in 1851 by German-American artist Emanuel Leutze. He also painted a 21-foot wide replica which now hangs in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
The subject of the painting was meant to inspire 19th-century European revolutionaries and to encourage patriotism in the United States.
An American art specialist at Christie’s has said,
One reason why this painting has become arguably the most iconic likeness of the General George Washington is because it shows him as a man of action.
In my present-day digital collage above, I show Biden as a man of action. I’m stunned when I think of the progress his administration has made toward turning our country around in just two years, against fierce opposition.
It’s only too easy to take for granted that we’re partners again with NATO, as we confront the Ukraine atrocity; that American families and businesses have received financial and medical help to recover from the pandemic; and that our national leader just this week is urging Congress to send to his desk an Assault Weapons Ban bill.
All this is as it should be. And yet after the previous four years’ “leadership”, it feels disorienting to have an advocate for the people in the White House.
I asked Sam how he sees Biden at mid-term and he said,
His actions have shown that the Republican trickle-down economic theory doesn’t work for ordinary people. Democracy works best from the bottom up and the middle out, and Biden is proving it. It’s happening.
Since November 7, 2020 we’ve had a picture on our refrigerator. I took it from the internet and printed it out on 4” by 6” photo paper like a snapshot, as if we had been in the room.
This was during the early days of Covid, so Biden and Harris were not together in person to celebrate their win. I don’t remember them making a big deal out of it. They were just setting a healthy example.
I have one more souvenir from that day in 2020. My recipe card is titled, “Biden-Harris-WON-today Gingerbread”. Enjoy!
FANTASTIC!!! I agree with both Carter and Eileen.
And we are thankful for Biden's dedication.
BIDEN IN 2024
I am getting ready to go to bed after a long day and this was wonderful to read. I just finished reading Thomas Mills in Politics North Carolina, and he says many of the same things but you were more eloquent.