Joe Biden’s Parting Gift

Janauary 16, 2025

Joe Biden’s parting gift to the nation was a farewell address that spoke the truth in plain and powerful words. He held back nothing. The speech was not about him, though he had every right to boast about his accomplishments. It was about us—and the continued promise of America. It was about the challenges we will face in a political environment where oligarchs own the channels of public discourse and are hell-bent on using that ownership to manipulate democracy to protect their ever-increasing wealth.

It was a great speech that will stand the test of time. Biden’s farewell will be compared favorably to the final addresses of George Washington and Dwight D. Eisenhower—who warned (respectively) about the threat to democracy posed by political parties and the emerging military-industrial complex.

President Biden’s 15-minute speech can be viewed in its entirety here: President Biden Delivers a Farewell Address to the Nation.

The brevity of the speech gave it clarity and power.

President Biden warned Americans about the concentration of wealth in the hands of oligarchs—who are, in turn, accelerating the “avalanche of misinformation and disinformation” to gain control of the government.

Biden repeatedly touched on the danger to democracy caused by the confluence of extreme wealth of oligarchs and their control of information platforms. He said, in part,

[There is a] dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people. Dangerous consequences [will follow] if their abuse of power is left unchecked.

Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.

Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power . . . The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.

I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers to our country as well.

Biden’s warning will be manifest on Inauguration Day. According to reports, four of the world’s richest men will sit on the dais next to Trump's motley cabinet nominees. See Reuters, Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg to attend Trump's inauguration. (“The chief executives of Tesla, Amazon and Meta will be featured prominently at Trump's swearing-in, sitting with the Republican's Cabinet nominees and other elected officials.”)

The four oligarchs will be paraded like prized ponies before the American people: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sam Altman. Together, those odd, insecure, and hollow men control Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon/Prime, and ChatGPT.

But those oligarchs are not mere fascinators on the cap of the Inauguration: They own Trump. As much as is humanly possible, Elon Musk single-handedly bought the presidency for Trump. See CNN, Musk spent at least a quarter-billion dollars to help elect Donald Trump, new filings show. Jeff Bezos killed the planned endorsement of Kamala Harris by the Washington Post editorial board. Mark Zuckerberg welcomed Trump back onto Facebook after banning him for two years for amplifying violent speech.

The presence of the oligarchs on the inaugural dais is a giant middle finger to the American people and the rule of law. It says in unmistakable terms that “This presidency has been purchased for the benefit of the super-wealthy.” The oligarchs are so confident in their control over Trump that they have abandoned all pretense of shame or impartiality. They are his puppeteers, and he is their puppet.

Joe Biden’s farewell address grabbed us by the shoulders, looked us in the eye, and said (in effect): Every American should be filled with indignation and righteous anger over the surrender of the federal government to tech oligarchs who care only about increasing their wealth, not about the health of our democracy. We are facing a five-alarm fire. No citizen with a stake in the future of this nation can sit idly by as the interests of 99.9999% of Americans are subverted to 735 billionaires who overwhelmingly support an aspiring dictator.

We must heed Joe Biden’s warning. There is no middle ground, and no one is exempt from duty.

In one of the most remarkable passages of his speech, Biden made clear that the peaceful transition of power is not from the Biden administration to the Trump administration but from President Biden to us—“We, the people.”

Biden said,

Now it's your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America. You love it, too. God bless you all. May God protect our troops. Thank you for this great honor.

In a remarkable speech addressing a remarkable moment in American history, an outgoing president believed he could not trust his successor to keep the flame of democracy alive. Instead, he passed the torch to us.

It is an awesome responsibility, one that we must gladly accept and diligently perform. The good news is that it is a collective responsibility. It always has been, but Joe Biden’s farewell address made that fact plain for all to see. That is Joe Biden’s parting gift.

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Cease-fire agreement for Gaza announced

President Biden began his farewell address by announcing a three-phase cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas. If the agreement holds, the cease-fire begins on January 19, 2025. Ilan Goldenberg describes the agreement in The Contrarian, A Gaza Ceasefire and Hostage Deal.

Criticism of Biden’s role in achieving the cease-fire began before he exited the Cross Hall of the White House, where he announced the agreement. Biden described the months-long negotiations to reach the agreement but acknowledged that he kept the Trump transition team advised of developments. As Biden exited the press conference, a reporter asked whether Trump would get “credit” for negotiating the deal—because, of course, in the cynical minds of the DC press corps, the freedom of the hostages and return of the dead is secondary to the political scorecard. Biden rightly asked the reporter if the question “was a joke.”

Trump, of course, immediately claimed credit for the agreement, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Trump to express thanks before calling President Biden. Press reports claim that Trump gave Netanyahu assurances that the US would back Israel if it re-invaded Gaza because Hamas violated the cease-fire agreement. See MSN/Latin Times, Trump Allegedly Promises Netanyahu Israel Can Violate Approaching Ceasefire Deal With Hamas: Israeli Media.

Politics aside, any progress toward ending the fighting, rebuilding Gaza, and returning the hostages should be welcomed without qualification.

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Pam Bondi’s confirmation hearing

Trump's nominee for Attorney General, Pam Bondi, sat for her confirmation hearing on Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was Pete Hegseth all over again—except without the allegations of rape, sexual assault, serial philandering, and habitual drunkenness. The absence of those allegations does not mean that Bondi is qualified or fit to serve as Attorney General, but it is a step up from Hegseth. Almost anyone would be.

As many commentators have noted, Bondi’s answers were designed to please only one person—Donald Trump. As a result, her answers were worthless evasions and quibbling that insulted the American people. She refused to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, refused to acknowledge that Kash Patel has an enemies list (it is published as an appendix in his book), claimed not to have heard the tape of Trump's call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and pretended not to know that Trump has called for the jailing of Liz Cheney. See, generally, HuffPo, 5 Big Questions Pam Bondi Dodged In Her Senate Confirmation Hearing.

Joyce Vance has provided an excellent summary of the hearing. See Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse, Pam Bondi. I expect that Joyce Vance will become an indispensable source of information about Bondi’s DOJ.

Bondi will be confirmed and immediately become the least qualified, most compromised Attorney General to assume leadership of the DOJ. The only open question is whether Bondi will ever say “No” to Trump about anything. My educated guess is that Trump had a clear conversation with Bondi about that question, and she gave the answers Trump wanted to hear, which is why she appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

In the absence of guardrails at the top of the DOJ, Americans targeted by Trump and Bondi must rely on the integrity of the US attorneys and their assistants, the federal judiciary, and the citizens who serve on petit and grand juries.

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Opportunities for Reader Engagement

Aid to Los Angeles fire victims.

Indivisible Santa Barbara has published a list of reputable sources for making donations to victims of the LA fire. See Indivisible Santa Barbara’s most recent newsletter, Urgent Calls to Action and Fire Victim Assistance. Also, check out the homepage of Indivisible Santa Barbara, which has a calendar filled with opportunities for engagement, activism, and education.

Help bring books to students in juvenile detention facilities.

Please take a moment to read about this worthy cause to provide books to youths in juvenile detention facilities:

Approximately 200,000 young people will spend a night behind bars this year. They are some of our nation’s most vulnerable and oft-shunned youth. BreakFree Education helps to ensure they get the education they need and deserve.

At BreakFree, we believe it is critical for students locked in juvenile detention facilities to explore the power of reading at every opportunity; to read for pleasure, not just for a grade; and to develop the habit of reading. So, each February we sponsor Unbound, a national readathon for detained youth. Unbound provides a framework and incentives to increase students’ engagement with books through weekly challenges, prizes and rewards.

Many libraries in youth detention centers are small, and lack recently released, highly engaging young adult fiction. This year we want to send each of 50 schools located in juvenile detention centers a bundle of new books for their library, before February–and we’d like your help! Click HERE to help us send book bundles to incarcerated students.

Join Downtown Nasty Women’s Social Group in supporting Ben Wikler’s bid to become DNC Chairman

I received the following request from my good friends at the Downtown Nasty Women’s Social Group, which is supporting the candidacy of Ben Wikler for Chair of the DNC:

DNC Chair Election

On February 1, there will be an election to determine the new leader of the DNC. We can't vote, but we, along with many grassroots organizations, would like the voting members to support current WisDem Chair, Ben Wikler. Please take action with us using the list below.

Actions you can take to help Ben win:

Read Ben's Platform to Unite, Fight & Win.

Ben's Team has asked us to amplify on social media:
Please Follow Ben on Bluesky, Twitter, Instagram, and Threads.

Use the digital toolkit to post for Ben on all social outlets

Amplify DNWSG posts: on Instagram and Twitter -- follow for more to repost

Sign the Grassroots Choice Letter endorsing Ben

Sign Robert Reich's petition to the 448 voting members

Donate and Help Fundraise for Ben

DNC Forums:

Thurs, Jan 16, evening: In-person ONLY in Detroit. RSVP
Thursday, Jan 16, 1:30pm: DNC Officer Election Forum live-streamed on the DNC’s YouTube Channel, and POLITICO’s YouTube Channel.

Resources:

Ben's website to view his video

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Concluding Thoughts

I have two concluding thoughts:

First, with news that four oligarchs will join Trump on the inaugural dais, there is even less reason to watch Trump desecrate the Constitution and the Bible as he utters a false oath to protect and preserve the Constitution.

If you have plans to occupy yourself during the Inauguration, I urge you to keep them. But if you don’t, join me and Jessica Craven (and others) on Inauguration Day from 11:45 a.m. Eastern to 1:00 pm Eastern. The event will be livestreamed on the Substack App. There is no “link” to the event; just open the App at 11:45 a.m. Eastern and you will receive a notification that we are livestreaming!

This is NOT a “watch party.” We will read excerpts from and discuss important documents and speeches in American history, such as Letter from Birmingham Jail, Washington’s Farewell Address, the Gettysburg Address, Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem for President Biden, Brown v. Board of Education, and Declaration of Sentiments from the Seneca Falls Convention on Women’s Rights.

We are open to suggestions for additional readings. I am currently recruiting other Substack authors to serve as readers. Let me know if you would like to volunteer! Space and time permitting, we would be delighted to add a variety of voices to the program.

If you do not have other plans, please join us for a calming, restorative, and uplifting alternative to the Inauguration. Let’s lean into democracy together!

Second, President Biden delivered a historic speech on Wednesday. It may be his most important speech ever. You owe it to yourself to watch the 15-minute speech, here: President Biden Delivers a Farewell Address to the Nation.

There is so much to say about Joe Biden’s final months in office that it is difficult to know where to begin. His legacy is being debated before he has taken the ceremonial helicopter ride from the White House lawn. We will have plenty of time to discuss the nuances and implications of his legacy, but for now, his most important act is the charge he gave to each of us in his farewell address:

Now it's your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Daily Dose of Perspective

The image below is of the Soul Nebula, which lies 6,500 light-years from Earth and has a diameter of 114 light-years.

I have tried unsuccessfully to image the Soul Nebula on several prior occasions. On all prior occasions, the image was too faint to allow processing. Tonight, I captured enough photons to produce an image but had to “push” the exposure, contrast, and clarity to show the nebulosity. The result is an image that is not pleasing (to my eye, at least).

When I first began practicing amateur astronomy, more experienced astronomers would look through my telescope and sometimes say, “That is a pleasing image.” At first, I was puzzled, but I now understand what they meant: Bright, but not too bright; sharp, but not too sharp; colorful, but not too colorful.

Ultimately, whether the image is pleasing is a matter of taste. If you enjoy the image below, that’s good enough for me!

Post-script. I can count on no fingers the number of times I have seen the Andromeda Galaxy with the naked eye from Los Angeles. I just went outside to retrieve my telescope. As I looked up at the sky, I saw the Andromeda Galaxy in my peripheral vision. I double-checked, triple-checked, and quadruple-checked, but the fuzzy, elliptical shape with the bright center stayed in the same location. I then checked my astronomy app, and it confirmed I was seeing Andromeda. Because of the Santa Ana winds (which drove the massive wildfires), the sky is unusually clear, and humidity is low—which likely explains the rare sighting!