President Barack Obama addressed 2020 graduates tonight, in a virtual ceremony that was forced by Benedict Donald's screwy mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic. Wow, what a breath of fresh air — to hear a President talk to Americans intelligently about their hopes, ambitions, concerns and fears.
Yep, fears. The pandemic, Obama said, has "fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they're doing. A lot of them aren't even pretending to be in charge." And he urged the next generation of Americans to, essentially, have at it.
This speech was not only completely beyond the capabilities of Trump but was balm to the American soul. It linked the challenges of the current generation — COVID-19, climate change, threats to our democracy — to the challenges faced by earlier generations, like depression and war.
As we listened to Obama, we thought about a remarkable obituary we read in The New York Times today. Jerzy Glowszewski died at 97 of the coronavirus in Manhattan. He was a Polish RAF fighter pilot who flew 100 missions against the Nazis during World War II. This amazing photo of him captures the anti-Nazi spirit of the Allies, who were on their heels at the time — but who went on to a great victory against the forces of darkness.
It's no exaggeration to say that emboldened by Trump, those dark forces are alive in America today. And we hope that young people like Jerzy are ready to rise up and take back our democracy this November. They won't be flying Spitfires or shooting bullets — but they'll be braving the coronavirus at the ballot box. We'll be there with them. We cats PURR.
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