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| President Biden and Kamala Harris. |
The world now knows that Joe Biden has, at last, stood down from the election battle and handed the baton to Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a letter posted on X, the 81-year-old said: "It has been the greatest honour of my life to serve as your President.
“And while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term."
He has been brave, perhaps foolish, in fighting his rapid mental decline. Struggling to accept it. Until convinced by his colleague and perhaps his wife to stop. It isn't just about now and the race to become the next president. It is about how he would have faired if he had become the next president. He'd simply be unable to cope.
But he raged against the dying of the light in the words of that well-known poem by Dylan Thomas. It is a poem that - for me - urges all elderly people who are at various stages of dying (which applies to Biden) to fight to the end. To live as good as you can to the end. To never give up. Biden did this but unfortunately to the detriment of the Democratic party. Trump is almost bound to win now and become the next president. Hold on to your hats. Update: Kamala Harris is destined (hopefully) to become the next president. So things are looking up for the Democrats and common sense.
The recommendation by Dylan Thomas applies to 'ordinary' people, in their homes, going about their business in their twilight years. But Biden did what Thomas suggested and in some ways it is commendable, brave and to be expected of a fighter. A political warrior who could not stop. Who refused to succumb to the dying of the light.
Here is the poem: Do not go gentle into that good night.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
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It is in the public domain which is why I can publish it here. The advice in the poem is sound. Old people should do all they can to be as active as possible both in mind and body to their end. Hard though it is. You have to have discipline and drive to the end of one's life. To maximise life.
One vital factor in this journey is not to be become fat!! You can't max life if you are obese as it damages health and severely curtails mobility. Biden was slim unlike Trump who is obese. Biden had discipline. He was not self-indulgent. He was a servant of the people.
Here is Dylan Thomas in a Welsh pub. A great man in his own right. He died aged 39. He lived dangerously. {{{(>_<)}}} And I think he 'raged' throughout his life....!
Credit: By Rosalie Thorne McKenna - https://hrc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15878coll98/id/7222, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=141683289
P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.
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