‘Man in the Mirror’ Moment
Props to the President for His Decision to Withdraw
“If you wanna make the world a better place,
https://youtu.be/PivWY9wn5ps?si=QN5n5EAS8UZ0q-ay
Take a look at yourself and then make a change.”
Props to the President, upon reflection, for his decision, however belatedly, to withdraw!
My father, Francis Manis, was active into his eighties and actually became a Super Senior Seventies Tennis National Indoor Champion in the same tournament in which Bobby Riggs won the Sixties! In a reversed role, having originally been taught tennis by him, I subsequently became his coach for that tournament. Such pride of accomplishment! However, my contention is that later, in his eighties, my father impressed me even more and fully filled me with pride:
I had been driving behind his car. When we arrived home I gently, but tactfully, had “the talk” with him, mentioning that it appeared as if he were weaving unacceptably on the road. “Do you think it’s time for you to give up driving?”
Mind you, this was decades before Uber and Lyft. As was his habit, he retreated into the bedroom to contemplate what he should do. When he emerged, he clapped his hands together and proclaimed:
“Let’s sell the car!”
For my father, that was a significant decision. President Biden, who in the George Stephanopoulos interview, was confoundingly unclear about whether — or not — he had even reviewed his disastrous debate performance, needed to consider a much more momentous decision. He needed to seriously reflect upon what a true and truthful friend of his, George Clooney, wrote in The NY Times:
“But the one battle he [Joe Biden] cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago [before the debate] at the fundraiser was notthe Joe “big F-ing deal” Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we witnessed at the debate.”
It was time for Joe Biden, in turn, to measure his true self not just in the mirror, but within the confines of a selfless man’s inner heart. Akin to Washington relinquishing power, Biden moved magnanimously to endorse the person already directly in line to succeed him: Kamala Harris.
Her composed response in TV interviews immediately following Biden’s debating debacle, as well as her subsequent choice of Governor Tim Walz as vice-president, combined with their extraordinarily successful first week of barnstorming through swing states to galvanize support, proves she is up to the task. In a debate she could effectively poke holes in the false foundation of Trump’s campaign.
This is an existential moment for not just us Americans, but for people throughout the world. The focus should shift from the frailty of President Biden to that of Donald Trump, with his incessant lying, his authoritarian bent and, just as egregious, his lack of character. To tee up Kamala’s campaign, I link my lyrics to what I call my…
Anthem for the Trump Error
Righting A Wrong (Ivanka’s Song)
I spent my childhood searching skyward
Chasing falling leaves,
Lookin’-up-ta-my father
Standing as tall as the trees!
Forever there to show me the way
Like a beacon bright
He was the one who taught me
Wrong from right!
Out of the deep dark shone his steady light
As pure and bright as the snow is white.
My daddy to me, stood tall, so tall
From day to night
He couldn’t be other than my shining light!
‘Cause he was the one who taught me
Wrong from right!
Not just the Presidin’ Clan,
Everyone would see
The ‘whole’ country knew
He was there for me
If character is what is done
When no one’s around
What do I do when the whole world
Sees what I’ve found?
Daddy dun taught me
Wrong from right,
But the wrong he taught me wasn’t right!
As times change,
Sometimes people don’t.
To the grave they go…
Missing what others won’t.
Tweeting Wrongs, far from “Great”
Living a life of undone hate
Prejudice riding ‘til the Pearly Gates
Righting a wrong which should not wait!
Daddy dun taught me
Wrong from right,
But the wrong he taught me wasn’t right!
I spent my childhood stretching skyward
Chasing falling leaves
Lookin’-up-ta-my father…
But now I know that Man is linked
From shore to shore
For Man is colored with character forevermore!
Steve Manis is a still-productive, semi-retired 77-year-old. A lyricist, among other things, he’s a world traveler who has visited more than 160 countries and reported on several of them.