Loyalty and Doubt
Jill Biden kind of pissed me off last night. After her husband’s lovely Oval Office address, the First Lady released a hand-written note card which thanked “those who never wavered, those who refused to doubt.” The sentiment is lovely but, in my opinion, misguided. It is precisely because those of us who watched that debate performance wavered that we now find ourselves with an energized and excited presidential campaign. It is precisely because we doubted that we stand on the precipice of a new generation moving the country forward while honoring the work that came before. A refusal to look at the evidence before their eyes is exactly why the Republican Party is where they are with their candidate, and it is precisely because I feel free to doubt that I am proud to align myself with the Democrats.
What is doubt, anyway? To me, it means using one’s own cognitive abilities to question, to probe, to seek truth. Doubt is the bedrock of philosophy, scientific inquiry, and spirituality. Doubt is one of the higher expressions of our humanity because doubt represents the uniquely human ability to question. Doubt isn’t disloyalty. In fact, it’s an expression of faith. The faith it expresses is our faith in reason. A cow never doubts the farmer, even when it’s being led to slaughter.
All politicians should be doubted at all times. Not necessarily because we think we are being lied to or do we not “trust” that person, but because we recognize that all people are flawed. We are all fallible creatures prone to error. Even very smart people surrounded by other, very smart people sometimes make very dumb decisions. The great book The Best and The Brightest by the much-missed David Halberstam details how some of the finest minds of their generation led American into the disastrous Vietnam War. These were brilliant, well-intentioned men prone to too much hubris and too little doubt.
When George W. Bush marshaled the nation to support an illegal and immoral conquest of Iraq, he used loyalty and patriotism as a crowbar to pry open American acquiescence. In the wake of 9/11 and the early part of the Afghanistan campaign, Bush and his henchmen exploited American loyalty and global sympathy for their own hegemonic aims. The result: hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, thousands of dead and injured Americans, chaos in the Middle East which still plagues the world twenty years later. It is no exaggeration to say that George W. Bush and his cronies Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld broke the world. They did it by exploiting unwavering loyalty.
“You’re either with us or against us,” Bush declared. Patriotism is the despot’s cudgel. Consider Trump’s primary requirement for those who wish to work for him - absolute, unwavering loyalty.
Doubt is the hand maiden of progress. Every single social movement is predicated on doubt. What was the Abolition Movement if not an expression of doubt - is this how we should be treating our fellow humans even though the law accepts it? How do women secure suffrage without doubt? How do we protect our rights without doubt? Or fight oppression? Doubt is written into our founding documents. What is the Declaration of Independence if not doubt finding its highest expression?
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
How does a people arrive at such a declaration without “wavering”? A monarchy is predicated on loyalty. A dictatorship demands loyalty. Democracy, however, must welcome scrutiny.
What is an election, if not an expression of doubt? Which candidate? Which policies? Which party? Is this or that person up to the job? Why spend so much money on commercials and rallies and “get out the vote”? Because each investment of resources is an attempt to assuage doubt.
My own doubts emerged during the last presidential debate. I had been willing to accept the White House narrative that Joe Biden was well, that his cognition was fine, and that he was up to serve another four years. Three minutes in, when Biden was unable to articulate a cogent thought, I could no longer accept what I wanted to believe. That cognitive dissonance led me, and many others, to express ourselves. Was that “disloyalty”? To whom or what am I expected to be loyal? To Joe Biden? No. To my country? Yes.
I understand how personally painful it must be for the Bidens to release the reins of power. My doubts about Biden’s ability to win an election and serve another four years do not extend to their motivation. I believe in their own belief in themselves, which is to say I don’t mistrust their intentions. I don’t mistrust the intentions of the men who led us into Vietnam, either. I’ll go so far as to say I don’t even mistrust that Cheney & co. believed they were acting in the best long-term interests of America.
So what? They were wrong. Unequivocally, disastrously wrong. “Good” intentions don’t factor into how we judge a presidency. Only good results. The result I am seeking right now is to prevent Donald Trump and his loyal band of sycophants back into the White House precisely because they do not express enough doubt. Precisely because their support never wavers. And we’ve seen the dark roads unwavering support leads us down.
So yes, I wavered. I doubted. I expressed myself. It doesn’t mean I was right. My doubts extend to myself. I have no idea what will happen in November, or whether replacing Biden at the top of the ticket will ultimately prove to be the best move. But I won’t apologize for believing what I saw. Most Americans are a good people, just as President Biden said in his Oval Office address last night. But goodness is not gullibility. Blind loyalty is not love. “My country right or wrong” is an inherent contradiction to the values I love most about America. My country is not my President and my loyalty only goes so far.
Two things:
This was a heartfelt, handwritten note to the staff at the White House during what must have been a very brave, difficult decision for her spouse and Biden's family within a very short time frame. A family that has been pilloried and publicly shamed by the GOP--and prosecuted in courts of law all for political gain, not for any real justice. The WH staff has been steadfast in their support.
But others of us have been there all along too, and I appreciate that fake social media feeling of actually being included. Imagine the feelings of betrayal Jill and the family are coping with from what transpired with their political friends in the party right now. I can only imagine how it must feel. But they did listen, and did what they thought right for the country in this election.
Biden made his speech about us, we the people. It's indeed in our power to save democracy. But we also should show his wife some grace, for all her self sacrifice and heartbreak during this period, leaving a campaign and a life lived in service to us, the people. I don't know that any of could have only left it at a note put on social media, in a new context that sounds snarky to a certain group of critics. We can allow some grace, give some space to the family--because we really do not know what actually transpired that may have prompted the public posting of the note. Let's consider taking Joe Biden's advice and modeling to heart, and not make this important moment about us.
We really don’t know what happened behind closed doors, but it seems very likely that Biden and his team deliberately waited until after the Republican convention to step down, thereby totally overthrowing DT & co.’s plan to keep attacking Biden on age and cognitive failings. And after picking his now ill fated choice of Vance as his VP candidate. I’d say that was brilliant timing.