Yes, I was in high school. And yes, I listened to popular music. And yes, these title words are from those boys from Queens, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. The reference to Joltin’ Joe is Joe DiMaggio, who was a retired baseball superhero and left the country bereft of an American idol.
We have a country now that is bereft of any political leadership. We have a president who gave a promise as a candidate for the presidency that he will be sure to fight for the rights of his political opponents. His inaugural speech was considered very uplifting because he spoke about how he will be an inclusive president for all the people. What classic empty rhetoric that proved to be! If not for the coddling liberal media, he would likely be considered the most divisive president in recent memory. He doggedly pursues a leftist agenda as he tramples on all others.
Last week, he crossed a line that made even his fellow Democrats squirm. In a rally in Georgia for “voter rights,” he brazenly declared, “Do you want to be on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace? Do you want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Conner?” In other words, if you are not on his side, you are a segregationist. That is rich, considering Georgia had record voter turnout by minorities. In fact, they just voted in two Democratic senators, including an African American. What a unifier!
In a rare press conference to follow, he simply dismissed any serious questions about that speech and all the major failures of his administration. So, Uncle Joe leaves the podium and goes away, losing the battle and declaring victory. Unfortunately, unlike Joe DiMaggio, he is still here to do further damage.
The silver lining is that President Biden has brought into full relief all the hazards of liberalism. Inflation, the border, crime, supply shortages, foreign affairs, Afghanistan withdrawal, COVID, racial tensions, cop killings, etc., etc. Thank you, Joe, for showing us that once the slogans dissipate, reality sets in. The American voter is naïve, but not that stupid. The president and vice president have record low approval ratings. I am sure that even the most ardent, liberal, Trump-hating readers of this paper must cringe when thinking about this presidency. All the smokescreens that we have become used to from the Democrats (Russian collusion hoax, Ukrainian impeachment, Kavanaugh false accusations, Trump tax returns, the January 6 investigation) are not working to distract from this administration’s disasters.
We must be careful not to fall into the trap. In last week’s column on Colleyville, I said I predicted immediately the reaction of the left to the hostage-taking but did not feel it appropriate to mention it at that time. I knew that especially the Jewish left would feel an even greater need to embrace Muslims to show no hard feelings.
Of course, that reaction came within hours. In fact, the ADL in its release called upon people not to react with Islamophobia. Thank you for the lecture, Mr. Greenblatt.
Then the ADL went a step further. They arranged a sit down with Al Sharpton to discuss anti-Semitism. That’s like the chickens sitting down with the fox to discuss anti-chickenism!
The left has become pathetic for all of us. Our president has become emblematic of that. But we thank him for making that plain for all to see.
Joe, you are joltin’ from this beloved country, as the nation holds its lonely eyes to you. But you have left and gone away. Woo woo woo. Woo woo woo.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, Vice President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.