Day 50: 1 Year of Pandemonium
On this, the one year anniversary of when the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, President Biden delivered his first primetime address. Flanked by flags, he called for unity and recognized the more than 520,000 deaths the nation is mourning.
“That's more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War and 9/11 combined,” he said.
Biden opened true to his signature style that guides a listener to empathy through a series of experiences. “A year ago, we were hit with a virus that was met with silence and spread unchecked — denials for days, weeks, then months,” he said.
“That led to more deaths, more infections, more stress, and more loneliness. Photos and videos from 2019 feel like they were taken in another era. The last vacation, the last birthday with friends, the last holiday with extended family. While it was different for everyone, we all lost something…”
He recounted meeting a small business owner in Philadelphia who pleaded with him for his honesty. “For all of you asking when things will get back to normal, here is the truth,” he continued. “The only way to get our lives back, to get our economy back on track, is to beat the virus…
“That's why I'm using every power I have as the president of the United States to put us on a war footing to get the job done,” Biden said, projecting that the nation may reach his goal of 100 million vaccinated by his 60th day in office —well ahead of schedule — and acknowledging the active-duty military, FEMA and retired doctors, nurses and administrators who are maintaining the front line of the pandemic with testing and vaccinations.
This “war,” he specified, is not against Asian Americans, who have been “attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated.”
“At this very moment, so many of them, our fellow Americans, they're on the front lines of this pandemic trying to save lives, and still, still, they are forced to live in fear for their lives, just walking down streets in America. It's wrong, it's un-American, and it must stop.”
He’s eyeing the 4th of July as a marker for a return to normalcy and urged the country to, meanwhile, not to let the guard down on masking, social distancing and hand washing.
“If we do all this, if we do our part, if we do this together, by July the 4th, there's a good chance you, your families and friends, will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day. That doesn't mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together.
“After this long hard year, that will make this Independence Day something truly special, where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus.”
Biden signed the American Rescue Plan, the largest relief package in U.S. history, today.
“I need you,” he said at one point, “…and it’s not hyperbole.”