Joe Biden’s political career was laid to rest at 1:46 p.m. eastern time on July 21, 2024.
Hunter Biden, while irritated that his father was receiving tranquilizers without sharing, said it was the right thing to do and thanked his father for his selfless service to the country that has so enriched the son.
Similarly, Democrats who just moments before had been pinning the elder Biden to the gurney took a few moments to murmur in the president’s ear about just how good a job he had done and how brave he was to voluntarily end his 55-year career in politics.
Kamala Harris, while absent-mindedly and vigorously depressing the plunger on the IV line, beamed, so relieved was she that her beloved leader would no longer feel the agony of campaigning and could spend the rest of his days (or minutes) being borne back to the wavering green light somewhere far off Delaware’s coast.
Barack Obama, who was there with his bible in hand, A Promised Land, read:
But you don’t choose the time. The time chooses you. Either you seize what may turn out to be the only chance you have, or you decide you’re willing to live with the knowledge that the chance has passed you by.
Reminded that he should send a thank-you note to his ghostwriter, Obama turned out the light as he turned his back one last time on the cooling remains of his former vice president’s aspirations.