Friday (December 18th): The Biden Clause

Joe Biden

Name? Joseph Biden

Westphalian identity? US American

Age? 78

Why is he in the news? Although they are yet to be confirmed, President-elect Joe Biden’s appointments for key cabinet and White House staff positions have been incredibly diverse. They include the first Hispanic head of homeland security, the first woman as Treasury secretary, the first African-American defence chief, the first Hispanic health secretary, the first openly gay cabinet secretary, and the first Native American to be elected to the president’s cabinet.

Why do we care? That’s a lot of firsts for a country that claims to be number one at everything…In all seriousness, it’s nice to see a politician come through on a promise; especially when that promise brings about positive change.

Why should you care? Because whether you like it or not, the U.S. is still a major power on the world stage and with that power, comes influence. 

Who else cares? President Putin. After weeks of Russian officials casting doubt on the outcome of the vote in the U.S., Putin finally congratulated Biden on his victory. Clearly Vlad is just trying to get on the nice before Christmas..

What Christmas character is Biden? Santa Claus of course! Biden clearly fits the physical profile of Santa in that he is an old white man, but he also fits the presumed emotional profile in that a lot is expected of him in a short period of time. While the world expects joy and gifts from Santa, it expects multilateralism, racial justice, greater Covid restrictions, reduced carbon emissions and more from Biden in the new year. In the same way that Santa has his elves to help create and deliver gifts, Biden has his newly appointed, diverse cabinet nominees. So here’s to hoping that Biden Claus and his elves are successful in the New Year (and Trump doesn’t knock him off the roof…).