You know who the real heroes are?
They are a small group of people deserving of recognition. They work tirelessly in their efforts; they deal with frustration and confusion; they are constantly on alert and must be ready to guide and coach and soothe and do it over and over again. Sometimes daily; sometimes hourly.
Who are these unsung heroes?
The people who write Joe Biden’s speeches.
I suspect it looks something like this:
Terry: “Okay, Mr. President, we’re gonna go over it again. You need to focus. Okay? Mr. President? Where did he go? Dear God, he's gone. Can someone go lead him back here? He's wondered off again.”
<five minutes later>
Biden: “For crying out loud, I’m right here. What are we doing?"
Terry: “Okay, great. We just want to make sure you remember you have a script and read what we wrote. So, let’s try it again from the top. And…go.”
Biden: “Good afternoon. I come to you at a time when America needs unity and healing. Healing. To heal. Funny story, and I swear to God this is true, the heel is attached to the foot which is attached to the leg and when I was a kid I had long hair on my legs that the kids in the pool would run their hands down, and…”
Terry: “STOP. Stop. Stop.”
Biden: “Aww. Come on, man. That’s a good story.”
Terry: “Mr. President, we know you like that story, but that’s not the story we are telling tonight. Or, really, ever again. So, let’s start over. Okay? From the top. And…go.”
Joe: “Good morning. Or evening. I come to you at a time when America needs unity and..uh, you know, the thing…"
Terry: “STOP. You can't say: you know the thing.”
Joe: “Come on man. The people know the thing.”
Terry: “No, Mr. President. The people do not “know the thing.” You can’t fill in what you don’t remember with stuff. WE WROTE A SPEECH, Mr. President. All you have to do is read it. That’s it. You didn’t have to write it; you don’t have to memorize. All you have to do is read from the teleprompter. ANY of the teleprompters. Don’t walk off camera. Don't make up stuff. Just read the words.”
Biden: “If I forget, I can just fill in with some gibberish. The American people love my gibberish. They have a lot of it on the YubieDubie.”
Terry: “On the what?”
Biden: <whispering low into the microphone> "The TubYub."
Terry: “Mr. President, what are you talking about?”
Bob: “Hey, uh, Terry, he means YouTube.”
Biden: “Son of a Corn Pop, that’s it!
Terry: “Oh…my…God…”
Terry: “This is never gonna work. Tell ya, what. Let’s take a break. Let’s get the President some caffeine and another B12 shot and then, in about 20 minutes, we’ll try again. Sound good, Mr. President? Mr. President?”
Bob: “Hey, uh, Terry. He's asleep.”
Terry: <sigh> “Is it already 7pm?”