Progressing means to “advance or develop toward a better, more complete, or more modern state.”
There has been a lot of debate in progressive circles about Biden’s bonafides as a progressive.
Much of that debate has ignored his more recent positions on things like gay marriage and transgender rights. It has also ignored his early support of civil rights and women’s rights. It ignores the party platform under Biden, which calls for enormous, useful, and consequential changes in environmental policy and social and economic justice.
When people criticize Biden, they tend to look back 30 or 40 years and judge Biden’s actions in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s by 2020 standards.
There is nothing necessarily wrong with that. We all need to be responsible for all of our actions and decisions.
But to do so is to ignore that part of being a progressive is not just wanting our society to progress to a better place, but being able to look at yourself and change. It is being able to listen to other people and learn. It is being able to admit when you were wrong and apologize and work to be better.
Biden has done all of those things. Biden has always been a good man who wanted what was best for all Americans, but he has become a *better* man by opening himself up to different viewpoints and changing his mind. He has become a better man by owning his mistakes and having the strength and the humility to change.
Joe Biden is as progressive as they come — not just because he advances the smart, useful, and popular platforms of the progressive agenda — but because he is willing, able, and ready to progress as a person.
Joe Biden will be a great president.
This is Day 81 in my series 100 Days of Loving Joe Biden
Did you miss any of the 100 days? Here are links for all of them: