Letters from an American - January 15, 2024

Episode Date: January 16, 2025

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January 15th, 2025. It is somehow fitting that President Joe Biden's farewell address to the nation, scheduled for eight o'clock Eastern time tonight, was overshadowed today by the dramatic announcement that after months of negotiation backed by the United States and facilitated by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, negotiators from Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire and to exchange Israeli hostages taken on October 7th, 2023 for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. From when he broke his foot playing with his dog shortly after he was elected in 2020

and opted to forego time-consuming physical therapy to address the stiffness in his gait in order to focus on his work, to the day of his January 2021 inauguration when he went straight to the office, through his decision to negotiate the historic 2024 Ankara prisoner exchange involving 26 prisoners and at least five nations at the expense of his reelection campaign. To today's focus on the long-awaited ceasefire rather than his final speech, Biden has approached the office of the presidency as an opportunity to work for the goals he thinks advance the interests of the United States of America and its people. This afternoon, Biden appeared, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Good afternoon, he said to the press.

And it's a very good afternoon, because at long last I can announce a ceasefire and a hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. After more than 15 months of conflict that began with Hamas's brutal massacre of October the 7th, more than 15 months of terror for the hostages, their families, the Israeli people, more than 15 months of suffering by the innocent people in Gaza,

fighting in Gaza will stop, and soon the hostages will return home to their families. The elements of this deal were what I laid out in detail this past May, Biden said. That plan was embraced by countries around the world and endorsed overwhelmingly by the UN Security Council. It has three phases. Phase one is a six-week ceasefire in which Israeli forces will withdraw from all the populated areas of Gaza and Palestinians can return to their homes. Hamas will release the women, elderly, wounded, and American hostages it holds.

Humanitarian assistance will surge into Gaza. During the next six weeks, Biden said, Israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements to get to phase two, which is a permanent end of the war. The ceasefire will continue throughout the negotiations, even if they take longer than six weeks. Once phase two begins, the remaining living hostages will come home

and all remaining Israeli forces will be withdrawn from Gaza. In phase three, the final remains of hostages who have been killed will be returned to their families, and a major reconstruction plan for Gaza will begin. Biden noted that he has worked in foreign policy for decades, and that this is one of the toughest negotiations I've ever experienced. Tonight, Biden began his farewell address by reiterating that negotiators had reached a ceasefire deal. Although incoming President Trump has already tried to take credit for the deal, Biden said, this plan was developed and negotiated by my team, and it will be largely implemented

by the incoming administration. That's why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed, because that's how it should be, working together as Americans. Biden then turned to his farewell message to the nation. He began by reflecting on the need to protect our institutions against the

abuse of power. �Our system of separation of powers, checks and balances, may not be perfect,� he said, �but it�s maintained our democracy for nearly 250 years, longer than any other nation in history that�s ever tried such a bold experiment.� �In the past four years, our democracy has held strong, he said, and every day I've kept my commitment to be president for all Americans through one of the toughest periods in our nation's history.

He praised Vice President Kamala Harris as his partner, calling it the honor of his life to see Americans working together to come through a once in a century pandemic, standing up for our rights and our freedoms instead of losing their jobs to an economic crisis, with millions of entrepreneurs and companies creating new businesses and industries, hiring American workers, using American products. Together, Biden said, we've launched a new era of American possibilities, one of the greatest modernizations of infrastructure in our entire history,

from new roads, bridges, clean water, affordable high-speed internet for every American. We brought back semiconductor manufacturing to the United States, creating thousands of jobs. We have given Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for millions of seniors, protected children and families by passing the most significant gun safety law in 30 years, bringing violent crime to a 50-year low, and met our sacred obligation to over 1 million veterans so far who were exposed to

toxic materials and to their families, providing medical care and education benefits. We've created nearly 17 million new jobs, more than any other single administration in a single term. More people have health care than ever before. And overseas, we've strengthened NATO. Ukraine is still free, and we've pulled ahead of our competition with China. I'm so proud of how much we've accomplished together for the American people, and I wish the incoming administration success, because I want America to succeed." Then Biden issued a warning that will stand alongside other prescient warnings outgoing

presidents have delivered, like President George Washington famously warning about the dangers of foreign entanglements and President Dwight Eisenhower warning about the dangers of the military-industrial complex. Biden warned the country of a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra wealthy people. There are dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked," he said. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.

Biden pointed out that a century ago, the American people stood up to the robber barons and made them play by the rules everybody else had to. And it helped put us on a path to building the largest middle class in the world and the most prosperous century any nation in the world has ever seen. He and his administration worked to accomplish this plan for the last four years, he said, with legislation aimed at both protecting

the environment and growing the economy. But powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we've taken to tackle the climate crisis, to serve their own interests for power and profit. He warned about the concentration of technology, power, and wealth. While President Eisenhower warned of the rise of the military-industrial complex and the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power. Biden said that six decades later, he is equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well. Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, he said, enabling the abuse of power.

The free press is crumbling or disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is the most consequential technology of our time, perhaps of all time. Going forward, Biden said,

it's going to be up to the president, the Congress, the courts, the free press, and the American people to confront these powerful forces. He called for reforming the tax code to make billionaires pay their fair share and for getting rid of the flood of dark money in politics. He called for ethics rules and an 18-year term limit for Supreme Court justices and for banning members of Congress from trading stock.

He also called for a constitutional amendment to make it clear that no president is immune from crimes they commit in office. The president's power is not unlimited, he said. It's not absolute. The concentration of wealth and power threatens democracy, Biden warned, by eroding the sense of unity and common purpose, noting that when people feel they don't have a fair shot at success, staying engaged in the process becomes exhausting and even disillusioning.

It is essential to democracy for people to feel like they can go as far as their hard work and talent can take them. Biden noted the short distance between peril and possibility, but promised that what I believe is the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. It's up to us to make our dreams come true. After thanking members of his administration, public servants and first responders across the country and around the world, US service members and their families, Vice President Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff

and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and their family, Biden offered his eternal thanks to you, the American people. After 50 years of public service, he said, I give you my word. I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands, a nation where the strengths of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure. Now it's your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame.

May you keep the faith. I love America. You love it too. God bless you all. Composed by Michael Moss.