I live in three universes. In this one, the universe of politics, I spend a lot of time listening, reading, and writing about the current incredible changes in American politics and life. The word \u201cincredible\u201d, like the word \u201cextraordinary\u201d, can be both a \u201cgood\u201d or \u201cbad\u201d thing. That was an incredibly good piece of pie, or, an incredibly bad haircut. Politics, and politics \u201cwrit large\u201d as history, has been a passion of mine since I was three years old, and Mom pinned a \u201cJohn F. Kennedy for President\u201d button on my blue sweater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second universe is the one of our family, my wife and son and sisters and all of their families.\u00a0\u00a0We are constantly updating, constantly involved, and constantly considering (also good and bad) what\u2019s going on.\u00a0\u00a0And the dogs are a part of that, of course.\u00a0\u00a0They too are our family, our constant bed mates; counting on us for sustenance, as we count on them for companionship.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The third universe is the one of track and field. I spent forty years as a coach, and now I\u2019m in my seventh year as a \u201cfulltime\u201d track official. In this universe the world is very precise. We measure time to the 100th<\/sup> of a second, and distances to the nearest \u00bc inch. Like any good track official, I can \u201cdo\u201d almost anything from firing the gun to start the race, to organizing the heats of runners, to conducting the javelin competition. But my niche in this universe is the vertical jumps, and more specifically, pole vault. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So I know a whole lot about standards and bars. Not only can I set the bar to the right height, but I can zero the bar to the exact correct spot, and align the standards so that they are mathematically accurate not only in the vertical, but in the horizontal plane as well. I carry precise tools to measure height, distance, and position. And, I finally discovered the answer to the age old high school math question: why do I have to learn this? Well, Mr. Rex Parker, my sophomore geometry teacher (and eater of white chalk), now I know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And it is in this, the setting of \u201cbars and standards\u201d, that Universe 1 and Universe 3 collide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s say that in the pole vault, the opening height of the bar is 3.65 meters (that\u2019s about 12 feet). That bar height is the same for every vaulter. While some may decide to skip and pass higher, the minimum standard to \u201cscore\u201d in the competition is 3.65. Don\u2019t clear that, and you get the dreaded \u201cNH\u201d on the scoresheet, \u201cNo Height\u201d. \u201cNH\u201d denies you even the dignity of a place in the competition, you are simply a name on the list, never fulfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What kind of official would I be if I allowed some to start at 2.50 (a little over 8 feet) while requiring the rest to clear 3.65 in order to gain a place? I would be, correctly, accused of favoritism, or at least gross incompetence. In Universe 3 it\u2019s not something that would ever be considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that is exactly what\u2019s happening in Universe 1 today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This week I travelled to officiate track meets an hour and a half away. On one of the trips, I listened to a podcast about the \u201cconspiracy\u201d to hide Joe Biden\u2019s aging from the world. The well-known commentators were full of umbrage: how dare Biden \u201chide\u201d his condition; how dare the \u201cpolitburo\u201d of Biden family and staff shelter him from \u201cdiscovery\u201d. And, perhaps as important to the commentators, how dare others took them to task for talking about it. They made it very clear: they place the blame of Trump\u2019s second term squarely on Joe Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no question that Joe Biden aged in office. But there\u2019s also no question that it wasn\u2019t a secret. Most of us in Universe 1 were well aware of Biden\u2019s shortcomings, long before we got to that fateful summer of 2024 when the debate confirmed our fears, and Trump was anointed with god-like \u201cimmortality\u201d by an assassin in Pennsylvania. It didn\u2019t take a conspiracy of Soviet proportions, the \u201cPolitburo\u201d, to fool the nation. We knew what we saw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We held Joe Biden to a standard. We required him to clear 3.65 to earn his place in the competition. And when we thought he couldn\u2019t, we Democrats went through a heart-wrenching process to replace him. We were right to stand with him, and when he withdrew, we were right to move on. No conspiracy was necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what standard did we hold Donald Trump to? In fact, what standard do we require him to meet today, as President?<\/p>\n\n\n\n We questioned Joe Biden\u2019s acuity, but gave Trump a complete pass on those crazed speeches during the campaign.\u00a0\u00a0We called Biden out for not being more accessible to the press, but we allowed Trump to literally dance in front of a crowd (with Kristi Noem) for forty minutes.\u00a0So,\u00a0we required Biden to clear 3.65, but the bar for Trump was even lower than 2.50.\u00a0\u00a0It was about a 1.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And we are still doing it.\u00a0\u00a0Many Americans held Biden accountable for the actions of his son, Hunter.\u00a0\u00a0But those same Americans don\u2019t have a problem that Trump himself took over $400 million in \u201cgifts\u201d from mostly foreign investors in a cryptocurrency scheme. He celebrated the \u201crewards\u201d at a private dinner last night.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This week we learned that Trump \u201caccepted\u201d another gift, another $400 million, in a \u201cFlying Palace\u201d from the nation of Qatar.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And his son Don Junior, is now profiting from a new \u201cclubhouse\u201d in Washington, where the entry membership is a $500,000.\u00a0\u00a0But somehow, we give those known \u201coddities\u201d a \u201cpass\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some commentators hold Democrats to a higher standard.\u00a0\u00a0They want penance served for \u201cfooling us\u201d about Biden, some term of sentence.\u00a0\u00a0But they fail to acknowledge the lowered bar for Trump.\u00a0\u00a0I wish Joe Biden hadn\u2019t aged.\u00a0\u00a0I wish America was willing to accept a brilliant woman of color as President.\u00a0\u00a0And I wish the Secret Service wasn\u2019t so incompetent in Butler, Pennsylvania, to let a known gunman get in position to shoot at the President.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what I really wish is that we hold our Presidents and candidates for President to the same standard. In my Universe 3 that\u2019s only fair. And in Universe 1, it would be right for our Nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Setting Standards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Biden\u2019s Standard<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s Standard<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Our Standards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n