Thomas Friedman: My first thought when I heard Joe Biden’s news
Joe Biden called me out of the blue last month Something was on his mind It was a sparse weeks before he went in for tests on the small nodule determined on his prostate and received the tough identification that was disclosed publicly Sunday Mr President what s up I demanded as I stepped outside of a D C restaurant to hear better leaving my family at the dinner table What was up He longed to talk about the future of the NATO alliance He communicated me he was planning to give a speech to remind people how incredibly valuable the Atlantic alliance has been over decades to preserve world peace and prosperity and how crazy it was to think that the Trump administration and its congressional allies would menace developing it up He demanded to bat around specific ideas He would call a limited days later he explained but we never had the follow up because I suspect cancer got in the way I am not going to get into the argument in the modern day over whether Biden should have dropped out earlier from the presidential race Promptly after his disastrous performance in the debate with Donald Trump I urged him to do so then but with a heavy heart The heavy heart was not just because we have known each other since we traveled together to Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul in It is because Biden has an unbreakable gut connection to how fundamental America is to the world one that I deeply share Biden understands something that even if he cannot express it as well as he and we would invariably like is embedded deep in his soul That the world is the way the world has been since which is to say one of the largest part relatively peaceful and prosperous eras in history for more people on the planet than ever because America was the way America was That America is an America committed to the rule of law at home and a universal mission abroad to constantly work within our means to make the world a freer and more democratic and more decent and healthier place for more people So what I stated my family and friends when they required me what Biden had reported when he called was this Joe Biden even at his largest part inarticulate and even with his voice weakened by age has more gut commitment to and understanding of what America at its best means to the world and who our real friends are and must reliably be than every member of the Trump administration combined We will miss his gut when it s gone So Mr President I am wishing you a speedy recovery No matter how soft your voice or unstable your gait or weak your heart you have the gut instincts of a healthy -year-old when it comes to articulating what America s mission in the world must invariably be We need to hear that the world demands to hear that now more than ever Thomas Friedman writes a column for the New York Times Related Articles Zeynep Tufekci The day Grok lost its mind Lynne Peeples On autism and vaccines there are lies damned lies and statistics Kelly McKinney The power blackout in Spain and Portugal wasn t a fluke It was the future Lisa Jarvis FDA appointee is a drug critic with a lot to prove Michael Swaine Bargain wars pitfall military crises
