Christmas and the World: From the White House to the End of the Depression, to the Beginning of the Restoration of the Faith in the United States

“The message of Christmas is always important, but it’s especially important through tough times like the ones we’ve been through the past few years,” Biden said from the White House. “The pandemic has taken so much from us. Over a million people have been lost to America alone and we have lost so much time with one another.

“That’s a million empty chairs, breaking hearts and homes all across the country,” he continued. Our politics has become mean and angry, so often that we see each other as enemies, not as neighbors, as Democrats or Republicans. We have become too divided.

In an era of isolation brought on by technology and the pandemic, Biden encouraged reaching out to connect. He wanted to rid politics of its poison in favor of bipartisan cooperation. And using the tenets of his Catholic faith and his own experience with loss, he sought to encourage Americans into a more empathetic era.

But the president on Thursday struck an optimistic tone about the state of the nation, saying that among tough moments, “We see bright spots all across the country – the strength, the determination, the resilience that has long defined America.”

His address Thursday seemed designed to remind Americans that those ideals remain at the heart of his vision for the country. Even as the country’s angry voices remain the loudest – very often obscuring Biden himself in the battle for attention – the president seemed intent on speaking to the vast swath of Americans who are looking for something calmer.

The call to unity as the country transitions into the Christmas season also signals the beginning of family discussions about whether Biden should run for president again. Biden will operate within a power balance in Washington in 2023. Congress will be divided, with Democrats maintaining their majority in the Senate and Republicans taking over the House of Representatives.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/22/politics/biden-christmas-address/index.html

The Holiday Season is Coming – Is It Going To Be Good, or Will It End? The U.S. President’s Christmas Invitation to Washington

“Covid no longer controls our lives. Our kids are back in school. People are back to work. In fact, more people are working than ever before,” he said. “Americans are building again, innovating, dreaming again.”

Still, he acknowledged that, for some, “Christmas can be a time of great pain and terrible loneliness,” drawing on his own experience with loss over the holidays – the deaths of his first wife and daughter 50 years ago this week.

“I know how hard this time of year can be … no one can ever know what someone else is going through, what’s really going on in their life, what they’re struggling with, what to try and overcome. Biden said that sometimes the smallest act of kindness can mean a lot.

The President and first lady visited the patients at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington on Friday, carrying on a tradition of meeting patients during the holiday season.

And the president chimed in with a message for parents in the room before departing, saying, “To all you parents, be strong. It is going to be okay because we spent lots of time in children’s hospitals.

The Bidens travel within Washington and the rest of the country is faced with extreme cold weather, such as frigid temperatures and high winds.