Biden leaves Trump's dystopia in the dust

If you were expecting President Joe Biden to take a victory lap, to boast about his remarkable achievements in just 50 days in office, it's understandable. After four years of the former president, many of us became accustomed to self-serving rhetoric. But Biden's first prime-time address Thursday night was something altogether different from that.
"I need you," Biden said, leaning into his lectern, "I need every American to do their part." He said that if everyone agrees to get the Covid-19 vaccine, if everyone wears a mask like the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells us, "by July the 4th, there's a good chance," that we can get together with neighbors and friends in small groups.
Biden was 20 minutes into his speech before he mentioned that he had just signed into law a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 economic relief package that is, in fact, one of the most significant pieces of legislation in modern history -- one that will change the lives of tens of millions of Americans -- and that he made it happen less than two months into his presidency.
Instead of a self-serving, boastful address, he offered a moving, compassionate and at the same time uplifting and inspiring speech, acknowledging the losses we've all suffered, not only the more than half a million deaths in the pandemic, not only the millions of jobs lost, of family events foregone, but very simply, "the loss of living."
But then he drew attention to the progress we've made and he announced a stepped-up program of vaccinations, with all adults becoming eligible by May 1.