Dear Editor, 


So I was recently called a "true believer" as if that's some sort of political pejorative. Really, the only thing I'm a true believer in is the truth. Facts.

I was called a "true believer" because I understand the fairly obvious truth that Biden has done more to strengthen the economy and the country's infrastructure than the previous administration even bothered to think about. The Secretary of the Treasury was too busy having his picture taken with a sheet of dollar bills that now embarrassingly bear his signature.

When we take partisanship out of the picture, and just look at the facts, there are some historical things of note. President Obama inherited a disastrous, failing economy from the Bush II presidency. But in his two terms in office turned it around completely, leaving his own predecessor one of the best economies of the modern era. That kind of momentum doesn't change the moment someone takes the oath of office. Trump was able to hang his hat on a lot of the success of the Obama administration, but he of course had no capacity for actually continuing that success.

Now, it wasn't all Trump's fault. COVID came along and even the best economists could not have ridden that wave with a continued upturn in growth. Certainly Trump and his cabinet were not exactly the image of competence. They ignored COVID as fake news, refused to take any leadership about dealing with it, millions of Americans grew sick that did not need to, and many even died. All because the President said it wasn't a real thing. It's a farce many cling to even to this day.

But apart from COVID, which even had it been handled intelligently would have had a destructive effect on the economy thanks to worldwide economics, the previous administration put in place many policies that aggrivated an already fragile condition. People love to talk about the value of retirement funds in 2020 compared to today, but absolutely refuse to put the credit where it belongs - to the extent that a president can influence the economy, President Obama did a fabulous job. Trump tore the economy to shreds and left it to Biden to try to put it back together again.

He's doing a marvelous job of it, but expecting to recover from the kind of damage Trump did after just two years of a competant administration is to thoroughly misunderstand how national and global economies work. Things will get better, probably just about the same time another GOP nitwit takes the oath of office, and then he will incorrectly claim credit for it.

I truly believe that facts matter, that context matters. I believe science is real, whether it's biology or economics or medicine. I believe that what people say matters, especially the President of the United States. And what we don't say matters as well.

If you take offense at what Biden said in his address the other night, you should be seriously asking yourself if that's because you saw yourself cast in an unflattering light through his words. Light shines on both the ugly and the beautiful, but it doesn't determine which is which.

We should all make sure we conduct our lives in a way in which we are not afraid or angered to have light shining upon us, revealing us for who we are.

Anthony Bopp