February 21, 2022

One of my favorite descriptions of anyone in academic medicine whose reputation exceeded his abilities and accomplishments was that he or she was a photon—all energy and no mass. Photons have no gravitas and leaders need to have gravitas. This is well elucidated in the attached op-ed from The Wall Street Journal on February 14 by Joseph Epstein. Epstein was talking about President Biden. And, I agree. I am never impressed with Biden and he’s gotten worse with age. At least when he was bullying Anita Hill he seemed to have some political weight. Now, he seems like a bumbling, dressed up elderly gentleman who mumbles platitudes and tells stories about his childhood, that illustrate nothing. In the end, Biden is a product of a life in the Senate—making deals, pumping hands, slapping backs and inappropriately smelling the hair of the nearest female. He’s no chief executive as the past year has demonstrated.