For Beau Biden, on his parting day.

[WilliamPitt]

Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

-- Walt Whitman

...for Beau Biden on his parting day. He contributed a verse.

[malaise]

1. Are you watching and listening to this beautiful music

on CSpan

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. That he did, my dear Will...thank you.

[Rex]

3. The pictures of Joe Biden break my heart.

I can not imagine the loss our VP has been through during his lifetime.

[marym625]

4. How appropriate

[calimary]

5. My face is sopping wet.

I've been watching and crying my eyes out.

It's over now, and I'm STILL crying my eyes out.

We have such a gem in Joe Biden. We have such a gem. Such a dear, dear, lovely, precious gem in him - that he would give his life over to service of this country. I hate seeing him sad. He's the ultimate Happy Warrior who's so amazingly authentic and REAL, on a stage with such sniveling cowards and phonies and shitheads as most of those on Capitol Hill. He's given us smiles and chuckles and the most sincere reflected love that we get to bask in, from what he shares within his own family. It seeps out so often that we get a sense of the measure of the man from it.

I just freakin' hate to see him sad. I hate to see him having to mourn. And having to mourn a child. I think about the loss of Beau Biden and get upset - WHY do we have to lose guys like him? But then I look and see his dad is still there. Thank God. We still have his father Joe Biden. Thank God.

What did Beau's brother, Hunter, say? (paraphrasing) - "We were never in his shadow. We were always under his wing." Dayum...

[CTyankee]

6. between my tearful moments, I kept thinking how mean and petty the conservatives

always sound and live so much of the time. I decided to give over all of the time to that service. I wondered if there was a good Irish wake for Beau, with people telling stories and remembering with love and affection Beau's life and the good times.

This has been a very emotional day for me and lots and lots of Americans...

[calimary]

11. I will say one thing - only because this is a special group, this DU.

THERE IS A POINT TO BE MADE HERE. Sorry for shouting, but I really feel it applies. Please forgive me.

What was the first instinct of ted cruz at a moment when the VERY newsworthy passing of Joe Biden's son Beau was a VERY current topic?

What did we see and hear? Clips of that cocky, heartless, egotistical, tone-deaf, self-flatulating SOB, so smugly issuing that crappy little piece of verbal shit that snarked out of his mouth - AT an official gathering, ON the record, too.

First thing he does!

What does that tell you about him?

What does that tell US ALL about him if THAT, indeed, is the first thing he thinks to do - if THAT is the first kind of Joe Biden reference he makes? What does that tell us about him?

That he really is, indeed, QUITE the cocky, heartless, egotistical, tone-deaf, self-flatulating SOB - indeed, possibly The Biggest such cocky, heartless, egotistical, tone-deaf, self-flatulating SOB who's walked the earth in the last 44 years (born December 22, 1970. That date ALONE tells you all kinds of contextual stuff about him. I suspect his parents decided he surely must be a "new messiah&quot .

It gives you the measure of the man. In "new messiah"-speak, it's an outward sign, a signal from Heaven, way more than just a mere coincidence, but rather a clear Message From God. ted cruz shows himself by his words and his actions to be one of the poorest excuses for a human being that I've seen in the public arena in a really long time. And I'm presently settling in and getting used to being in Decade Six.

It tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about this creep. And all the reason you need to avoid him and ignore, or better yet - FIGHT LIKE HELL, everything he says, does, writes, initiates, and/or advocates. He should be publicly shunned.

AND, unfortunately, it ALSO tells you everything you need to know about people who support this creep, give him money, defend him, and vote for him. Says a boatload about THEM, too.

[CTyankee]

12. EXACTLY. GMTA.

Your question asking what it tells about him was exactly what I was thinking...

A further question arises: what does that tell you about Cruz's judgment (at the very least)? No sane person would say such a thing at a time like this. any way you look at this it is BAD for Cruz. Does he not have self control? Does he not take into consideration the consequences of doing such a thing?

And yes, of course, it reflects badly on his supporters, too. But it seems a fringe loonies are always going to be out there. But putting that guy in charge of the presidency, ACK!

[calimary]

14. Excellent point.

But there aren't enough fringe loonies to put him in the White House. There ARE enough fringe loonies to put him over the top or get him close enough to steal it - as long as we don't try to go Total Termite on their foundational supports - all the other people in their version of the middle who kinda go along because they really aren't thinking about it that much. Or it's the way their parents always voted or it's the way they grew up so it's really all they knew, and it's their automatic default position. But THEY are the ones who are reachable. AS ARE THE INDEPENDENTS. The GOP needs that "infrastructure" nice and quiet and not provoked or Heaven forbid they start thinking about it a little more intently. That's why we need to work on weakening that infrastructure and bringing it DOWN.

Destabilize the enemy. AT ALL TIMES AND AT ALL COSTS. Destabilize the enemy.

[CTyankee]

15. I think he's playing to the lunatic fringe in the primaries and will lose anyway...

The GOP operatives know full well this guy won't win in the GE even if he gets one or two primaries. He won't last.

[calimary]

13. And while this may not be the time, the time WILL come when we need to educate America about

at least the first half of this. Point at him and those who are like him, and use this example - to illustrate what a vile piece of filth he is and how unworthy he is to expect or enjoy ANYONE's support. "You want to VOTE for that asshole?" Help them consider what that means and look within themselves a little. Hopefully this provokes a bit of a "hmmm... he was really mean to do that. Do I really want to be on his team? Seriously?" response.

Start an itch. Provoke a reaction. Unsettle them from their comfy status quo mentality. Destabilize the enemy. Start them questioning. Start drilling little holes in the buttresses and supports that prop up their ridiculous, twisted, and totally anti-social belief system. I wrote something here once called "Think Termites." That's what we have to be. Gnawing the foundation out from under them. They won't ALL collapse, because denial does run deep and nobody liked to admit they were wrong. But some of them WILL. Might be more than just some of 'em, too, IF you consider the seclusion and privacy of the voting booth when you know nobody else you live with is in there with you, making sure you vote the way they want you too. Besides, you can always lie to them later. They'll never know!

Might or might not reliably be a ton of 'em, but it might be enough to make a difference in some vote count(s).

And it might further destabilize the whole GOP. We can pry people away from 'em this way. I believe we can get some of 'em. Some of their souls over there on that God-forsaken side of the aisle can be saved. We can plant a seed in the consciences of some of 'em - that will start bothering them, and start them questioning why they're siding with that camp full of nasties and meanies and people who are actually not following the Message of Christ but rather flouting and defying it. One of these days, at least some of 'em are gonna have a literal "come to Jesus" moment when looking at themselves in the mirror one fine day. Because what that side of the aisle has become - is just hideous. It's completely un-Christian. Indeed, it's really quite Anti-Christian. What CONservatism in general, and the present-day GOP, BOTH endorse is nowhere to be found in Jesus's Message as detailed in the New Testament. Its fundamentals are the complete opposite of what Jesus taught.

If you're still not sure about THAT aspect of it - try and think back to the last time you heard ANY of the pontificating self-anointed holier-than-thou's on that side of the aisle quoting The Beatitudes, or bringing up the Gospel story of Jesus's encounter with the rich young man - or for Pete's sake even 1 Corinthians - the epistle that was actually written by the Apostle I sometimes think of as St. Paul the Hard-ass. When has even one member of the arrogant, stuffed-shirt lout-mouth contingent over there brought those things up?

I've never heard ONE - as far back as I can remember since I started waking up about the political world back in high school.

[CTyankee]

16. well, this IS the crazy season leading up to the primaries and the General...

the winnowing will continue, of that I am certain.

I'm more worried about the GOP frontrunner that is considered "not crazy" like that is a major qualification for being President. Holy jeezus gawd have we just plummeted to the bottom of that barrel?

[AngryOldDem]

7. I held it together -- barely.

...Hunter recalling his first memory of Beau holding his hand in the hospital, saying "I love you," and Hunter doing the same with Beau last weekend. Coming full circle.

Maybe it's because I'm not necessarily a person of faith, but I look at someone like Joe Biden who has withstood so much grief and loss in his life, and I truly wonder why some people are dealt such cruel blows. As a parent, I cannot imagine going through anything like watching a child suffer a terminal illness and then pass away. Yet he still keeps his poise, calm, and grace.

The whole family is just simply amazing and a lot of hearts are going out to them; a lot of people are walking with them through this difficult journey they are taking yet again.

[66 dmhlt]

8. Sage Advice FROM Joe Biden TO Joe Biden ...

In a candid 2012 speech to military families and friends who had lost a loved one in action, Biden spoke about the anger, crisis of faith and wounds that don't really ever heal....

BIDEN: "There will come a day, I promise you and your parents, as well, when the thought of your son or daughter or your husband or wife brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. It will happen. My prayer for you is that day will come sooner or later.... But the only thing I have more experience than you in is this: I’m telling you it will come.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/05/31/joe-bidens-heartfelt-thoughts-on-grief/

[No Vested Interest]

10. So much wisdom in Joe's words.

He and Beau are indeed true servants of the American people.

[sarge43]

9. Goodnight, sweet prince

May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest