First marriage had to overcome fiancees parent’s unhappiness with their daughter marrying a Roman Catholic (which they did)
His wife and baby daughter died, and both sons were injured in a crash just weeks after he was elected senator – an election in which he was the underdog, and his campaign was mostly managed by his family with little funding (1972)
Wanted to resign in order to care for his sons
For his boys’ sake he commuted an hour and a half each morning and evening to Washington DC so he could see them everyday
Hosted barbecues and christmas dinner annually for Amtrak crews
Amtrak crews would sometimes hold the last train for a few minutes so he could catch it
Never works on December 18th, the day his wife and daughter died
after his first election as state senator for Delaware he was re-elected 6 times – usually with around 60% of the vote
May 1999 he set the mark for the youngest senator to cast 10,000 votes
Ranked as one of the least wealthy members of the senate
Was banned in 2008 from receiving Holy Communion by the bishop of his original hometown, Scranton, because of his support for abortion rights
Was caught on microphone telling Obama that signing the ACA was “a big fucking deal” during live broadcasts
Obama’s daughter Sasha and Biden’s granddaughter Maisy attended the same school together, which helped form the obama-biden friendship
Biden’s friendships on the senate floor were often instrumental in passing major legislation
In 2015 he reduced his schedule to spend more time with his son Beau, who was fighting and later died from brain cancer
One of only 4 recipients to receive the presidential medal of freedom with distinction
Jill Biden, his wife, is one of only 2 second ladies to continue her day job
just a fucking decent dude
was too young to be a senator on election day when he first ran; turned 30 later that month
left instructions with his staff to interrupt him on the Senate floor if his kids called
What animal are you? Take the ultimate animal personality test!
This was actually the “"what bird are you” test and I feel like it’s pretty correct.
So for the record I’m a bird who can’t fly and a mammal who can.
Are you a Bat? Read about characteristics of Bat personalities and take the quiz to find out what animal you are!
Can I say how important it is to me the number of times that I have seen the President and Vice-President crying in the last couple of weeks? As they prepare to say goodbye to some of the most important work they’ve ever done, as they talk about things that fill them with pride and joy and sadness and all kinds of strong emotions, both of them have teared up, repeatedly.
These two brilliant, powerful men have been expressing emotion openly and honestly, with tears and laughter and anger and concern and empathy, and it is just so refreshing to see them be this kind of role-model, to be overwhelmed with emotion and express healthily and still go on with the work.
I hope every young man who sees them cry takes on-board the lesson that it is not only normal and okay to emote like that, but that they see the Obamas and the Bidens and their friends encouraging and supporting the healthy, open display of real emotion and they seek out family and friends who support them having an honest and open emotional life.
I want to tack on that it is just as important to note that Barack Obama is a Black man who openly wept when praising his wife and daughters for their enduring support. This is all the more important because it was the only time that he wept during the speech and it was occasioned by the mere mention of the support of his wife.
I use this example in particular because it not only shows a Black man publicly expressing emotion in a way that Black men are often told they cannot; but because it shows a Black man expressing emotion over his wife, a Black woman, in ways that Black men are often told that they should not.
In fact, it is extremely important to me as a Black man and a mentor to other Black men, that we have someone like Barack Obama who shows that Black men can be emotional in a variety of ways, and who displays his love for his wife, a Black woman, openly and without violence. It is also worth noting that Barack Obama is constant in his celebration of his wife’s achievements without centering himself.
So yeah, I hope every young Black man who sees Barack Obama can see in him an example of how a Black man, who was once leader of the free world, openly expressed a variety of emotions, including an overabundance of love for his wife, a Black woman, without reducing her, without violence, and without regard for who was watching.
The Marquis de Lafayette (left) informs General George Washington and Colonel Alexander Hamilton that the French will support America in the Revolutionary War.
smol Hamilton is smol
K I know Hamilton was small but this is ridiculous. It looks like Lafayette brought his 12-year-old kid along for the meeting.
Disclaimer: We would not normally use any part of our entertainment company to make a political statement, but we do not believe these are normal times. And a part of us is wondering if dividing these things was ever the right choice. Even if you are a registered republican we hope that you will take the time to consider this statement.
We are deeply disturbed by the events of the last few days. Nothing like this has ever happened in our lifetimes, nor our parents’ lifetimes. We are scared, and sad, and angry.
At 1am this morning, after enacting certain procedures that allow parties to pass votes without a supermajority, and the House banning the Congressional Budget Office from investigating the real costs (Salon) of these changes, the Senate voted 51-48 in favor of repealing Affordable Care Act protections (Wall Street Journal) for pre-existing conditions, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, keeping kids on their parents insurance until age 26, and contraceptive access for women. While this was “just” a procedural measure, and does not yet affect the law, it bodes poorly for the millions of US citizens, including our company, our collaborators, our friends, and our family, that have come to rely on these rights. Rights acknowledged by every industrialized nation in the world except the United States, who still lags in quality of care, access to care, and cost of care.
This is not OK.
America is a plural democratic republic – the only one in the world. We are unique in some ways. We have some unique challenges. We have some unique struggles. We have a plurality of perspectives. Finji’s co-founders grew up in rural Michigan, in tiny towns, but we also lived in some big cities. We’ve seen a lot of things and known a lot of different brilliant folks from all walks of life. We respect a healthy debate, and understand that compromise is not just a necessary reality but the way progress happens.
But what we’re seeing now is not that. This is not compromise. An unpopular President-Elect is about to take office and preside over a single-party government that has no concern for the health and welfare of their constituents. A party that just demonstrated they unequivocally value tax cuts for the hyper-rich over the survival of the poor. A party that came to and maintains power through abusing the Voting Rights Act, gerrymandering districts into oblivion, legislating against incoming lawmakers, and leveraging the slave-state-favoring power of the Electoral College. By establishing a majority in all three branches of government, they now have the power to legislate without opposition.
This is not OK.
The last 48 hours have shown what they intend to do with their power, and that they’re capable of following through. Our official statement is below. Please consider though that we understand that there are nuances and subtlety to governance that are hard to address in a single press release. We have serious problems ourselves with the Affordable Care Act. We understand that corruption is widespread in both parties, and that much of the harm that has come to pass this week is directly attributable to the passivity, weakness, and greed of the Democratic Party. We acknowledge all these things, but still feel it is important to make this statement:
We condemn the actions of this new government.
We condemn the actions of the President-Elect.
We condemn the President-Elect’s cabinet appointments.
We question the legitimacy of the methods by which they have gained control of our former democratic republic.
Thank you and good luck.
Note: some folks have rightly expressed concern with Finji being both a company and publicly expressing a “political opinion.” It may surprise the reader to discover that we too believe that it is wrong for business and politics to mix. Unfortunately, that is the status quo in the US. We ardently hope for a time when we do not have to speak up, but as it stands, this post is a grain of sand next to millions of dollars in deeply corrupt lobbying and campaign finance and billions of dollars in government subsidies to factory farms, fossil fuel megacorporations, and other industries. This post is next to nothing, but we will still be proud to delete it when it is no longer necessary.
Fibromyangela 