Compassion Is Not Partisan

I know this will sound odd. Most people have been comparing this moment in history to LBJ's withdrawl speech in '68 but I couldn't help but think of Richard Nixon's resignation speech in '74. The circumstances couldn't be more different but the personal anguish is the same.

I remember reading "Nixon, the Final Days" years ago. I was truly moved reading about Nixon's emotional turmoil and pain when it became clear that his lifelong dream was over. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have everyone you love and respect telling you it's time to go.

Joe Biden, like Nixon before him, realized that it was that time and that he could count on the love of his family to carry him through the moment. The lesson here is that, regardless of your own personal feelings towards someone, we should all be able to feel compassion for anyone suffering a loss and doing what's right, no matter how they arrived at that moment.

Ron Slezak is a Lakewood citizen.