Democrats are energized, with party leaders lining up to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, and campaign cash is pouring in. But time is short, and they face an uphill battle.
Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and we鈥檝e always been transparent about that.
The church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we鈥檝e aimed 鈥渢o injure no man, but to bless all mankind,鈥 as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.
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Explore values journalism About usMy fondest memory of Joe Biden comes from The Onion. For a time during Mr. Biden鈥檚 vice presidency, the satirical website cast him as the mortifying but lovable everyman in the White House. 鈥溾 was one classic.聽
But as with many things, The Onion perceived something deeper. Somewhere between gaffe-prone and refreshingly honest, the vice president was someone to whom we could all relate.聽
With his withdrawal from this year鈥檚 presidential race, the coming months will mark his coda in American politics 鈥 50 years of service. It is not the way he might have wished. But as our editorial today beautifully states, Mr. Biden鈥檚 career has always been a study in success tempered by disappointment. His exit only underlines the humility he has gained along the way.聽
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Democrats are energized, with party leaders lining up to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, and campaign cash is pouring in. But time is short, and they face an uphill battle.
鈥 Gaza evacuation order: The Israeli military has ordered the evacuation of part of a crowded area in Gaza that it had designated a humanitarian zone.
鈥 Netanyahu to Washington:聽Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flies to Washington, where he will address a joint session of Congress on Thursday.
鈥 Bangladesh unrest: Bangladesh鈥檚 top court scales back a controversial quota system for government job applicants after it led to nationwide unrest and deadly clashes between police and protesters that have killed at least 139 people.
鈥 Migrant caravan: Hundreds of migrants from around a dozen countries leave from Mexico鈥檚 southern border on foot in an attempt to make it to the U.S. border.
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Security lapses that enabled the July 13 shooting of former President Donald Trump are raising larger questions about Secret Service protection 鈥撀爌rompting bipartisan calls today for the director鈥檚 resignation.
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Sacking groceries and scooping ice cream had been seen as a vanished rite of passage. But this year, the teen summer job is back in a big way.
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A village near Nigeria鈥檚 border with Cameroon has opened its arms to refugees fleeing civil war in that country. Their experience offers a glimpse into how embracing refugees can have benefits for newcomers and locals alike.
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In our progress roundup, countries that have lagged behind others in their policies make changes to catch up. Colombia joins a wave of countries that have banned bullfighting and Kazakhstan strengthens protections against domestic violence.
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President Joe Biden described his reason for ending his reelection run as simply being in the 鈥渋nterest of my party and the country.鈥 Among Democrats, concerns had mounted over his ability to win as well as his mental acuity. Yet his decision ultimately reflects a deeper reason, one based on Mr. Biden鈥檚 understanding of where power lies in a democracy.
鈥淭he American story,鈥 he said in his 2021 inaugural address, 鈥渄epends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us.鈥
鈥淟et us listen to one another,鈥 he urged. 鈥淗ear one another. See one another. Show respect to one another.鈥
Mr. Biden鈥檚 humility 鈥 the kind that both sees and seeks the good in others 鈥 won the day, as is often the case in democracies compared to autocracies. Mr. Biden鈥檚 withdrawal echoes the wise decision by President Lyndon Johnson to bow out of the 1968 race. Perhaps the greatest moment in U.S. history was George Washington鈥檚 decision not to seek a third term. As he told Americans in his farewell address, 鈥淭he unity of government which constitutes you one people ... is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence.鈥 His example also set a critical norm for the world in the peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another.
In a much newer democracy, that of postapartheid South Africa, a very popular President Nelson Mandela left office in 1999 with an appeal to his people not to demand his return. 鈥淒on鈥檛 call me,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檒l call you.鈥
Humility, writes Christopher Beem, a political science professor at Penn State University, is an essential virtue of democracy 鈥 a disposition that yields to generosity for those with whom we disagree. 鈥淚f we enter into the rough and tumble of politics knowing that none of us has a hammerlock on the truth,鈥 he wrote in The Conversation, 鈥渨e might be more likely to find it.鈥
Mr. Biden began his political career more than 50 years ago as the youngest member of the U.S. Senate. He sought the presidency multiple times until winning it in 2020. Looking back, perhaps the best line in his inaugural address was in asking Americans to 鈥渢urn to the tasks of our time ... devoted to one another.鈥 Out of devotion to a cause greater than himself, the 46th U.S. president has now taken his own sage advice.
Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥 in its various forms 鈥 is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥 whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.
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We can look to Christ for the truth of our real nature as God鈥檚 children, and experience healing as a result.
Thank you for joining us today. Please come back tomorrow as we continue to look at the consequences of President Joe Biden pulling out of this autumn鈥檚 election. Among the stories we鈥檙e following: Did the Democrats just invalidate the choice of their primary voters? And as attention focuses on Vice President Kamala Harris, what more should voters know about her?