The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Since the presidential election, the president and the president-elect have been living in different universes. In Donald Trump’s world, nobody knows what happened on Nov. 3, but cheating and fraud were rampant. In the world where the president-elect lives (and the rest of us, too), the election was messy and complicated but fair and open. Joe Biden has been preparing for his new job as best he can, with access finally granted — after three weeks of doors slammed in his face — to information and resources owed to him.
But Mr. Trump still won’t admit that he lost. Maybe he is just waiting for the right occasion. I have a proposal for him, adapting a century-old event: Return Day, held in Georgetown, Delaware, after each statewide and national election.
Located in Sussex County, 40 miles south of the state capital of Dover, Georgetown has only 6,500 residents but each year has a starring role in Delaware politics. On Return Day, traditionally the Thursday after an election (but not this year, owing to pandemic precautions), candidates for statewide office come together for a celebration of unity and common purpose. After riding down Main Street in horse-drawn carriages, they bury the hatchet — literally, by tossing one into a wooden box and piling dirt on it. Then they join their constituents for a picnic. It’s a happy affair for all, except the roast ox.
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I learned about this ritual of civility when I was living and working in Delaware. As head of the American Philosophical Association, headquartered at the University of Delaware, and as chair of the Policy Planning Committee of the National Humanities Alliance, I would sometimes catch the same Washington-to Wilmington train as my junior senator. If he spotted me he would seek me out and ask what meetings I had attended, how budget planning for humanities and arts agencies was coming along, and what was going on at his alma mater where I was teaching philosophy. I never saw Sen. Biden riding the carriage or tossing the hatchet. But I knew that, in a time when the Bush-Cheney administration was waging war on liberals and leftists in Congress and on campus, he took pride in Delaware’s political sabbath, when party divisions were set aside.
Here is my modest proposal: next Sunday, let President Trump and President-elect Biden come together to attend church. Biden is a faithful Catholic who attends Mass nearly every Sunday. Trump was raised in Marble Collegiate Church, a mainline Protestant congregation; lately he doesn’t attend church much but hangs out with televangelists and megachurch pastors. Let’s try something a little different for both: St. John’s Episcopal, close by the White House. And please, Mr. President, this time step inside and sit in the pew — don’t just brandish an upside-down Bible outside.
Then, after a picnic lunch in Lafayette Park, let them climb into carriages — two of them, for social distancing — and ride down Pennsylvania Avenue to the steps of the Capitol. Just a small parade, Mr. President, with no tanks or artillery.
When they arrive, since they can’t shake hands, let them say a few words to each other along these lines: we have both campaigned hard, our staff and supporters deserve our deepest thanks, and we both want America and its people to flourish. Today is a day of rest: We will neither Twitter nor Facebook but will spend the day with our long-suffering families. Let each man close by saying: I wish you well in the next stage of your career, and I will pray for you.
And then let the two men each toss a hatchet into a box and cover it with soil.
A rubber hatchet. Just to be safe.
David Hoekema is a half-year resident of Green Valley, professor emeritus of philosophy at Calvin University in Michigan and a visiting scholar at University of Arizona.
