Gary Varvel: Trump and Biden's awkward meeting

My essay: What really matters

Awkward

Ever since Donald Trump came down the escalator in 2015, President Biden and the Democrats demonized him, investigated him, impeached him twice, spied on him, called him a threat, unfit, a fascist and Hitler. Biden called Trump’s supporters garbage and said he wanted to smack him in the a**,

In turn, Trump insulted Biden by calling him things like, ‘Sleepy Joe.’ That’s what made this meeting so awkward. After Trump was re-elected, the two met in the Oval Office. 

Biden was all smiles. Why? His party stabbed him in the back by forcing him out of the race. At first I drew this cartoon with Biden saying, “I voted for you, Donald.” But then I thought “Pardon me” worked better because of its multiple meanings: 1 - Sorry for stabbing you in back and 2 - pardon the Biden crime family’s influence-peddling deals with foreign with China, Ukraine and Russia. 

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WHAT REALLY MATTERS

“I’m not afraid of failure; I’m afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.” —William Carey

This William Carey quote begs the question; what really matters in this life? Read on for the answer.

Have you succeeded at things that don’t matter? Yeah, me too. The world rewards people who succeed at things that don’t matter by giving them trophies or money. Some of my trophies are on my office wall. Some of them I threw away because they really didn’t matter — You know, bowling trophies, softball trophies etc.

I’ll admit that succeeding at some things that don’t matter can be enjoyable at that moment. But the feeling of hitting a 3-pointer in a pick-up basketball game or hitting a homer in a men’s fastpitch softball game fades very quickly. It has no lasting value.

Near the end of his life, baseball hall of famer Mickey Mantle was asked by a reporter with the Dallas Observer, what he felt when he saw pictures and film footage of himself as a young player. He answered: "I can be watching these things and I keep thinking, you know, that I can't really hardly remember playing. It's like it's somebody else.”

Last week, retired boxing champion Mike Tyson, 58, lost in a comeback fight against Jake Paul, 27. Before he retired, Tyson was successful in beating the snot out of other boxers. He was the world champion at doing things that don’t matter. But Friday night he lost to a man who is 30 years younger who is also very successful at doing things that don’t matter.

VIDEO - Before the fight, Mike Tyson was interviewed by a young girl who asked him about his legacy and Tyson answered, “I’m going to die and it’s going to be over. Who cares about legacy after that.” He looked defeated long before he got in the ring with Paul. Thoughts about your own mortality can do that to you if you’re not sure how it’s going to go on judgment day when you meet God.