This month, deadly bombs rained down on Gaza, and rocket attacks wreaked destruction in Israel. In a metaphorical sense, on Capitol Hill and in the White House, explosive political predicaments are besieging President Joe Biden.
For a while, the president was profiting from the ending of the 1911 British novel "The Card" by Arnold Bennett, whose protagonist was asked what he had accomplished with his life. The answer came without hesitation: "He's identified with the great cause of cheering us all up."
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