I know this is making the frothy hard right… crazy. Here is the fine man, while enjoying his retirement from public life immensely — greeting his former Veep, now Commander in Chief — and the current Veep, the first woman of color, ever to hold that office.

The occassion was the signing of an executive order to improve access to coverage for up to four million more Americans (in 12 states):

…Currently, there are 12 states in our nation that refuse to expand Medicaid for no reason other than petty partisan obstruction. As a result, 4 million people in our country are locked out of coverage, and that comes at a cost.

For example, women who do not have healthcare coverage and are, therefore, less likely to have access during pregnancy, or before or after, to pelvic exams or vaccinations, prenatal check-ups, postpartum depression screenings, and all the other essential care they need to be safe and healthy before, during, and after birth.

We know that expanding Medicaid coverage significantly reduces the number of mothers who die as a result of pregnancy. (Applause.) So the sooner coverage is expanded in those 12 states, the more lives we will save….

But for all of us — for Joe, for Harry, for Nancy Pelosi, for others — the ACA was an example of why you run for office in the first place, why all of you sign up for doing jobs that pay you less than you can make someplace else; why you’re away from home sometimes and you miss some soccer practices or some dance recitals.

Because we don’t — we’re not supposed to do this just to occupy a seat or to hang on to power. We’re supposed to do this because it’s making a difference in the lives of the people who sent us here.

And because of so many people, including a lot of people who are here today, made enormous sacrifices; because members of Congress took courageous votes, including some who knew that their vote would likely cost them their seat; because of the incredible leadership of Nancy and Harry, we got the ACA across the finish line together. (Applause.)

And the night we passed the ACA — I’ve said it before — it was a high point of my time here, because it reminded me and it reminded us of what is possible.

But, of course, our work was not finished. Republicans tried to repeal what we had done — again, and again, and again. (Laughter.) And they filed lawsuits that went all the way to the Supreme Court three times. I see Don Verrilli here who had to defend a couple of them. (Applause.)

They tried explicitly to make it harder for people to sign up for coverage.

And let’s face it: It didn’t help that when we first rolled out the ACA, the website didn’t work. (Laughter.) That was not one of my happiest moments. (Laughter.)

So, given all the noise and the controversy and the skepticism, it took a while for the American people to understand what we had done. But lo and behold, a little later than I’d expected, a lot of folks, including many who had initially opposed healthcare reform, came around….

[Mr. Biden speaks:] …My name is Joe Biden, and I’m Barack Obama’s Vice President. (Laughter and applause.) And I’m Jill Biden’s husband. (Laughter.) By the way, the only reason Jill is not here today: She’s working. (Laughter.) She’s teaching….

If nothing else (even if you disagreed in good faith, with the premise and aims of Obamacare), do note the selfless, and often self-deprecating tone of these world leaders (real humility… is a virtue) — they understand they… serve; not reign. And they do the right thing, not the self-enriching thing (cough — confidential to one Tangerine Florida Man).

नमस्ते