By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This shouldn’t matter, but in the current context it surely does matter … a lot!

President Biden today delivered a heartfelt message to Americans, aiming his comments directly at those who have lost loved ones to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The numbers are horrific. More than 500,000 Americans have died from the disease. The president sought to deliver his message in personal terms.

Why does all of this matter more than it usually might? Because it shows in sharp, vivid contrast to the lack of empathy we have heard from the White House while the nation has battled this killer virus.

Biden’s presidential predecessor just couldn’t bring himself to call for a moment of silence, or to speak to us from the deepest recesses of his gut about the pain so many of us are suffering. Instead, he lied to us initially about the threat the virus posed and sought to provide happy talk about having it “under control.”

Joe Biden has not performed flawlessly in his first month in office. The rollout of vaccines has been clumsy in some locales; he hasn’t been helped, either, by the inclement weather in some places, such as in Texas.

This president, though, understands the pain that many Americans are suffering in this moment. He, too, has lost loved ones. He has buried two of his children and his young wife. President Biden is trying to speak to us as someone who knows our pain.

I am an American patriot who appreciates the message the president is trying to deliver.