[Western Std] "I give you my word as a Biden, I have never been more optimistic about the American future." — Joe Biden
"Public opinion corresponds to nothing authentic." — Jacques Ellul
Everyone in "the biz" will tell you that timing is everything.
Does it matter that the mid-term elections are just over two months away? Does the War in the Ukraine, a massive economic crisis, and a disoriented population still reeling from 2.5 years of fear and government overreach matter? Does it matter that for the first time in history the FBI has raided the home of a President, and that no smoking gun has yet been revealed? And does it matter that perhaps the most popular public figure in America — that being Joe Rogan — last Saturday told Americans they should vote republican?
No. None of this matters when you speak outside of Independence Hall, at night, flanked by two Marines before glowing red walls and American flags. None of this matters when you share the pain of Americans and are "not a president of red America or blue America, but of all Americans," when you talk about an America that is free of complexity, tension, racial violence like BLM and Antifa protests, or when you appeal to a sentimental notion that never truly existed, a demon in a red Maga hat that no one has ever really met, and to a future that is impossible this side of Heaven.
Here is the danger that Biden has come to this sacred ground to meet: "Donald Trump and the Maga Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic."
His weapons: Abandon all nuance and reality, don't let hearers think about specific experience or facts and fill them with pie in the sky ideas and sentiments.
Then get them to "come on down" and commit their lives at the altar of democracy.
So we're offered the Strawman at its finest:
-Maga Republicans do not respect the constitution, believe in the rule of law, accept the results of a free election.
-The Maga Republicans believe that for them to succeed everyone else has to fail.
-They spread fear and lies, lies told for profit and power.
-They want to go backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, to contraception, no right to marry who you love.
-They are white extremists and white supremacists.
Cutting free choice and the right to privacy? Lies told for profit and power? Yup, that's those redneck farmer guys in the red caps, those auto workers, farmers and grannies with their prayer breakfasts and gaudy Trump buttons. That Maga crowd.
But apart from those guys, with evangelical zeal Biden casts the net real wide. It's "We the People" and the audience is led into a kind of kumbya circle with the likes of the corporate elite, with the JP Morgans and Jeff Bezos, the Clintons, Pfizer, and the Hunter Bidens because "America is big enough for all of us to succeed." On this sacred ground they meet with the kindergarten teacher from Iowa, the Texas ranch hand, or a young black man trying to get out of Brooklyn whose family was tossed to the curb during the housing crisis by big banks who have not had to pay back a penny.
"Everyone should be treated with dignity," after all.
Yes, for sunny Joe, we're all in this together, man. Gone are the such divisive words as "I am losing patience with the unvaccinated" or "those deplorables," or "leave because you are not New Yorkers."
We'll put those small things like money and prestige and privilege aside, for a moment; we've got to save democracy.
"I will not stand by and watch...elections in this country stolen by people who simply reject that they lost..." and imagines a country where the Democrats and Hilary Clinton did not for years question the legitimacy of Trump's presidency.
He warns of political violence and makes it clear that he will not tolerate it, and somehow forgets to name BLM or Antifa.
He says he's trying to draw people together but demonizes at every breath. No admitting of mistakes. No recognition that the other side might have value. No recognition that the Democrats don't know everything.
Its oddly disorientating, all of this hooplah.
What was very real in this speech though, was the threat. Decry political violence and then weaponize every tool of the government to bring down your opponents. Dress yourself in a cause — be it economic stability, global warming, or in this case democracy and march out with your flag. It's not your anger. It's not your insecurity. It's not your agenda. It's "the cause". You are sacrificing yourself for "the cause", and you can justify — as with the Covid cause — justify anything in its name. (Governments are not drawn to abuses of power — Covid calls for it.)
Granted, it's always weird looking on at American political speeches. They talk about themselves as the beacon of all that is good in the world (cue Biden's inaugural words "And America is ready to lead once more!" as if someone asked them to.) It's not just Biden. But in the face of so much uncertainty right now, even the most ardent of supporters must have raised an eyebrow?
But he continues: "I know this nation, I know you the American people. I know your courage. I know your heart."
And the gospel choir sings as Rev Joe goes into altar call mode: "I'm asking our nation to come together. To defend our democracy regardless of your ideology."
And it all builds to a crescendo:
"No matter how long the road, progress does come."
"The future will be made in America."
"Democracy must be defended, for democracy makes all these things possible."
"No matter where you start in life, there is nothing you can't achieve."
"There is not a single thing America cannot do."
Its like a bumper sticker convention!
And this Hallelujah moment: "America is the most powerful idea in the history of the world."
And to get to this Promised Land, "Democracy must be defended."
...from those bad guys in the red caps.
Reverend Biden did offer a couple truths in this otherwise hyperbolic speech:
"Blind loyalty to a single leader is fatal to democracy."
And, "We the People must say, 'This is not who we are'."
Amen, Brother, to both. Just doesn't sound like you know who 'We the People' are.
