Forcefully takes on Republicans in SOTU
President Joe Biden Thursday night did not slip on his Aviators and, as Dark Brandon, stare down Republicans in the House chamber. But Biden did all but in his State of the Union address, even calling out Supreme Court justices to their faces for overturning Roe.
Biden needed to bring the heat to put the lie to Republican smears that he is a doddering fool. As Col. Pickering said of Prof. Henry Higgins, indeed he did.
This was “Fiery Biden” (Washington Post). And “In-Your-Face Biden” (New York Times).
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell followed along in the text and counted the Biden ad libs: more than in any SOTU he’d seen. Biden was not only not doddering, but nimble enough to engage Republican hecklers (including Georgia’s clownish Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene) again and again (Washington Post):
At several points, Biden went back and forth with lawmakers — something that used to be a rarity. But in each moment, Biden looked to capitalize on the interruptions, using the heckling to pivot into Democratic talking points.
Biden began his address with reference to the U.S. on the brink of entering World War II:
Hitler was on the march. War was raging in Europe.
President Roosevelt’s purpose was to wake up the Congress and alert the American people that this was no ordinary moment.
Freedom and democracy were under assault in the world.
Tonight I come to the same chamber to address the nation.
Now it is we who face an unprecedented moment in the history of the Union.
“What’s at stake in the upcoming election is the continuity of America’s precarious experiment in democracy,” Dan Rather insisted in November. “Not the odds, but the stakes,” Jay Rosen put it more succinctly. Biden Thursday night laid out the stakes.
Biden never mentioned TFG by name, but made his case by referencing the offenses of “my predecessor” repeatedly and right out of the gate (Washington Post):
Unlike a traditional State of the Union address consisting of a laundry list of policy goals, Biden started assailing Trump less than four minutes into his speech, blasting him for suggesting that he would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies that did not spend enough on defense.
“Not since President Lincoln and the Civil War have freedom and democracy been under assault here at home as they are today,” Biden said. “What makes our moment rare is that freedom and democracy are under attack, both at home and overseas, at the very same time.”
The first 15 minutes of Biden’s speech were so important, Brian Beutler writes, as “it’s essential that the public not forget his disastrous presidency or the danger he poses to freedom in the U.S. and around the world. And to the extent voters have forgotten they need to be reminded.”
Biden reminded them before viewers tuned out, Beutler adds:
At the top of the speech, when viewership is highest and reporters form first impressions, he delivered a damning recitation of Trump’s record, the Republican agenda, their joint assault on reproductive rights, and their ongoing effort to sabotage the U.S. and the world order.
- He lambasted Trump for egging on Vladimir Putin as he attempts to conquer Ukraine and threatens the rest of Europe. “My predecessor, a former Republican President, tells Putin, ‘Do whatever the hell you want.’ A former American President actually said that, bowing down to a Russian leader. It’s outrageous. It’s dangerous. It’s unacceptable.”
- He confronted Trump, and Republicans in the room, with their own betrayals of the United States. “My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth of January 6. I will not do that…. Remember your oath of office to defend against all threats foreign and domestic.”
Biden did not just take on critics, but reminded Americans not paying attention of his accomplishments, “The American people are writing the greatest comeback story never told,” the president said. “So let’s tell the story here, tell it here and now. America’s comeback is building a future of American possibilities.”
I inherited an economy that was on the brink. Now our economy is the envy of the world!
15 million new jobs in just three years – that’s a record!
Unemployment at 50-year lows.
A record 16 million Americans are starting small businesses and each one is an act of hope.
With historic job growth and small business growth for Black, Hispanic, and Asian-Americans.
800,000 new manufacturing jobs in America and counting.
More people have health insurance today than ever before.
The racial wealth gap is the smallest it’s been in 20 years.
Wages keep going up and inflation keeps coming down!
Inflation has dropped from 9% to 3% – the lowest in the world!
And trending lower.
And now instead of importing foreign products and exporting American jobs, we’re exporting American products and creating American jobs – right here in America where they belong!
An early reaction poll was favorable. We’ll see if that holds.
Yesterday morning, I wondered whether Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson of Louisiana would introduce President Biden with the customary, “I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States.” (MAGA blasphemy, of course, to acknowledge Biden is president.) In fact, Johnson did not introduce Biden at all. Even in 2020, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up Donald Trump’s speech at the end, she introduced “the president of the United States” without the privilege and honor verbiage. Did Biden do him a favor or was Johnson just that unprepared and cowed by Trump?
Biden ended his speech by calling out Trumpism for its retrograde vision of America and by referencing what age has taught him:
The very idea of America, that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives.
We’ve never fully lived up to that idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either.
And I won’t walk away from it now.
My fellow Americans the issue facing our nation isn’t how old we are it’s how old our ideas are?
Hate, anger, revenge, retribution are among the oldest of ideas.
But you can’t lead America with ancient ideas that only take us back.
To lead America, the land of possibilities, you need a vision for the future of what America can and should be.
Tonight you’ve heard mine.
While they rant about communists and socialists, TFG and men like Johnson and North Carolina’s Mark Robinson want to lead America in the 21st century while permanently stuck in the 20th.
“Don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative,” Biden often says. I don’t agree with him on everything, but he’s learned as he’s grown. They have not.
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
For The Win, 5th Edition is ready for download. Request a copy of my free countywide GOTV planning guide at ForTheWin.us.