Joe Biden’s Fake Anger

“Look, fat.” Remember that? It happened on the campaign trail in 2020. Someone had the temerity to challenge Joe Biden at a town hall event, and in a split second, the Democrat challenged the guy to do pushups. Then, in further frustration, Biden caught himself when he likely was ready to say, “Look, fat ass.” 

Biden’s little burst of anger was nothing new to anyone who saw him operate in Washington DC for nearly 50 years. His petulance and outbursts of rage are nothing new. For whatever reason, he seems to think, behaving like the angry old man he is, projects energy and passion when all it does is conjure up images of that cranky old neighbor of yours yelling, “Get off my lawn!”

In his prime-time address last week, Joe Biden was angry. He was mad at Trump. Angry at other Republicans. Angry at Trump supporters. Angry about everything. The dark red background that surrounded him, along with two Marines in the background, cast in shadow, conjured up thoughts of World War II propaganda art. It did not go over well. 

Naturally, Biden had his defenders. It required seconds to go through the pages of The Atlantic to find commentary for which the only thing missing at the end was the offer of a cigarette. Trump-friendly publications also had their way, writing angry (what else?) tirades about the president insulting them during a prime-time address. 

What does it all mean at the end? Nothing. The people most enthralled by what they watched were Democrats and supporters of Joe Biden. The people most angry were those who didn’t vote for him and never would. Most of the American public didn’t see it, and the major networks didn’t bother to air it, going with reruns instead. 

I wish everyone would cut the bull and stop behaving as if the speech was anything other than a political burner designed to inflame the passions of the Democratic base and to keep them riled up for the next two months. 

Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post, an old-school columnist who I admire but most often disagree with (and vehemently), tried to polish Joe Biden’s turd, claiming: 

One of our two major parties, in thrall to a would-be autocrat, is no longer committed to the American experiment — and thus can no longer be trusted with power. 

Granted, there is an element to the Republican Party these days that are devoted to 2020 election denialism, and I wish more Republicans would speak out against Trump’s deranged fantasies of getting “reinstalled” as president as if he were illegally removed. Still, Eugene is off the rails here because the idea that the Democrat Party is the defender of ordered liberty doesn’t pass the sniff test. 

Don’t get me wrong. Trump tried to have the results of an election overturned. He violated the 12th amendment by claiming Mike Pence had the authority to reject electoral votes. He failed to intervene when a riot broke out at the United States Capitol. His subsequent impeachment was well-deserved, and Mitch McConnell committed one of the more egregious tactical errors of his Senate career by not convincing enough Republicans to convict. Had McDonnell done so, Trump would not have been allowed to run for president again, and the shadow of the former president casts over the party wouldn’t exist. 

That doesn’t let the Democrats off the hook for rank illiberalism, including the dismissal of constitutional processes and dangerous attacks on the legitimacy of the Supreme Court. Dismissing the electoral college, falsely labeling the legislative filibuster as a “relic of Jim Crow,” denying election results due to unproven allegations of “voter suppression,” and claiming Supreme Court decisions have no legitimacy because Trump nominated three justices are threats to the democratic order. 

Joe Biden doesn’t get to hold himself up as the pillar of democratic resilience when he says people opposed to partisan election legislation are on the side of white supremacists and traitors. Likewise, his moral standing doesn’t hold up when he refers to post-pandemic election changes in Georgia as “Jim Crow on steroids.”

The people that object by saying, “False equivalence!” entirely miss the point. It has nothing to do with equivocation. For example, armed robbery is not on the same level as murder, but they are both crimes. No attorney uses the “At least he didn’t murder anyone” defense for a client accused of robbing a bank at gunpoint. 

Think about something for a moment. Has any prominent, elected Democrat stepped forward to call out Stacey Abrams for her election denialism from 2018 or after? It didn’t end in 2018. She defended her refusal to concede the results as recently as a month ago. In 2021 she said of Kemp, “he became the governor” as though it was an installation rather than an election. 

Not a peep from those Eugene says are invested in the American experiment. If you ever bring it up and someone responds, “Yeah, well, her supporters didn’t violently attack the Georgia capitol!” call them out. Ask, “So, is that the baseline? One can deny the results of an election just so long as it doesn’t result in violence. Is that how it works?” 

Remember that the next time President Joe Biden gets angry about democracy.