Say It Ain’t So, Joe
I’m not angry; I’m just disappointed.
Joe Biden did not impress me with his State of the Union address. It wasn’t because it lacked specifics or aspirations; it’s not because he was fatalistic or negative; it’s wasn’t missing clarity or drive. It was, in fact, a brightly optimistic speech about the Union’s strengths: our potential for comity and shared purpose, our capacity for kindness and support, our future just waiting on the will of our investment in it.
And that’s why I’m so disappointed.
President Biden’s specifics were untethered from the brutal reality that all of them have been offered the previous year and shot down by members of his own caucus in the Senate. His praise of bipartisanship studiously ignored the limits and costs of seeking progress with people who don’t want a future that looks different from our past. His kindness and compassion — embodied in the sweet and somber words for his late son, Beau —were answered with a violent exclamation from an open insurrectionist. Almost every element of his speech was utterly disconnected from the reality of the Republican Party.
In that chamber sat members of a party that openly supported and cheered on a violent insurrection, denied, delayed, and diminished investigation into the very same, recently cavorted with white supremacists, or some combination thereof. For those Republicans who escape culpability for assisting in or covering up the actual violent coup attempted barely a year ago, they are completely and utterly responsible for turning away any efforts to prevent the next one through the expansion and protection of voting rights.
Did any part of Biden’s speech address these failures? Suggest that he needed movement on expelling white supremacists before cozying up? Connect the heretofore lukewarm Republican condemnation of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to the impeachment scandal of his predecessor attempting to extort Zelenskyy with Congressionally-sanctioned military aid that was studiously and thoroughly covered up by the GOP?
The short answer is no. And the long answer is: no, he fucking did not.
I’m disappointed because we are in a moment where we need to rally ourselves against autocracy both inside and outside of this country, and the heart of our pro-democracy leadership continues to talk as if we are on the verge of reconciliation — without any acknowledgment of what has broken us apart.
Joe Biden isn’t just offering the GOP solidarity and redemption; he’s doing so without any preconditions or accountability!
This did not have to be a speech of fiery condemnation or a zealous gauntlet throwdown, but there surely must be a way to be positive and speak to the whole nation without downplaying and erasing the serious threats we face or who is responsible for them.
That was the task of our greatest presidents, and the work that they accomplished that has made us who we are today. They didn’t come to office already great and established; they came to office to meet the moment they were in, to make the hard decisions and rally people in the midst of those brutal circumstances to act in dismantling them.
Instead, Biden has downplayed the nature of the conflict we are in, and has continually shunned and shushed the Black voters that form his political base while seeking comity and cooperation with the people attacking us. He’s more interested in being liked (by white conservatives) than being effective (for his most essential voters). And, knowing our history, knowing the costs, that’s a recipe for disaster.
I’m not disappointed because I want to complain; I’m disappointed because I don’t. I want a reason to rally to this presidency. I want to believe that this man can meet the moment. I am only afraid that this speech signals his true intentions to deliver too little, too late.
