President Biden's Speech On Democracy
In the past week or so, the Democratic Party has been doing an excellent job of getting out on the campaign trail and making a closing political argument. Both Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have made or will make appearances. President Joe Biden's speech today is a part of this full-court press, but one has to wonder why it took the Democrats so long to get so engaged with the process.
This week, President Biden took the oil companies to task for raking in record profits all year long while Americans suffered high prices at the gas pump. But what I wondered is why hasn't he been forcefully making this argument all along. Bernie Sanders has, but he doesn't have anywhere near as big a megaphone as Biden does. The message "the giant oil producers are ripping you off" should have been a theme throughout the Democratic campaign for months now. Not only to heap some well-deserved public shame on the oil barons, but to get the voters angry at one of the root causes of inflation: corporate greed. It's not just the oil companies who are making record profits by hiking prices "because prices are going up all over the place," there are plenty of other corporations guilty of such gouging out there as well.
Which is a perfect political message to run on, but for the most part Democrats just haven't. And this is just one example, mind you -- there are other potent arguments Democrats could have been making for months but also largely haven't.
Biden didn't make a political speech tonight, though. He wasn't in campaign mode; he spoke instead to issue a warning. Biden's speech was the second such warning he has given about the fragile state of American democracy. Which shows he knows how serious the threat is. Just today it was reported that the Republican candidate for governor of Wisconsin just promised a crowd of people: "Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I'm elected governor." Statements like that should be frightening to all Americans, no matter their political party. So should candidates who baldly state that the only election results they will consider valid is if they win. It's right out in the open now -- the Republican Party would much prefer America to hold "elections" reminiscent of communist dictatorships, where the results are preordained and never a surprise.
That is not democracy, at least not American democracy. Which is why Biden gave his speech tonight, as a dire warning to the public.
Joe Biden speaks at Union Station on American Democracy
Biden's speech was delivered in a very serious tone of voice. Biden never got overly emotional or too forceful, instead almost pleading with the American people to step back from the edge of the abyss of autocracy.
Biden's speech only lasted 21 minutes, and was delivered to what seemed like a small crowd of people. He spoke at a podium (with no presidential seal, since the event can be construed as a political speech) with multiple American flags behind him. He took no questions after the speech, he merely walked off the stage.
Biden opened by speaking of the horrifically violent attack against "my friend, Paul Pelosi." An attacker who came prepared with "zip ties, duct tape, rope, and a hammer" wanted to take Nancy Pelosi -- the third-highest ranking person in the American government -- hostage. He expressed his intent to interrogate her and break her kneecaps. As Biden put it: "The assailant ended up using a hammer to smash Paul's skull. Thankfully, by the grace of God, Paul survived."
Biden expressed incredulity at the response from some on the right, without naming any of them. Which was entirely appropriate, since some of these responses have been what can only be called cruel and inhumane.
The president pointed out that the assailant broke into the house asking: "Where's Nancy?" Biden continued: "Those are the very same words used by the mob when they stormed the United States Capitol on January the 6th, when they broke windows, kicked in the doors, brutally attacked law enforcement... hunting for officials and erecting gallows to hang the former vice president, Mike Pence."
Biden then identified where all this violence had sprung from -- "whipped up into a frenzy" by a sitting U.S. president who was feeding them his Big Lie. Biden then reminded everyone what some of the consequences of that Big Lie have been -- including poll workers and elections officials getting death threats. Again without using Donald Trump's name, Biden recounted the phone call begging Georgia officials to "find me 11,780 votes."
Biden warned that we must confront these lies with the truth. "The future of our nation depends on it."
We must, with one overwhelming unified voice, speak as a country and say there's no place, no place for voter intimidation or political violence in America, whether it's directed at Democrats or Republicans.
The language used throughout the speech was a blunt warning: "Make no mistake -- democracy is on the ballot for all of us." Freedom is not free, Biden stated, "it requires constant vigilance."
"We the people must decide whether we'll have free and fair elections," Biden urged. He then ripped into Trump's Big Lie and reminded everyone of the facts -- the 2020 election was the most accurate and secure in American history, and it survived all the baseless challenges the adherents of the Big Lie flung at it. No evidence of widespread fraud was detected anywhere because it did not exist. "The Big Lie has been proven to be just that -- a big lie. Every single time."
Biden warned of Republicans "trying to deny you the right to vote" and to know that your ballot will be counted. He pointed out there are over 300 "election-deniers" on the ballot for all kinds of different offices -- many of which are those in control of the state's election system. Biden called this "damaging, corrosive, and destructive."
Biden framed this as a struggle between democracy and the idea of autocracy, "the rule of one... one person." He called for Americans to vote for "the rule of law" and called the contest "a struggle for the very soul of America itself."
The president then reminded us that we've "never given up on the American experiment" and ran down a list of three things that unite us: the belief that the vote in America "is sacred," standing against violence and voter intimidation, and the belief in democracy itself. He warned of those who want to settle things with "a riot, or a mob, or a bullet, or a hammer." He called them "a distinct minority... but they are loud and they are determined."
Biden then spoke of next week's election, noting that 27 million Americans have already cast their ballot. He did misspeak at one point, but immediately corrected himself, saying the election was on "November 9th -- 8th, excuse me."
And he reminded everyone of something very important that will likely be misused by the conspiracy theorists: with such a record early-voting turnout, many states will have to take a few days to accurately count the ballots, since many states do not allow any of these ballots to be counted before the polls close. Biden urged everyone to be patient during this period.
This is, the president noted, the first election since the insurrection attempt of January 6th. Biden sadly noted the truth of the matter: "I wish I could say the assault on democracy had ended that day, but I cannot."
As I stand here today, there are candidates running for every level of office in America, for governor, for Congress, for attorney general, for secretary of state who won't commit to accepting the results of the elections they're in. That is the path to chaos in America. It's unprecedented. It's unlawful. And it is un-American.
Biden's best line is one he's used before, and one that more Democrats should use more often: "You can't love your country only when you win."
Biden had one main theme throughout the entire speech: warning that democracy itself was on the ballot this year.
This is no ordinary year. So, I ask you to think long and hard about the moment we are in. In a typical year, we are not often faced with the question of whether the vote we cast will preserve democracy or put it at risk. But we are this year.
He urged voters to ask their candidates whether they will accept the will of the people in a free and fair election. He warned that we cannot take democracy for granted.
And he ended on an upbeat note: "We'll meet this moment. We just have to remember who we are. We are the United States of America."
As a speech, it was more serious than emotional. It wasn't a rousing campaign address to make a closing political argument to the faithful. It wasn't a crowd-pleaser of a speech. But then it wasn't meant to be. It was meant to be a warning -- that America is drifting dangerously close to a place where one party believes that political violence and voter intimidation and even an attempt to kidnap and maim one of the highest-ranking politicians in the country is somehow justified -- or some kind of joke. That is a frightening place for America to be, which is exactly what Biden's speech was meant to convey. By that measure, the speech was just what was needed.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
President Joe Biden's speech today is a part of this full-court press, but one has to wonder why it took the Democrats so long to get so engaged with the process.
Oh, I don't know; perhaps there's a war and a country to run. Who could say?
Does this go on to become another bash Joe Biden fest? I hope not. I fully grasp and am totally respectful of that whole reality-based thing and all, but you'd think the Lefties and left-leaners could maybe take a page from the Righties and present at least a 7-day united front around election time or maybe some kind of prearranged timeout from that relentless bash-the-Democrats routine, I mean, since democracy hangs in the balance.
Just kidding. Probably.
President Joe Biden's speech today is a part of this full-court press, but one has to wonder why it took the Democrats so long to get so engaged with the process.
Well, any earlier and everyone would have forgotten about it by election day. In fact, they may still ... ;)
Elizabeth Miller
2
Well, any earlier and everyone would have forgotten about it by election day. In fact, they may still ... ;)
No, not a joke; you're right on target here.
I mean, America is right now teetering on the precipice, inching ever closer to the edge of the purple mountain majesties, and it seems like there is an uncomfortably large subset of the country that are totally clueless and unequipped mentally to comprehend the myriad of ways in which they're being played for suckers by con artists and enabling cowards... people who wouldn't spit on them to put them out if they were on fire.
Joe Biden speaks at Union Station on American Democracy
Union Station is the perfect backdrop for Biden’s speech
The once thriving and majestic transport hub is now a crime-infested trash heap
Less than a week out from the 2022 midterm elections, the White House announced that President Joe Biden would be delivering a speech warning of alleged “threats” to democracy. The backdrop for the address tonight that will almost assuredly accuse his fellow countrymen of being extremists and traitors? Washington, DC’s Union Station.
In many ways, Union Station is the ideal backdrop for a speech by the leader of the Democrat Party. It is the perfect embodiment of what the left’s foolish and deranged policies have done to our nation: reduced a once thriving and majestic place into a crime-infested trash heap.
Union is essentially a ghost town. Thanks to a combination of neglectful law enforcement and a refusal to relocate the homeless encampments, the station has been overrun with drug-addicted and mentally-ill vagrants. It’s nearly impossible to enter Union Station without being accosted by a crazy person or, at the very least, walking through a cloud with the rank odor of feces and urine. It’s not uncommon to see one of the “individuals experiencing homelessness” outside on the subway grates suffering a drug overdose, or to bristle past another shouting out a schizophrenic rant.
https://nypost.com/2022/11/02/conservatives-mock-biden-over-speech-at-neglected-unsafe-dc-train-station/
Nowhere better shows the total incompetence and utter stoopidity of Democrat Party governance than Union Station.. :^/ Union Station is EXACTLY what happens when a government actively hates and persecutes it's LEOs and gives sympathy and protection to criminals..
Of course, a LOT of the homeless and scumbags were cleared out prior to Biden's speech...
Funny how Democrats CONDEMNED such actions when President Trump did it.. But whole-heartedly approve when Biden does it..
Hypocrisy. It's not a bug in Democrat programming. It's a feature.
As far as the speech itself??
Nothing but fear-mongering... Fact-less, hysterical fear-mongering..
The Democrat Party's go-to... :eyeroll:
Democrats can't point to ANY real accomplishments that the American people actually wanted.. So Democrats simply fear-monger...
Well, I take that back.. Democrats DID try to crow about an accomplishment on Elon's Twitter...
But it was fact-checked and then the White House took it down in shame.. :D
"Well, the bragging on Twitter didn't work.. So let's fall back to our tried and true... Base-less, fact-less, hysterical fear mongering.. We'll scare the American people into voting Democrats!! Com'on man!! It's all we got!!"
-White House
:eyeroll:
1/20 :D :D :D
Here is a perfect explanation as to why Biden's fear-mongering factless baseless hysterical speech is such a desperate hail-mary for Democrats..
The bottom is dropping out of the 2022 election for Democrats
With just a week left until the 2022 midterm elections, the political environment appears to be eroding rapidly for Democrats – especially in areas where the party has long held sway.
“Current ratings of the U.S. economy and national satisfaction are the lowest Gallup has measured at the time of a midterm election over the life of these polling trends, starting in 1994 and 1982, respectively. Congressional and presidential job approval are near their historical low marks.”
Any one of those numbers would set off warning signals for the party in power in Washington. Combine all of them – and consider that we are just seven days from the election – and it appears as though Republicans are on the verge of a major national victory.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/01/politics/democratic-seats-jeopardy-gallup-polling/index.html
The problem for Democrats is not only that all of the close races are swinging the GOP's way..
No, the problem for Democrats is that races Dems thought were safe and secure are *ALSO* swinging towards the GOP...
Areas that Joe Biden won comfortably in 2020 are now in danger of being lost to the GOP..
A perfect expression of Buyer's Remorse... :D
Democrats are facing a fourfold cross-rip. A PKE surge of incredible, even dangerous proportions!!! :D
And it's simply too late for Democrats to do anything about.. :D
4 days and 18 hours.. :D But who's counting, eh?? :D
2/20 :D :D :D
give 'em hell, CW.
"I don't give them Hell. I just tell the truth about them, and they think it's Hell."
~Harry S. Truman
or perhaps i should say, give em hell dark brandon.
"You know, American democracy is under attack because the defeated former president of the United States refused to accept the results of the 2020 election. If he refuses to accept the will of the people, if he refuses to accept the fact that he lost, he’s abused his power and put the loyalty to himself before loyalty to the Constitution. And he’s made a big lie an article of faith in the MAGA Republican Party, the minority of that party."
-Joe Biden
Just as the Former Secretary of State refused to accept the results of the 2016 Election..
Just as tens of millions of Democrats refused to accept the results of the 2016 Election...
And the Russia Collusion Delusion was born..
Democrats have refused to accept ANY election in the last quarter century that Democrats lost..
So, please... Spare me the "Election Denier" tears...
Democrats are tons worse in that department..
3/20 :D :D :D
Michale
5
What are you, five? All those times you spammed this forum reposting the rules, and you couldn't "slow your roll" (troll) long enough to actually read them?
CW mentioned the election, so you are off and running with your nonsensical routine. This verbal diarrhea is literally the living embodiment of exactly what you were asked not to do in Rule #3. You remember Rule #3? I won't cut-and-paste it again, but I will copy this:
*
One itty bitty tiny little week where you were asked to stay on topic while dispensing with the troll routine, and you just couldn't find a way to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and grow the eff up and not show your ass. And, yeah, it really is that pathetic.
Kick,
blaaa blaaa blaaa...
I don't have to explain myself to you.. Nor do I answer to you..
You have proven time and time again that you interpret the moderator's rules to suit yer HATE agenda..
Remember?? Your claim that I am not allowed to address 2 commenters within the same comment?? Yet, you FAIL to actually quote a rule that says what you claim it says..
You have also violated the moderator's wishes about not having comments that are only about me, personally..
If the moderator wants to declare that blatantly ON TOPIC comment as OFF TOPIC, that is HIS prerogative..
It is NOT yours...
I'll give you the same advice I gave you when you spammed the forum with your blatant and repetitive and factless BS...
Mind your own comments and let the moderator mind mine.. :eyeroll:
4/20 :D :D :D
And now let's see the Patriotic American reaction to Biden's speech...
Biden ridiculed for 'despicable' speech on 'threat' to democracy: 'What delusion looks like'
One critic blasted the president's address as 'bizarre, tone deaf, vicious'
Conservatives ridiculed President Joe Biden’s "despicable" Wednesday speech in which he warned midterm voters of the threats to democracy ahead of election day.
Rather than focusing the on main issues voters are most concerned about, namely, rampant inflation and other economic woes, Biden’s speech pointed the finger at his political opponents. He noted the assault against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, decrying the violence and misinformation supposedly fostered by extremist Republicans.
Responding to Biden’s denunciation of riots during the address, American Wire News managing editor Tom Tillison asked, "Did he sleep through the BLM riots???"
https://www.foxnews.com/media/biden-ridiculed-despicable-speech-threat-democracy-delusion-looks-like
Of course, Democrats claim that 22+ years (collectively) of Democrat BLM & AntiFa riots were "mostly peaceful".. :eyeroll:
David Giglio said "This is literally what delusion looks and sounds like."
Of course Biden endorses election denier Stacey BIG LIKE Abrams and ignores the FACT that Georgia's Vote Integrity, far from being "Jim Crow 2.0" as Biden claims, has resulted in record turnout for black Americans and ALL Georgians... :eyeroll:
Biden's speech??? HUGE on fear mongering.. Little to NO facts to back up anything..
5/20 :D :D
Interesting point in Biden's speech..
"There's an alarming rise in the number of our people in this country condoning political violence or simply remaining silent. Silence is complicity."
-Joe Biden
Hmmmmmm Why does that line look really REALLY familiar?? Hmmmmmm....
Oh!!! I KNOW!!!
It sounds EXACTLY like saying, "Silence Gives Assent..."
But THAT can't be right, can it!!??? I mean, ya'all have been arguing for YEARS that silence DOES NOT give assent..
NOW we have Biden, TOP DEMOCRAT saying EXACTLY that...
"Silence is complicity"
-Joe Biden
"Silence gives assent."
-Michale
Yep.. Sounds EXACTLY the same...
Can ya'all explain this discrepancy??? Hmmmm????
6/20 :D :D :D
Michale
10
I don't have to explain myself to you.. Nor do I answer to you..
Said the troll who is answering to me now.
You have proven time and time again that you interpret the moderator's rules to suit yer HATE agenda..
What part of "you seem to see this site as a place to play a game" is confusing? How hard is it for you to for once take some simple instructions and slow your roll from the constant off-topic trolling routine?
My "hate" agenda? Perhaps in your ever-present permanent state of demonstrable ignorance, you've simply confused me with the forum circle jerk whose sole purpose here seems to be the same lame-ass exercise in constant game playing and hurling insults. This forum is archived, you know.
Remember?? Your claim that I am not allowed to address 2 commenters within the same comment?? Yet, you FAIL to actually quote a rule that says what you claim it says..
You are incorrect, and I don't and have never suffered your obvious affliction of shitty recall so you needn't ever ask. I said that you were pretending to accept the rules while being a "weasel" in "insidious ways" and quoted a part of the rules.
If you believe CW gave you 20 comments with the idea that you'd double and triple them by mushing the responses to different posters into one long response, I believe you missed the point.
You have also violated the moderator's wishes about not having comments that are only about me, personally..
It isn't me in the penalty box; it's you. And if the author wants to toss me in there and promulgate some specific rules for me, I can put on a master class in how to follow directives versus ignoring them and being a "weasel" and a consummate dick.
If the moderator wants to declare that blatantly ON TOPIC comment as OFF TOPIC, that is HIS prerogative..
So you honestly think that lame-ass knee-jerk routine of yours is "blatantly ON TOPIC" regarding Joe Biden's speech? Seriously? When it literally was the living embodiment of exactly what CW asked you not to do:
*
It is NOT yours...
Oh, I resoundingly disagree. MtnCaddy voiced his opinion of your pathetic existence here, and I'll be danged if I'm going to sit here in silence and not voice my own. This may come as a surprise to you, but everyone here is entitled to have their opinion, albeit in between your troll routine and your hurling of the repetitive insults you cannot seem to stop yourself from engaging in.
Did you even read CW's rules? Try reading them again and allow them to attach to a brain cell:
*
Well, I am "people," and I am tired of it. It's like you're a 5-year-old and cannot comprehend simple English wherein you were asked in no uncertain terms to remain on topic and to have "actual intelligent conversations with people."
I'll give you the same advice I gave you when you spammed the forum with your blatant and repetitive and factless BS...
Mind your own comments and let the moderator mind mine.. :eyeroll:
Why the hell should I or anyone else here on this forum sit in silence while you carry on with the same lame routine unabated? The "moderator" isn't the only one here with an opinion regarding your monotonous repetitive drivel and spew routine; MtnCaddy voiced his, Russ voiced his, and I'll dang sure voice mine.
Chris, how long are you going to put off the inevitable? Once upon a time he was...was long gone when I got down here in 2019 and he's retarding the growth of Weigantia. Just give me a dollar figure -- what amount will exceed what he's paying you to shit all over YOUR comments section?
Ya know, Chris? I have intelligent things to say about today's column and a pithy observation or two. But why bother? Noone will find amongst Jussie's trolling anyways.
Kick,
Blaaa blaaaa blaaaa blaaaa...
Thank you for proving my point so perfectly.. :D
Ya'all act like NOTHING has changed between 2 weeks ago when I was posting 100-200+ comments a day to now when I am posting less than 20 comments a day..
Ya'all don't want my comments limited.. You want my comments GONE...
Ya'all are like Hamas terrorists who deny Israel has a right to exist..
Ya'all are soooo predictable.. I just never thought ya'all would prove my point so quickly and so perfectly... :D
MC,
But why bother? Noone will find amongst Jussie's trolling anyways.
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
MC you say the EXACT same thing when I was posting 106 comments per day that you say when I am posting SIX comments per day!!!
BBBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Can you comprehend what utter LUNACY your position is???
Are you REALLY that insecure and threatened by my posting comments that you can't even post when the number of my comments drops by a factor of 100!???
That is REALLY hilarious.. :D
Well, one thing has been established as FACT....
It's not the volume of my comments that is the problem here..
It's the hate and the bigotry of Weigantians who refuse to allow ANYONE to have a different opinion or a different point of view...
THAT seems to be the problem here...
As Kick and MC have proven beyond ANY shadow of a doubt...
:eyeroll:
Liz... Jean Luc....
What I tell ya'all?? :^/
It's not the number of my comments that is the problem here..
It's the mere presence of a Trump/America supporter that's the problem here..
Even ya'all must be able to see that now..
7/20 :D :D :D
Well, I am calling it a night.. I have to say, I am sure surprised at the ungrateful attitudes I am seeing here today...
The moderator went to a bunch of extra work and effort to make things more palatable for the users of this forum.. Being responsive to the emails from users he received..
And his reward??
Bitching and moaning like NOTHING has changed...
My comments have gone down from HUNDREDS of comments per day to virtually LESS THAN TEN comments daily!!!
And what happens!???
Users like Kick and MC pretend like NOTHING has changed!!???
WTF, people!!????
Jeezus H Christ!!! Reign in your HATE and BIGOTRY for one god-damn second and be appreciative of the moderator's obvious successful efforts!!!
Bunch of ungrateful ingrates!!! :eyeroll:
Good night everyone.. See ya'all in the morning and hopefully ya'all (ya know who ya'all are) will learn to be a little more gracious and a little less bitchy....
I'm just sayin'... :eyeroll:
8/20 :^/ :^/ :^/
Troll
16
Thank you for proving my point so perfectly..
Only if your point was your unmitigated inability to follow a few simple directions.
Ya'all act like NOTHING has changed between 2 weeks ago when I was posting 100-200+ comments a day to now when I am posting less than 20 comments a day..
You want a medal or a chest to pin it on?
If you had any recall whatsoever or if you could locate a brain in your cranium, what with all of your eyerolling, you'd obviously already know that the object of the exercise was twofold:
(1) to initially reduce the number of your posts, and then
(2) for you to follow those unequivocally stated unambiguous rules.
And while you're all giddy with yourself for accomplishing number one, you seem inherently incapable of doing number two all by yourself.
Ya'all don't want my comments limited.. You want my comments GONE...
I can reiterate and repeat myself until this attaches itself to a brain cell: You do not speak for me or Russ... EVER.
Ya'all are like Hamas terrorists who deny Israel has a right to exist..
You're seriously making a comparison of yourself to Israel!?
Poor, poor pitiful you and the artist formerly known as "Kanye."
Ye are both so misunderstood. *shakes head*
Jeezus H Christ!!! Reign in your HATE and BIGOTRY for one god-damn second and be appreciative of the moderator's obvious successful efforts!!!
Self-described "Israel" attempts to misdirect the audience by attempting to recast the narrative to that of others being inappreciative of the creator.
Epic fail... of biblical proportions.