Biden speaks

Joe Biden, writing in the Atlantic today:

[We've seen] the truth of this president: He won’t stop. His contempt for the U.S. Constitution and willingness to divide this nation knows no bounds. Now he’s pardoned a law-enforcement official who terrorized the Latino community, violated its constitutional rights, defied a federal court order to stop, and ran a prison system so rife with torture and abuse he himself called it a "concentration camp."

You, me, and the citizens of this country carry a special burden in 2017. We have to do what our president has not. We have to uphold America’s values. We have to do what he will not. We have to defend our Constitution. We have to remember our kids are watching. We have to show the world America is still a beacon of light.

Joined together, we are more than 300 million strong. Joined together, we will win this battle for our soul. Because if there’s one thing I know about the American people, it’s this: When it has mattered most, they have never let this nation down.

I can't know with epistemological certainty if Biden's message of national salvation is accurate, but I do know his is the best voice to be delivering it. Perhaps if he had been running in 2016, we wouldn't be in this crisis?

 

Comments

[Peter G.]

Definitely maybe. They'd have gone after Joe with the same intensity but it would have disarmed a lot of basic Republican sexism and only left them racism to rely on. Who knows about then? He's fundamentally right now.

[Peter G.]

I hope nobody is caught in Houston right now. The situation is degenerating rapidly. It looks like a thousand year flood is in the offing which means a lot of people don't even suspect they are in that flood plain. Federal flood insurance expires on the 30th with about five billion in the bank and 25 billion in outstanding liabilities from previous events. And the Republicans are a in charge. Could be worse. It could be..... no I guess it couldn't be worse.

[Max]

Joe may have been the one Democrat who could have obtained over 270 Electoral votes in '16. But his son was dying. He is the only septuagenarian I could get behind in 2020 although probably newer blood would be best. Still, Joe may be the best elder Democratic statesman who is speaking out.