"President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session Congress was the most ambitious ideological statement made by any Democratic president in decades—couched in language that made it sound as if he wasn’t making an ideological argument at all.
Make no mistake that he was. He called for trillions in new spending in a robust…
"President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session Congress was the most ambitious ideological statement made by any Democratic president in decades—couched in language that made it sound as if he wasn’t making an ideological argument at all.
Make no mistake that he was. He called for trillions in new spending in a robust expansion of government’s role in multiple arenas of American life in ways that would have been impossible to contemplate in Barack Obama’s presidency. He plunged into subjects—racial and class inequities, immigration, gun violence—that were rubbed raw until bleeding in Donald Trump’s.
Usually these issues are framed with a question: Which side are you on? Though Biden is rarely described as gifted orator, his speech was a remarkable performance in part because it didn’t soar and largely didn’t even try to. In plain-spoken language, he depicted a breathtakingly large agenda as plain common sense. Instead of imploring partisans to take sides, he projected bewilderment that any practical-minded person of any persuasion could be opposed."
...and that sums up the quiet, unassuming genius of Joe Biden.
Underestimate this president at your own peril. Last night's speech is also remarkably similar to when I saw Biden speak in Philadelphia...in 1979 at the first National Student Congress.
When he said that it was time to talk about climate in terms of "jobs, jobs, jobs," I felt relieved. Finally, someone said what I felt needed to be said in plain English.
Good take, says I.
"President Joe Biden’s address to a joint session Congress was the most ambitious ideological statement made by any Democratic president in decades—couched in language that made it sound as if he wasn’t making an ideological argument at all.
Make no mistake that he was. He called for trillions in new spending in a robust expansion of government’s role in multiple arenas of American life in ways that would have been impossible to contemplate in Barack Obama’s presidency. He plunged into subjects—racial and class inequities, immigration, gun violence—that were rubbed raw until bleeding in Donald Trump’s.
Usually these issues are framed with a question: Which side are you on? Though Biden is rarely described as gifted orator, his speech was a remarkable performance in part because it didn’t soar and largely didn’t even try to. In plain-spoken language, he depicted a breathtakingly large agenda as plain common sense. Instead of imploring partisans to take sides, he projected bewilderment that any practical-minded person of any persuasion could be opposed."
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/04/29/biden-speech-ideologically-ambitious-484990
...and that sums up the quiet, unassuming genius of Joe Biden.
Underestimate this president at your own peril. Last night's speech is also remarkably similar to when I saw Biden speak in Philadelphia...in 1979 at the first National Student Congress.
When he said that it was time to talk about climate in terms of "jobs, jobs, jobs," I felt relieved. Finally, someone said what I felt needed to be said in plain English.