Biden Defends Democracy

I was planning to write something about last night’s speech by President Biden, but by the time I got to my computer all the good takes were taken. 

So let me share a few of the takes I found most insightful.

I think the main audience for the speech was Republicans, especially those who are not, as President Biden said “MAGA Republicans.”  And some of the non-Maga Republicans, many of whom are already firmly in the “no Trumper” camp, offered the type of reaction that the President must have been hoping for.

The strongest reaction I saw from that camp came for former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum.  Frum, in an essay entitled “The Justification for Biden’s Speech,”  argued that

Whatever was true four, five, or six years ago, in 2022 Trumpism cannot be regarded as some anomalous strain in U.S. politics. What began as deviation has become mainstream. What once could be minimized as a recessive tendency within the Republican Party has become the dominant one.

And that

Facing that reality is the way to prevent it from doing worse harm. Only recognition of that unwelcome new reality can change behaviors across American politics—not just those of Trump supporters, but also those of Trump opponents.

Concluding that

Trumpism is not the repudiated past of the Republican Party. It’s the party’s near-term future. If Republicans gain control of one or both houses of Congress in 2022, and in almost any state where they wield power, Trumpism is the country’s near-term future.

I also think that that Anne Applebaum, author of “Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism,” made a critical point about what is before Biden and the Democrats:

This is the deep source of the most serious problem facing Joe Biden, and not just Joe Biden: how to energize citizens to defend moderation, how to create excitement about institutions that were designed not to be exciting, how to build enthusiasm for the political center—the people of all political beliefs who still respect the rules and understand why they are important. Above all, how to get Americans to see that the challenge presented by the “MAGA Republicans,” as the president called them in his speech last night, is not a normal political challenge.

Oh, and this from John Legend:

When the president comes out as anti-fascist and pro-democracy and you feel attacked… Perhaps you need to do some introspection.

Last (and probably least), a thought about production values.   One of the occupational hazards of being a programmer/producer, even a semi-retired one, is that you always pay attention to the presentation as well as the substance. And the staging of the speech last night was baffling.  I fully agree that this speech did not belong in the Oval Office or the Rose Garden, and that Independence Hall was a powerful site.  And I understand the allure of a “prime time” speech.  But why didn’t anyone on the planning team think through the fact that the sun would have gone down “prime time” on the East Coast?  Why did anyone think it would be a good idea to have the President speak in the dark?  At times it was nearly impossible to make out the President’s facial expressions.  And the lighting that was in place cast him in Luciferian red tint.