Jan 20
Thinking Citizen Blog — Biden’s Georgia Speech — Very Donald Trump
Thinking Citizen Blog — Sunday is Political Process, Campaign Strategy, and Candidate Selection Day
Today’s Topic: Biden’s Georgia Speech — Very Donald Trump
Did you hear Joe Biden’s Georgia speech? Did you read it? To, me the extremism of the rhetoric reminded me very much of his predecessor. The “us versus them” attitude that permeated it is a measure of the need for a more temperate voice in 2024. Could Hillary Clinton actually make a comeback? How about Mitt Romney? Or will the pendulum just swing back to Trump? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
THE BIDEN SPEECH (1/11/22) : Good versus Evil, Jim Crow 2.0, and the Republican Party
1.) “In our lives and the lives of our nation — the life of our nation, there are moments so stark that they divide all that came before from everything that followed. They stop time. They rip away the trivial from the essential. And they force us to confront hard truths about ourselves, about our institutions, and about our democracy. In the words of Scripture, they remind us to “hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the gate.”
2.) “Jim Crow 2.0 is about two insidious things: voter suppression and election subversion. It’s no longer about who gets to vote; it’s about making it harder to vote. It’s about who gets to count the vote and whether your vote counts at all. It’s not hyperbole; this is a fact.”
3.) “I’ve been around the Senate a long time. I was Vice President for eight years. I’ve never seen a circumstance where not one single Republican has a voice that’s ready to speak for justice now.”
NB: “Do you want to be the side of Dr. King or George Wallace (above)? Do you want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? (below) Do you want to be on the side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis? This is the moment to decide to defend our elections, to defend our democracy.”
THE QUINNIPIAC POLL (1/12/22) — is Biden doing more to divide the nation or unify it?
1. Overall: 49% divisive, 42% unifying.
2. Democrats: 8%/84%, Republicans 92%/5%,
3. Independents 50%/38%.
NB: Overall, 58% of Americans think of American democracy is in danger of collapse. 37% don’t. Democrats: 56%/37%. Republicans: 62%/36%. Independents: 57%/39%.
THE BIDEN SPEECH IS A “BREAKING POINT” — Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal
1. “It is poor political practice when you fail to guess the effects of your actions. He meant to mollify an important constituency but instead he filled his opponents with honest indignation, and, I suspect, encouraged in that fractured group some new unity.”
2. The speech “seemed prepared by people who think there is only the Democratic Party in America, that, everyone else is an outsider who can be disparaged.”
3. Do you see anyone out there who could unite the country in a spirit of good will?
Remarks by President Biden on Protecting the Right to Vote | The White House
Opinion | America Is Falling Apart at the Seams
Opinion | Biden’s Georgia Speech Is a Break Point
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