Thoughts on Biden's harangue

Who doesn't want to make America great again? Based on policy and rhetoric, apparently our President doesn't like the idea.

Over the years I have saved myself a lot of time by reading presidential addresses such as the State of the Union instead of watching the show and the responses. All I read in those speeches, regardless of whoever the President is or what party he’s representing, is a laundry list of platitudes and a general idea that federal spending and intervention is the ticket for curing all our ills. The President forgets he took an oath the the Constitution, not to the federal government. Give me a President whose State of the Union speech consists in total of the following sentences: “The State of the Union is strong, and I’m going to make it stronger by, in conjunction with Congress, rightsizing the federal government to its Constitutional limits. Thank you and God Bless the United States of America.”

So I didn’t watch Joe Biden’s speech the other night. But what I read basically blew my mind because, if you replaced the phrase “MAGA Americans” with “Joe Biden Democrats” it would pretty much still make sense, and be more truthful to boot.

I’m sure those who are on the opposite side of me politically would shout about the participants in the J6 “insurrection” who fought with Capitol Police or the guy who ran people over at the Charlottesville protest as being the perfect examples of “MAGA Americans.” If so, I suppose I get to pick and choose all those who threw bricks, torched and destroyed property, and murdered police officers in the summer of 2020 as “Joe Biden Democrats.” And where does that lead us?

The peaceful protestors at all these events, whether they demanded Robert E. Lee’s statue should remain where it had been for a century, that punishment due for the police officers who used excessive force on George Floyd or stood by as it happened not be swept under the rug, or an investigation into counting irregularities in the 2020 Presidental election, were there to make their point as opposition to policies put in place by government. In this instance, we still have a Constitutional right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” that doesn’t end just because the Democrats are running the show with the mainstream media running interference. (Nor does it mean we have a right to trash places. The TEA Party was careful to leave their protest sites pretty much as they left them, if not even cleaner.)

Over the last 13 years I have done my fair share as the loyal opposition to Democrat-based tyranny, whether it be in Washington or Annapolis. (So far Dover has been spared, but I reserve the right to muckrake there as necessary.) All that has been in service to the State of the Union principle I outlined above, limiting government to its Constitutional boundaries and preserving our God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As an example, I cheered the Dobbs decision because it returned the abortion debate to the states where it belongs. Now I can go to my elected representatives and demand my adopted home state repeal the 2017 adjustments to its abortion law and return to the prohibitions initially outlined in the law of rape, incest, or the life of or significant health risk to the mother. It’s preserving the right to life, although I know there are others who deem abortion as a liberty issue. This is why we desire the opportunity to change hearts and minds.

Biden’s Independence Hall address, done mainly with the front of the building bathed in a red light and featuring two unidentified Marines standing at attention in the deep background, came across as more of a threat than an address to many who reside on his politically opposite side. Biden equated someone like me, who briefly thought about going to Washington, D.C. on January 6 but decided it wouldn’t be worth the time, with one of those sign-wielding protestors who were attacking the Capital Police or an Ashli Babbitt, whose only crime was trying to crawl through a broken window and died for her trespassing. (On that note, what crime did Rosanne Boyland commit to merit her “objectively reasonable” death in the presence of the Capital Police? And am I an “insurrectionist” to question these incidents?)

One interesting reaction came from Rick Manning, who some (including me) know as the president of Americans for Limited Government. On the Daily Torch website, he declared:

The walls of Independence Hall have been in the presence of greatness, men who put liberty above government and dedicated their lives and fortunes to create this great nation. Tonight, those walls heard the words of the demagogue, who waved a banner of democracy while denying the right to legitimate dissent for those who oppose his regime’s policies.

Manning and I came to a similar conclusion, but there’s another observer (and Substack writer to whom I subscribe) who believed it was even more sinister:

The entire ‘MAGA movement’ – that is everyone in America who opposes Biden’s agenda – is being very deliberately labeled as a threat to the republic. It is,  in fact, being defined as an insurrectionist, violent, and a “clear and present danger” to our democracy. This is not out-of-control rhetoric. Joe did not get carried away. All of this is very deliberate because it is creating the foundation for what is about to come – the use of military force against the American people. (All emphasis in original.)

Some may dismiss Sam Faddis for overreaction, but who predicted the president who came into office crying “unity” would now demand fealty in a threatening way? I doubt the coloration of Independence Hall and the presence of those Marines was accidental.

I’m going to leave this here for now, but Biden’s speech and my critique of it just happen to lead nicely into something that was on my heart to write; one of those ideas I had in the middle of the night and wrote myself an e-mail so I would remember. That piece will come tomorrow as a special Sunday addition to my Substack.