Biden's balancing act.

October 30, 2023

          As the humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza continues to deteriorate, President Biden has engaged in a multi-pronged effort to protect and assist Palestinians in Gaza—efforts that are not being credited by some Democrats. And as President Biden consistently distinguishes between suffering Palestinians and Hamas terrorists, Trump has been vowing to re-impose his “Muslim travel ban,” a ban based on Islamophobic views that deliberately conflate Muslims and terrorists.

          Over the weekend, Israel confirmed that it was expanding its Gaza operations to destroy Hamas. Internet and phone service in Gaza disappeared for the better part of two days but is slowly being restored. The US has urged Israel to help restore service to the extent it has control over the networks.

          As reported in the NYTimes, President Biden is in daily contact with Prime Minister Netanyahu and continues to urge him to protect civilians. Per the Times,

Biden “reiterated that Israel has every right and responsibility to defend its citizens from humanitarian law that prioritizes the protection of civilians.” The two discussed efforts to locate hostages being held by Hamas, including several Americans thought to be missing or held hostage, and Biden asked Netanyahu to “immediately and significantly” increase the amount of humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza.

          For its part, Israel apparently responded to President Biden’s request by committing to increase the amount of aid flowing across the Rafah Border Crossing on the Egyptian border. Again, per the Times,

Israel has committed to allowing 100 trucks of aid per day into Gaza through its border crossing with Egypt, a senior U.S. government official said. The aid would include a limited amount of fuel for the U.N. to distribute to key humanitarian infrastructure in Gaza, such as hospitals.

          As President Biden remains steadfast in his support for Israel, Trump criticized Biden for authorizing $100 million in aid to Palestinians in Gaza. (Trump claimed that the aid would make its way into the hands of Hamas.) I confess that I missed Biden’s pledge of $100 million in aid to Palestinians in Gaza. See Whitehouse.gov, U.S. Announcement of Humanitarian Assistance to the Palestinian People.

          The Biden administration described the rationale for the grant to residents of Gaza as follows:

Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism. Civilian lives must be protected and assistance must urgently reach those in need. We will continue to work closely with partners in the region to stress the importance of upholding the law of war, supporting those who are trying to get to safety or provide assistance, and facilitating access to food, water, medical care, and shelter.

This funding will help support over a million displaced and conflict-affected people with clean water, food, hygiene support, medical care, and other essential needs. The United States provides humanitarian assistance through trusted partners including UN agencies and international NGOs.

          As the Biden administration was doing its best to maintain a distinction between Palestinian residents of Gaza and Hamas terrorists, Trump was doing his best to erase that distinction.

          In comments before the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas over the weekend, Trump promised to re-impose his so-called “Muslim ban” on travel into the US from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Trump said, “We didn't want people coming into our country who really love the idea of blowing our country up.” Trump also promised to impose “strong ideological screening” of students seeking visas to study into the US.

          Other presidential candidates appearing before the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas criticized Trump for blaming Israeli intelligence for being unprepared for the October 7 terrorist attack. Trump also criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu for being “weak” immediately after the attack.

          In an odd twist, Netanyahu posted a tweet over the weekend that echoed Trump's effort to blame Israeli intelligence for being unprepared for the attack. The tweet caused an uproar in Israel, causing Netanyahu to delete the tweet—a rare instance of Netanyahu backing down in the face of public criticism.

          As described by Josh Marshall in Talking Points Memo,

Overnight Netanyahu tweeted explicitly blaming the country’s intelligence chiefs for failing to prevent the October 7th massacres. The response to this was so overwhelming that Netanyahu was compelled to delete the tweet and publicly apologize. For context, this is on a par with Donald Trump apologizing. It doesn’t happen. He hastily affirmed his confidence in the intelligence chiefs who are, needless to say, in charge of running a significant part of the current war. In short, Netanyahu is distracted, discredited and clearly focused in large part on saving himself.

          As noted by Josh Marshall,

One thing that is obscured in the current chaos is that the current government is essentially paralyzed. Benjamin Netanyahu remains Prime Minister despite a catastrophic loss of public support tied to his failure to prevent the October 7th massacres in southern Israel.

          With all that, how is he remaining in power? Quite simply, there’s no viable mechanism to remove him.

          Some assume that the collapse of support for Netanyahu means a collapse of support for the current war policy [in Israel]. Far from it.

          While we should avoid reducing the Israeli war on Hamas to politics, the difficult issues unfolding in Israel and Gaza are unsettling politics across the globe, most especially in the US. Biden is being criticized in many quarters for balancing strong support for Israel with efforts to limit casualties and provide humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

          Some Democrats would strike a different balance—which should not be cause for abandoning Biden. He has provided steady leadership in a no-win situation while condemning efforts to ascribe blame to all Palestinians (and Muslims) for the terrorism of Hamas. It could have been otherwise; just look at Trump's remarks over the weekend.

Bidenomics: Economic growth and UAW strike victories.

          Remember that time when the media told us that Joe Biden would cause Democrats to lose in 2022 and 2024 because gas was $5.00 a gallon? Republicans branded the inflationary economy as “Bidenomics.” In a deft move—similar to the “Dark Brandon” meme—Joe Biden turned the taunt on its head to describe the astounding performance of the economy during his tenure.

          While the ability of US presidents to influence job growth, inflation, and GDP is vastly overrated, Joe Biden is one president who can rightfully claim some credit for an improved economy. His administration has actively intervened in economic crises, invested heavily in the economy, and inserted itself into labor disputes.

          Late last week and over the weekend, Biden—and the American people—received terrific news about the growth of the economy and the settlement of a UAW strike against a manufacturer and two suppliers. Jennifer Rubin wrote about the UAW strike settlement in her WaPo op-ed, Opinion | Labor wins bolster Biden’s strategy. (Accessible to all.)

          Rubin writes:

Only a few weeks ago, Republicans, pro-business groups and some pundits chided the United Auto Workers for being greedy in their contract demands. They criticized President Biden for walking a picket line with workers. However, with the announcement on Wednesday of a tentative agreement on a generous new contract between Ford and the UAW (followed by word that the UAW was closing in on deals with two other companies), the union’s leadership will reap credit for aggressive bargaining and targeting excessive CEO salaries. Biden will get kudos for helping working Americans maximize earnings.

Given Biden’s emphasis on building the economy from the “bottom up and the middle out,” these deals signal some success in addressing the enormous disparity between the salaries of CEOs and ordinary workers. Moreover, Biden’s assertion that he is the most pro-union president in history allows him to claim a measure of credit for substantial increases in workers’ take-home pay. In short, these big union wins bolster the perception that “Bidenomics” is delivering as promised.

          Biden took a risk by “going all in” with the UAW—a political risk that paid off for UAW workers—and all workers in general by highlighting the disparity between pay for CEOs and line workers.

          And more good news arrived last week. Although Jennifer Rubin also covers the administration’s announcement regarding GDP growth, I include below a description of that good news from Indivisible Santa Barbara’s weekly newsletter. (You can subscribe here.) The newsletter covers several important topics (hence, the title to this week’s newsletter: To h*ll with thoughts and prayers!), but I recommend the section of the newsletter that addresses the frustrating disconnect between the strong economic performance under Biden and public opinion about the economy. Most importantly, Santa Barbara Indivisible suggests an action step you can take to help close that perception gap:

The U.S. economy continues to look remarkably good under the current administration. A recent jobs report shows that the economy continues to add jobs at record rates, more than 13.9 million since President Joe Biden took office. This week we received the stunning news of economic growth at an annual pace of 4.9% in the third quarter of this year, putting the U.S. at the forefront of the world economy. In addition, inflation is back down to 2.4% (close to the Fed’s target of 2%). And yet poll after poll indicates that Americans continue to believe that the economy is poor and many believe it was better under Trump, despite all evidence to the contrary.  This stark contrast between perceptions and reality behooves all of us to use our social media and contacts with friends and neighbors to spread good news about the economic accomplishments of the Biden administration.

Take action: Learn about REACH, the Democrats’ new training program for “relational organizing” through communications with family and friends.

          The REACH event mentioned at the end of the newsletter refers to a “sharebank” organizing program “built around a simple principle: that our supporters are the best advocates with the closest people in their lives.” Help spread the word about Joe Biden’s tremendous successes to your family and friends! Check out the REACH sharebanks!

Judge Chutkan re-imposes gag order on Trump.

          Late Sunday evening, Judge Chutkan denied Trump's motion to stay the gag order she imposed that prohibited him from “targeting” witnesses in social media posts. The order is here: United States v. Trump. In reimposing the gag order, Judge Chutkan pointed to posts that Trump made during the very brief period when the judge stayed her own order so Trump could appeal. For example, she cited (in full) Trump's post attacking Mark Meadows after ABC News revealed that he had been granted limited immunity by special counsel Jack Smith.

          In a key line, Judge Chutkan ruled that the right to a fair trial was more important than the limited restrictions on Trump's free speech rights:

To the contrary, “[f]ew, if any, interests under the Constitution are more fundamental than the right to a fair trial by impartial jurors, and an outcome affected by extrajudicial statements would violate that fundamental right.” As discussed above, in the Order, and during the motion hearing, the court finds that the public interest in the orderly administration of this case requires the Order’s limitations on such statements.

          Judge Chutkan did not rule on Jack Smith’s request to modify Trump's conditions of release to make clear that he can be “detained” if he violates the gag order. That modification may be coming later this week.

Concluding Thoughts.

          I continue to hear from readers about this extraordinary moment. Communications have become fraught with opportunity to offend, misunderstand, or provoke. During this difficult time, I urge everyone to be both restrained and expansive in their communications: Restrained in insisting that our point of view be victorious and expansive in attempting to understand what fears, anxieties, and frustrations are animating the person with whom you are communicating.

          The above advice does not mean that every opinion must be heard, tolerated, or granted the presumption of good faith. An important skill in communicating is knowing when not to. Some conversations will be counterproductive and hurtful—and usually come with red flags that can be seen from a distance. Avoid compounding the pain of this moment by walking away from confrontations that will serve only to increase your agitation or anger while resolving nothing.

          Political action is different. Joe Biden and our congressional representatives are making important policy decisions on our behalf. If you disagree with those decisions, make your voice heard. Strive to be effective by focusing on substance and solutions. Expressing strongly held beliefs and emotions has a place in communicating with our elected officials, but not to the point that we dilute the import of our message.

          That’s the best I can do late on a Sunday night. I am struggling to find the right way to communicate with readers who disagree with my observations. I assume you are, too. I am going to try to follow my own advice. I will let you know how it goes.

          Talk to you tomorrow!