Biden’s bold move on gun safety

April 12, 2024

Commenting on the news over the next six weeks will be difficult. The celebrification of the news that began with the criminal trial of OJ Simpson changed American media forever—for the worse. The upcoming trial of the former president for lying to the American people about who he is and what he did likely changed the course of the 2016 election. (He did so by filing false financial reports and disguising the true nature of payments to his attorney—crimes under New York law.)

Holding him accountable for those crimes is important and urgent. The upcoming trial is highly relevant to the 2024 presidential election and deserves to be covered in a responsible and measured manner. But his financial crimes to conceal his extramarital affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels should not eclipse other issues that are dispositive of the choice between Joe Biden and his predecessor.

Readers frequently advise me not to write about the former president and urge me to minimize coverage of his actions. That editorial advice reflects one reasonable judgment about how to cover an existential threat to democracy. Failing to discuss the avatar of that threat is not a choice I agree with—because much of the media and tens of millions of Americans seem to be sleepwalking into an autocratic regime that will stress our Constitution as never before.

I believe that describing the scale and scope of the threat presented by the former president is warranted—indeed, I believe it is the most underreported story in America. If I can help correct the imbalance in media coverage and raise the alarm to the appropriate level, every ounce of effort I put into this newsletter will be justified. Indeed, it is a sacred duty I am honored to discharge.

But . . . for Democrats to stop the threat posed by the former president, we must also amplify the alternative vision of America personified by Joe Biden. Every day, President Biden takes action to make the lives of Americans better, healthier, safer, and more dignified.

My plan during the upcoming trial is to lead each newsletter with coverage of the good work of Joe Biden and Democrats across the nation—to the extent reasonably possible. If Judge Merchan jails the former president for disrupting the trial proceedings, it will be difficult not to comment on that development first.

Indeed, I have endeavored over the last several weeks to lead with news about President Biden even on days of significant developments relating to the former president. Those editions of the newsletter have received generally lower “pass-along” circulation. That is not a complaint, merely an observation. It suggests that editions of the newsletter that raise the alarm or give voice to readers' anger and fear serve a purpose—hopefully, one that is cathartic, empowering, and confidence-inspiring.

With that throat-clearing out of the way, let’s look at the significant developments on Thursday.

President Biden closes “gun show” loophole for sale of firearms without background check

The DOJ released final rules that will close the “gun show loophole” for background checks. Under the loophole, sellers who claim that their main source of income is not gun sales are exempt from background checks that apply to licensed gun sellers. As a practical matter, the loophole allowed sellers who sold guns at trade shows, on the internet, and out of car trunks to avoid conducting background checks.

The DOJ issued final rules under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was signed into law by President Biden in June 2022. See WaPo, Justice Department finalizes rules to close ‘gun show loophole’ (Accessible to all.)

Per WaPo,

The rules require anyone who sells a firearm through mail order or at flea markets, gun shows or online to register for a license and conduct the necessary background checks. [¶¶]

It is difficult to determine how many unlicensed dealers are selling firearms, but officials said they expect the new rules to apply to about 23,000 dealers. They said about 22 percent of Americans have obtained their guns without a background check — a figure that includes private transfers of ownership.

Vice President Kamala Harris announced the new rules, saying,

Every person in our nation has a right to live free from the horror of gun violence. I do believe that. We know how to prevent these tragedies, and it is a false choice to say you are either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away.

The new regulations are the most significant development in gun safety in decades—which means that Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis will introduce a motion in the Senate to kill the rules. (A joint resolution of disapproval requires a majority in both chambers of Congress to pass, but can be vetoed by the President.)

While we await a majority in Congress able to pass a ban on weapons of war, closing the gun show loophole is a major step forward. Another promise kept by President Biden.

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Speaker Mike Johnson calls White House lifeline in Ukraine negotiations

It is clear that Speaker Mike Johnson cannot deliver a supplemental aid bill for Ukraine without help from Democrats. While he could negotiate with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, he has reached out to the White House—i.e., President Biden—to work out a deal to pass the aid package. See Huffington Post, House Speaker Mike Johnson Is Negotiating With White House To Advance Ukraine Aid.

Speaker Johnson, like his predecessor Kevin McCarthy, realizes that he will need the heft of the President to complete a deal in the near term. According to HuffPo,

Johnson has been in conversations with the White House about legislation that would structure some of the funding for Kyiv as loans, pave the way for the U.S. to tap frozen Russian central bank assets and include other policy changes.

Structuring some of the aid as loans is a demand made by Trump that would allow the former president to take credit for “saving” money for the US while supporting Ukraine. Agreeing to that poison pill will be difficult—but the alternative is worse: Russian victory in Ukraine.

However, it remains unclear whether Mike Johnson could survive as Speaker if he supports any aid bill. He is stuck between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Trump, both of whom oppose aid to Ukraine as part of the unholy allegiance to Putin. Greene continues to threaten to call for a vote on her motion to vacate the chair if Johnson advances an aid bill for Ukraine. Johnson will visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, where Trump will tell Johnson what authority, if any, he has to negotiate a deal with Biden.

Whatever happens, it is clear that Republican leadership in Congress views President Biden as a respected and trustworthy negotiator. Let’s see what happens on Friday at Mar-a-Lago. The fate of Ukraine may hang in the balance.

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Both-siderism reaches new heights at NYTimes

We stand at a stark divide in the fight to protect the reproductive liberty of women. One candidate, Joe Biden, promises to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade if he is given a majority in both chambers of Congress. The other, Donald Trump, is okay with a total ban on abortion and jailing doctors as long as gerrymandered state legislators pass a law banning abortion. The positions of the candidates could not be more different.

So, imagine the surprise of receiving a newsletter from the NYTimes by Jess Bidgood with the headline, “Two Imperfect Messengers Take On Abortion.” (This article is accessible to all.)

The headline—and the article—create a false equivalency between President Biden and Donald Trump that does not exist. It is true that Joe Biden—a devout Catholic—has struggled with abortion as a matter of personal conscience throughout his fifty-year political career.

Biden indeed struggles to use the term “abortion” in his speeches—a sign of his sincerely held religious beliefs, not a sign of hesitancy in supporting the constitutional rights recognized in Roe v. Wade. At every opportunity, Biden promises to reestablish Roe v. Wade.

Over the last 25 years, Biden has been a staunch and vocal supporter of reproductive liberty for women despite his genuinely held religious views. That, in Bidgood’s opinion, makes Joe Biden an “imperfect messenger” on equal footing with the candidate who brags about killing the constitutional right to right to reproductive liberty and openly supports total bans on abortion.

Bidgood’s article is irresponsible journalism because in striving for balance, she distorts reality and does violence to the facts. Donald Trump is a menace to women’s rights, while Joe Biden is a champion for women in all things—including their right to reproductive liberty. Bidgood’s article is misleading in suggesting otherwise.

Read Bidgood’s entire article (linked above). If (after doing so) you want to share your thoughts with her, you can reach her at onpolitics@nytimes.com.

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“Going for broke” on the Big Lie

It is illegal for non-US citizens to vote for federal officeholders. See 18 USC 611: Voting by aliens. But that isn’t going to stop Speaker Mike Johnson and Trump from proposing new federal legislation to make it illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections. See CNN, Trump and Johnson Trump build alliance on the falsehood of the stolen election.

Trump and Johnson are styling their bill as an “election integrity” effort—the ultimate in hypocrisy from two men who attempted to overturn the 2020 election through a coup and insurrection.

Some municipalities and school boards indeed allow non-citizens to vote. But there is no evidence of widespread voting by (or registration of) non-citizens in federal or state elections. Per the CNN article above, the state of Georgia surveyed two decades of voter registrations to determine if non-citizens voted. CNN writes,

The state of Georgia, with nearly 8 million registered voters conducted a statewide audit and found that 1,634 potential non-citizens had tried to register to vote between 1997 and early 2022 but none were successful.

And yet, we should expect gullible journalists and willing headline writers at major media outlets to report on the sham bill as if it is addressing a real problem in America’s elections—instead of reporting on the bill as an effort to promote the Big Lie. When media outlets and journalists promote the misinformation served on platter by Trump and Johnson, we must be ready to call them out, by name, with receipts.

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Trump's New York criminal trial for election interference / hush money payments

It starts on Monday with jury selection.

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Concluding Thoughts

The disinformation spigots opened full bore over the last week. Republicans understand they face landslide losses on the abortion issue and are beginning to describe themselves as the “pro-choice” party—because they want to “leave the issue up to the states.” Similar disinformation initiatives have been unleashed (or are ongoing) regarding Ukraine, FISA, the southern border, and “election integrity.”

What can we do to help fight the wave of disinformation?

We should continue to do exactly what we are doing: registering new voters and encouraging existing voters to show up at the polls. Efforts to “enlighten” or “educate” voters stuck in the Fox News ecosphere are admirable and sometimes successful after a lengthy and emotionally draining effort. But there are tens of millions of Democrats and persuadable independents and Republicans sitting on the sidelines who just need a “nudge” to vote for Democrats in 2024.

Grassroots volunteers are rightly focusing their efforts on registration, getting out the vote, and collaborative fundraising. Those are the right actions for grassroots volunteers, who have a disproportionate impact in close elections.

So, rather than fret or despair, redouble your existing efforts. You never know which “contact” with a voter may make the difference between victory and defeat. Keep up the hard work and ignore the noise to the extent possible. I will try to do the same in the newsletter in the coming weeks.

Stay strong and keep the faith!

Talk to you tomorrow!