Biden’s steady hand, Part II
April 15, 2024
The anticipated crisis in the Middle East materialized over the weekend. The initial assessment is that a dangerous moment was defused and blunted by President Biden’s skillful management of a volatile situation. The crisis may have passed but the enduring conflict remains. Biden is using public statements and private pressure to urge restraint on all sides. There is much work to be done, but Biden’s steady hand navigated the world through another precarious moment.
The expected attack consisted of a barrage of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones (300 in total) fired from Iran and surrogates in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen—99% of which were intercepted and destroyed before they reached their targets in Israel. See NYTimes, U.S. details Pentagon’s role in defending Israel from Iranian attack. (Article accessible to all).
The US Central Command reportedly shot down 70 drones and up to 6 ballistic missiles. The counter-offensive included the UK and (surprisingly) Jordan and Saudi Arabia. (It is not clear whether the latter two countries were defending Israel or protecting their own airspace.)
The effectiveness of the coordinated defense is due in part to Biden’s decision to share intelligence freely in advance of the attack—a tactic used in advance of Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The tactic allowed Israel’s allies and regional neighbors to prepare for the Iranian assault. Iran, too, seemed to telegraph its actions to allow a robust defense—a signal that it may not be seeking a full-scale regional war.
It should not be overlooked that the US rose to defend Israel directly by intervening in a conflict with Iran—an extraordinary show of support at a time of strained relations between Biden and Netanyahu over the conduct of the war against Hamas.
In the aftermath of the attack, the Israeli war cabinet met to consider its response, saying that it will respond at a time and place of its choosing. That response came as Biden privately urged Netanyahu to respond in a way that would deescalate the conflict—and the US would not participate in a counterattack. See Axios, Biden told Netanyahu U.S. won't support an Israeli counterattack on Iran.
Whether the temporary stand-off will hold is uncertain but the fact that the parties have paused for a moment is both extraordinary and hopeful. Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo calls that achievement a “tour de force” by Biden. See TPM, Call It What It is.
Per Marshall,
Things can change in a moment. But the clearest sign out of Israel this morning is Benny Gantz statement that Israel will respond to Iran at a time of its own choosing. That’s a pretty clear signal there is not going to be immediate retaliation and that’s what the White House wanted and demanded.
Iran launched a massive aerial bombardment and virtually none of it got through. And now the U.S. has managed to get Israel not to launch an immediate and inevitably escalatory retaliation.
[A]anyone who knows anything about foreign or defense policy knows . . . all the endless number of things that can wrong and the one or two ways they can go right.
Navigating the last week to this point today is a tour de force of international crisis management for the Biden White House.
Biden does not deserve all the credit; the situation was managed by cool heads making sober calculations in a dozen countries in an uneasy coalition of expedience. However, the fact that Biden was able to work within that fluid framework is a sign that he has earned the trust of foreign leaders —which is the currency of international diplomacy in moments of crisis.
We need not speculate whether Donald Trump would have handled the situation with similar skill and restraint. Hours after the attack, Trump re-posted a tweet he first sent in 2018 while president (all caps in the original):
NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!
Although the right-wing media claimed that Iran would not have attacked Israel if Trump was president, history suggests otherwise. While Trump was president, Iran attacked and killed/injured US military personnel on two separate occasions. And for all of Trump's bellicose rants, he famously called off a US retaliatory strike only minutes before US fighter jets were scheduled to attack an Iranian base.
Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger noted Trump's revisionist history, writing,
Iran struck and injured 100 Americans in Iraq and Trump responded with nothing but fear. He's a small man.
The world is a dangerous place, and the US needs steady leadership. Biden has demonstrated again that he is the only candidate up to the task, while the other has once again illustrated that he is a danger to US national security and world peace.
The major media continues to normalize Trump
At a moment of extraordinary crisis for our nation, the media continues to give Donald Trump a free pass. At a campaign event in Pennsylvania over the weekend, Trump descended into incomprehensible gibberish and exhibited a shocking ignorance of the nation-defining battle at Gettysburg. Trump described the turning point in the Civil War that resulted in more than 50,000 casualties as follows:
Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was. It was so much, and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways—it represented such a big portion of the success of this country. . . . Gettysburg, wow—I go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to look and to watch.
Trump has no idea what happened at Gettysburg or why it mattered. He either never knew or has forgotten. Either way, it is a shocking profession of ignorance by a former president who seeks the presidency again.
In the main, major media ignored the debacle. However, a few outlets have noted the spectacular melt-down: See Newsweek, Donald Trump's Rambling Rally Speech Raises Questions.
After featuring Biden’s alleged deterioration for the last six months, the failure of the major media to report on Trump's obvious mental deterioration is irresponsible. Instead of reporting accurately on a shocking display of ignorance and mental deterioration, the New York Times picked this moment to lead with the headline, Four Years Out, Some Voters Look Back at Trump’s Presidency More Positively.
But the Times is not the only major media outlet seeking to normalize Trump. A group of outlets have issued a joint statement calling for televised presidential debates. The outlets include ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC Fox News, AP, C-SPAN, NewsNation, NPR, PBS NewsHour, USA Today and Noticias Univision.
The joint invitation reads as follows:
General election debates have a rich tradition in our American democracy. There is simply no substitute for the candidates debating with each other, and before the American people, their visions for the future of our nation.
The naïve statement above fails to acknowledge the threat to democracy posed by Trump. While the above statement is true, the organizations could have—and should have—written the following:
American democracy has a rich tradition of the peaceful transfer of power. Donald Trump is the only president ever to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, attempt a coup, and incite an insurrection. He has stated he wants to be a dictator on the first day of his presidency and wants to “terminate” the Constitution. Accordingly, we will not broadcast a debate that will give a platform to an insurrectionist who will not promise to abide by the results of the 2024 election. While we regret this decision, to do otherwise would legitimize a candidate who seeks to destroy the Constitution rather than uphold it.
Until the news organizations get over their own sense of self-importance and realize that this election is not about them, they will continue to undersell the threat that is Donald Trump. Shame on them! It is our duty to urge them to recognize this is an extraordinary moment in which the maximization of profit cannot be their guiding light.
To learn about one way you can help hold news media accountable, read on!
Opportunity for reader engagement
Given increasing reader concern about the failure of the media to report accurately, fairly, and urgently on the threats to American democracy, I want to recommend that readers check out Media and Democracy Project. The Media and Democracy Project describes itself a non-partisan, grassroots, civic organization engaging in actions in support of more informative, diverse, independent and pro-democracy media operating in the public interest.
The project has developed guidelines that urge media outlets to adopt a “pro-democracy” viewpoint heading into the 2024 elections. The Media and Democracy Project is urging news organizations to follow a detailed set of guidelines summarized under three rubrics:
Cover elections like they matter more than sports scores (stop the “horse race” analysis).
Make threats to democracy clear
Protect Americans from disinformation
You can help by (1) signing Media and Democracy Project’s open letter to news organizations demanding that they adhere to the above guidelines, (2) using the guidelines when writing to news organizations about their coverage of the 2024 election; (3) following the Media and Democracy Project blog on Substack; and (4) joining their next monthly meeting.
Concluding Thoughts
We will make it through this difficult period. When we do, it will be because people like you cared enough to step outside their comfort zones to respond to our nation’s cry for help during a time of distress. We should do the right thing because it is right—not because we hope for thanks, gratitude, or recognition for our efforts. In the best outcome possible, the people who enjoy the fruits of our labor will think, “Of course they stepped up to the challenge; that is what Americans do in times of crisis.”
But in this moment, we should not take for granted our decision to defend democracy. It is a courageous and selfless decision that most Americans are failing to make—either because of indifference or malice. Every day, we see Americans abandon the rule of law to join the depraved MAGA extremists surrounding Trump. We have become numbed to their disloyalty to the Constitution and the perversity of their actions.
George Stephanopoulos gave us a bracing reminder of how corrupt and contemptible Trump's sycophants are. In his interview with Governor Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, Stephanopoulos had the following exchange with Sununu:
Stephanopoulos: Just to sum up. You support Trump for president even if he's convicted in the classified documents case. You support him for president even though you believe he contributed to an insurrection. You support him for president even though you believe he's lying about the last election. You support him for president even if he's convicted in the Manhattan case. I just want to say, the answer to that is yes, correct?
Sununu: Yeah. Me and 51 percent of America.
That exchange will be Sununu’s epitaph. It will define him as a person who was feckless and indifferent to the point of treason. At a time when democracy was threatened, he could not be bothered to stand on principle. There are many words to describe Sununu’s response. I will let you fill in the blanks in the Comment section or a reply email to me.
There will be an accounting when this difficult period in our history is behind us. Those who rose to defend democracy will be taken for granted and forgotten. But those who abandoned it will have a special place in our national memory. Indeed, Chris Sununu has become—for all times—the face of capitulation to fascism. Nothing else he does or says will erase that moment—or the stupid smirk of self-recognition as he realizes that he just admitted to America who he really is. See video here: Stephanopoulos and Sununu exchange.
Yes, there will be an accounting for our actions—even if it takes place only in our mirror each morning as we stare at ourselves and ask, “Did I do enough when my nation needed me?”
For all of us, the answer must be a resounding “Yes,”—because we must fill the breach left by cowards and ingrates like Chris Sununu. But it has always been so in every moment of peril for our nation. Let’s not bemoan our fate but gladly accept the duty of preserving democracy for the next generation!
Talk to you tomorrow!
I have never attended a Trump rally, but I feel like I've had an experience that has some similarity. Not long before John Lee Hooker, the blues guitarist, died, friends invited me to a performance of his. It was obvious to me, as an internal medicine physician, that he had neurological deficits with both physical and cognitive deficits. His son led him out by the arm and he was unsteady. His speech was unclear. He was repeating the same lyrics over and over. He really didn't play the guitar except to aimlessly strum - there was none of the exceptional dexterity for which he was so well-known. The backing band totally carried him. This had no resemblance to the John Lee Hooker of old. Yet the audience responded to this sad display of difficulty as if it was unchanged from the John Lee Hooker they knew. I was shocked, since the difference was so painfully obvious. I therefore now have no difficulty accepting that Trump's crowd may well totally ignore whatever difficulties Trump exhibits with his speech, thought pattern, vocabulary, tangential thinking, non sequiturs, whatever, changes that are obvious to any but members of the cult-like following.
Robert's take on how the media is normalizing Trump is spot-on. The Washington Post is outdoing Trump in casting doubt on its integrity. The paper is featuring Trump press person Kellyanne Conway, the woman who invented “alternative facts,” in a Virtual Program event on April 24. This is the women who lied, misinformed, and lied some more when she worked for the previous president. The WaPo is normalizing and legitimizing her abhorrent behavior while she was representing American policy and programs to America and the world.
The Washington Post led the way to uncover the crimes and immorality of the Nixon administration, but that seems so old-fashioned these days. Apparently the paper believes Conway is worth our attention now. She frequently attacked the WaPo and other respectable news media, so the paper appears to be endorsing someone who forcefully denigrated a free and fair press.
I’m beyond disgusted with what appears to be this shameless pandering to Trump world (or the WaPo owners and shareholders). I encourage subscribers to tell the WaPo what you think of this! Email the Opinions editor at David.Shipley@washpost.com. Send your LTE to letters@washpost.com.