Today’s Edition: Biden’s brag sheet.

December 22, 2021

[The audio version of the newsletter is here. Anyone with a computer or phone can listen by clicking the link.]

          In the Concluding Thoughts to yesterday’s newsletter, I wrote that “Biden has accomplished more in the first eleven months of his presidency than Trump accomplished in four years.” In the Comments section to the newsletter, a reader (Len Lubinsky) corrected my comparison to Trump. Len wrote:

          “I would rather not make comparisons to Trump's presidency, which was largely destructive. Biden has accomplished the following: (1) He has restored integrity to the United States government; (2) he is succeeding against the pandemic—except for those who, under a malign influence, have refused vaccination; (3) he has removed our troops from Afghanistan; (4) he has passed a bill to fix roads, bridges, power, the internet; and (5) he has introduced a plan to slow climate change and to improve the lives of children and families—a plan on which he and the rest of the Democrats can campaign on for the 2022 election.”

          I wish I had written that, but I am happy that Len did—so I could share it with you. Comparing Biden to Trump is a cheap and easy way to defend Biden. The better approach is to list what Biden has accomplished and let those accomplishments speak for themselves. The ubiquitous criticism of Biden has forced his defenders—like me—into a defensive mode. We should not fall into that trap. Biden has much to be proud of on a freestanding basis. He (and we) should stop being defensive and start bragging about Biden’s accomplishments—just like Republicans do for achievements that are far more modest. If we want Biden to succeed, he needs messengers who will change the focus from the blood sport of partisan politics to accomplishments that improve the lives of all Americans. We are Biden’s messengers, and we must promote his accomplishments every chance we get.

          On Tuesday, the administration released a list of “first year accomplishments” to media outlets—a “brag sheet” of sorts. A copy of that brag sheet is embedded in this story in Axios: “Biden's Year 1 accomplishments outlined in new memo.” Take a look at the memo and be a messenger for Biden!

Biden’s press conference regarding Omicron response

          President Biden held a press conference on Tuesday to address the surge in coronavirus infections from the Omicron variant. He rejected lockdowns and school closures, saying “This is not March of 2020. Two hundred million people are fully vaccinated. We’re prepared. We know more.” Biden also issued a stark warning to unvaccinated Americans, saying that they were putting themselves and others at risk, and that they had a “patriotic duty” to get vaccinated.  He also promised to “expand coronavirus testing sites across the country, distribute a half-billion free at-home tests and deploy more federal health resources to aid strained hospitals.

          Biden’s speech was good. He projected confidence along with concern, urging preparedness but not panic. Most importantly, he told right wing media outlets to stop killing their viewers by peddling misinformation. In exceptionally direct language, he said,

          The unvaccinated are responsible for their own choices, but those choices have been fueled by dangerous misinformation on cable TV and social media. You know, these companies and personalities are making money by peddling lies and allowing misinformation that can kill their own customers and their own supporters. It’s wrong, it’s immoral. I call on the purveyors of these lies and misinformation to stop it. Stop it now.

          Video of President Biden’s above remarks is embedded in this article: Huffington Post, “'Stop It Now': Biden Rebukes Cable News, Social Media For COVID Vaccine Lies.”

          The Omicron variant will challenge us, but we should be thankful that we have a president who is doing everything in his power to protect us—including using the power of the “bully pulpit” for good, not evil.

Another federal judge rules that felony charge of “obstruction of official proceeding” is constitutional.

          For the third time, a federal district judge has upheld the constitutionality of a felony charge for “obstructing an official proceeding” in a case arising from the January 6th insurrection. See WaPo, “Lead Capitol riot charge is constitutional, judges find.” The ruling is significant for two reasons. First, it heightens the criminal exposure of insurrectionists from one year in prison to twenty years. That penalty should cause some wannabe insurrectionists to reflect on their future plans to disrupt Congress or the 2022 / 2024 elections. Second, the judge’s ruling could easily apply to Trump for “aiding and abetting” their behavior. Judge Mehta wrote,

          Their alleged actions were no mere political protest. They stand accused of combining, among themselves and with others, to force their way into the Capitol building, past security barricades and law enforcement, to ‘Stop, delay, and hinder the Certification of the Electoral College vote.’

          GOP Rep. Liz Cheney has already suggested that Trump could be charged with obstructing an official proceeding. If that news isn’t making Trump sweat, then a report on Tuesday should increase Trump’s anxiety. The House Select Committee is considering a referral to the DOJ to indict Trump on wire fraud for raising money by claiming the results of the 2020 election were fraudulent. The House Select Committee may rouse Merrick Garland from his slumber and force him to consider whether Trump should be indicted for aiding and abetting the Capitol insurrection. Good!

Joe Manchin hears from his constituents and is shocked to learn they are unhappy with him.

          Senator Manchin’s unctuous statement explaining his “No” vote on the Build Back Better legislation said, “If I can’t go back home and explain it, I can’t vote for it.” Apparently, Manchin skipped the part of the process where he asked “people back home” what they thought of the Build Back Better bill before he killed it. When his constituents learned that Manchin had deprived them of sorely needed federal benefits, they were not happy. One of his most powerful supporters, United Mine Workers of America, asked him to rescind his “No” vote and support Build Back Better. HuffPo, “Coal Miners Union To Joe Manchin: Support Build Back Better.”

          The rebuke from the United Mine Workers was only part of the blowback on Senator Manchin. For the first time, his colleagues in Congress and the White House used blunt language that made clear they believe Manchin is a liar who cannot not be trusted. While those broadside attacks caused some Democrats to worry that Manchin would bolt the party, the criticism has apparently forced him back to the bargaining table. See Talking Points Memo, “Biden Says He And Manchin ‘Are Going To Get Something Done’.” According to Laurence O’Donnell’s reporting, Democrats have told Manchin that he will have to mark up the bill and tell them specifically what he will agree to before they will engage in further discussions with him.

          The most offensive part of Manchin’s opposition to the bill is his implication that poor people must “make some effort” to show that they are worthy of receiving the Child Tax Credit. A reader posted a Comment in response to yesterday’s newsletter that referred to RattleTheWindows, an organization based in West Virginia that is dedicated to freeing people from the cycle of poverty. Rattle the Windows emerged from the remarkable testimony of Amy Jo Hutchison before the House Oversight Committee about what poverty looked like in West Virginia, Manchin’s home state.

          In order to understand the cruelty of Manchin’s efforts to kill the Child Tax Credit, I urge you to watch Amy Jo Hutchinson’s testimony before Congress. A video of her testimony is on the RattleTheWindows homepage. I promise you that watching her testimony will change your views about many things, including why passing Build Back Better is a moral imperative.

         I post lots of links in my newsletters mainly to fact-check myself, but also because I hope that the information in the links is useful to readers. On any given day, about 5% of you click on a link, which is fine by me. But on this occasion, as a personal favor to me, I urge you to listen to the five-minutes of testimony from Amy Jo Hutchison at  RattleTheWindows. Her testimony humanizes the legislation more vividly than anything I (or anyone else) can say about it. And you will shake your head in disbelief that Manchin could turn his back on the 16% of West Virginians who live in poverty.

Concluding Thoughts.

          Readers frequently bemoan the fact that members of Trump’s base seem maniacal in their efforts to undermine democracy. Readers believe that the intensity of the right-wing efforts is a sign that we are losing and that we cannot win. That is exactly the opposite conclusion we should draw from their anger and obsession. They act the way they do because they know that the tide of history is against them. They sense the ground shifting beneath their feet and intuit that life will never be the same for them. These sentiments are expressed powerfully and beautifully by Rebecca Solnit in her op-ed in The Guardian, “Why are US rightwingers so angry? Because they know social change is coming.” Solnit writes, in part,

          In 2018, halfway through the Trump presidency, Michelle Alexander wrote a powerful essay arguing that we are not the resistance. We, she declared, are the mighty river they are trying to dam. I see it flowing, and I see the tributaries that pour into it and swell its power, and I see that once firmly grounded statues and assumptions have become flotsam in its current.

          While the right has become far more extreme and has its tens of millions of true believers, it is morphing into a minority sect. This has prompted their desperate scramble to overturn free and fair elections and other democratic processes.

          The right is trying to push the water back behind the dam. . . . They can win the battles, but I do not believe they will, in the end, win the war.

          Well said! The fanaticism of the right is a sign of weakness, not strength. Our calling is to endure, to outlast them until we achieve final victory—which is only a matter of time!

          Talk to you tomorrow!