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Biden’s speech crossed dangerous lines

Biden’s speech crossed dangerous lines

President Biden had one of the most outrageous and dangerous speeches of any President in my memory.  It was eerily reminiscent of Hitler riling up the masses against the Jews as enemies of the state – very belligerent and authoritarian in image and words.  (I understand making analogies to Hitler violates the Godwin Rule, but the analogy is defensible in this case.)

The White House billed it as an “address to the nation” – and emphatically insisted that it was not a political or campaign speech.  That was a lie.  It was a highly partisan political speech drafted and presented to turn half of America against the other half in order to influence the 2022 midterm elections.  If that were not the case, he would not have ended with “vote …vote … vote” after a full-blown mendacious attack on the entire Republican Party – from its leaders to its voters.

The second lie is that his provocative and venomous words were only meant for former President Trump (who is not on the ballot) and those Democrat strategists define as the MAGA people.  I am not a MAGA person even by Biden’s definition, but it was clear he had folks like me in his broad-brush smear – accusing all who identify as Republicans on working to violently overthrow the American Republic in favor of a Trump-led dictatorship.  Utter nonsense. It is soooo outrageous that I find it impossible to comprehend how any intelligent and fair-minded person could believe it.

Democrats and their media flunkies pump up this propaganda on a 24/7 news cycle.  So, it comes as no surprise that the most radical elements of the media are praising this speech as if it was in the same league as Washington’s farewell speech or Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (or even the Gettysburg Address).  You got my comparative impression in the first paragraph of this commentary.

I am not sure what Biden’s handlers were thinking in arranging the setting for his speech.  He stood in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia as it was flood-lighted in red and blue (very little noticeable white). For the television audience, Biden’s background was all red with dark shadows.  (Honestly, it looked to me like a movie set in which the devil was emerging from the gates of Hell.)

In the background were the obligatory flags – but this time with military guards as the props.  It is no wonder that folks on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” described it as a “wartime speech.”  It was indeed.  Biden was declaring war on millions of Americans.

I was also struck by the absence of Vice President Harris in the background – Biden’s prop-of-choice.  Instead, he walked onto the stage holding hand with First Lady Jill.  Considering the nature of the speech, It smacked of a Juan and Evita Peron entrance.

Biden’s enemies of the state are the “MAGA people”.  In Biden’s (and the Democrats’) personal political dictionary, MAGA Republicans are mindless and evil — and who belong to a political cult-of-personality.  They are folks armed and ready to rise in violence all across the nation in a civil war.  

Biden employs ruthless fearmongering to claim that the entire future of the American Republic depends on defeating the MAGA forces (Republicans) by winning any office anywhere at any time in the foreseeable future.  He did not say that in so many words, but the implications were clear.  The only way to save the Republic in these perilous times – by the left’s description – is to elect only Democrats.  (I hope you did not miss the irony of the Democrats’ claim that the only way to save the Republic is if you give them one-party autocratic rule.)

Biden claimed – and the White House reiterated – that his highly condemnatory remarks were only directed at Trump (who he actually named this time) and those he defined as “Maga Republicans.”  That is another boldfaced lie.  By association and implication, Biden clearly spread his political smears over the entire GOP. After condemning those he called MAGA Republicans, he said that THEY dominate and control the entire GOP.  That is the broad-brush of slander.

And if Biden was too subtle, his political colleagues and media sycophants made his intentions very clear.  While they all sang from the same song sheet, one in the choirs stood out.  He was Joe Scarborough’s favorite branding expert, Donny Deutsch.

According to Deutsch, Biden had finally embraced the right theme … the right tone … the right strategy.  Smear and malign the entire GOP – or as he said, brand Republicans as insurrectionists and a danger to the state – every one of them.  Republicans are evil … crazy … dangerous.  All of them.  He says Democrats need to scare the voters.  Exactly what Biden’s speech was all about.

Deutsch credited Biden for saying that he is not talking about every Republican as a ploy.  He called Biden “clever” on that point.  He knows Biden did not mean the exception.  In the Democrat playbook, there are no exceptions.

Also, on “Morning Joe” was Washington Post writer and MSNBC stooge Eugene Robinson.  He was quick to repeat his opinion that the Republican Party must be “crushed” – a word he has used frequently.  That is how autocrats talk about opposition.

I know a lot of people who believe that the 2020 election was stolen away from Trump.  None of them are insurrectionists.  None of them believe in violence.  None of them are likely to even attend a protest if Trump were indicted.  

They are good patriotic citizens who have an opinion – right or wrong.  And their opinion is of little consequence outside of barroom discussions since the 2020 election is over and Biden is the President.   But the left – and Biden – attacks them for having an opinion.  If you even believe that the election was rigged, you are automatically a dangerous and violent insurrectionist who will take up arms.  That is a huge misrepresentation of reality – and a huge lie.

A serious debate on the issue of the Republican Party would reveal some objective realities. It is not a party of insurrection or violence.  It is not a threat to the Republic – and in fact, the Republic and American democracy, itself, have not been threatened by the Republican Party.  The Capitol Hill riot was bad, but it never posed a threat to the Republic. The political tremors of that day never reached the pillars or foundation of the Republic.  Other than a short delay in the certification, the Republic was undamaged.  And it stands as solid today as it has for 233 years.

If there are a small number of nutcases on the right-wing fringe, that is a reality of politics – just as there are a small number of nutcases on the left-wing fringe.  But I sincerely doubt that there will be any widespread violence if Trump gets indicted.  And there certainly will be no civil war.  

Biden’s speech was a great disservice to national unity and to civil discourse.  It was a product of a desperate effort to cling to – and expand – political power.  It was autocratic propaganda of the worst kind … unpresidential … and un-American … period.

So, there ‘tis.

About The Author

Larry Horist

So, there ‘tis… The opinions, perspectives and analyses of businessman, conservative writer and political strategist Larry Horist. Larry has an extensive background in economics and public policy. For more than 40 years, he ran his own Chicago based consulting firm. His clients included such conservative icons as Steve Forbes and Milton Friedman. He has served as a consultant to the Nixon White House and travelled the country as a spokesman for President Reagan’s economic reforms. Larry professional emphasis has been on civil rights and education. He was consultant to both the Chicago and the Detroit boards of education, the Educational Choice Foundation, the Chicago Teachers Academy and the Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts. Larry has testified as an expert witness before numerous legislative bodies, including the U. S. Congress, and has lectured at colleges and universities, including Harvard, Northwestern and DePaul. He served as Executive Director of the City Club of Chicago, where he led a successful two-year campaign to save the historic Chicago Theatre from the wrecking ball. Larry has been a guest on hundreds of public affairs talk shows, and hosted his own program, “Chicago In Sight,” on WIND radio. An award-winning debater, his insightful and sometimes controversial commentaries have appeared on the editorial pages of newspapers across the nation. He is praised by audiences for his style, substance and sense of humor. Larry retired from his consulting business to devote his time to writing. His books include a humorous look at collecting, “The Acrapulators’ Guide”, and a more serious history of the Democratic Party’s role in de facto institutional racism, “Who Put Blacks in That PLACE? -- The Long Sad History of the Democratic Party’s Oppression of Black Americans ... to This Day”. Larry currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

11 Comments

  1. James

    F biden he’s the cause of the problems in America vote out the Nazis AKA the democratic party and Rino’s and progressives Next election We The People Demand our country back from the Evil Politicians in Washington DC swamp.

  2. Rat Wrangler

    Prior to the 1970s, the wealthiest 1% of our nation held about 8% of the total wealth in the country, we had plenty of decent jobs, pay was good, unemployment was low, and in spite of the ongoing war, inflation wasn’t too bad. This was a time we could consider America great. Now, inflation is terrible, pay is not so good, decent jobs are scarce because most of them went to China, and the 1% hold over 42% of the wealth. Of course our present regime is against making America great again, because they would have to bring back decent jobs and move more of the money back into the hands of the poorer 90% of the citizens.

  3. Mike

    Larry, I am going to avoid the obvious hypocrisy in your words in faulting Biden’s speech, but never posting such comments when Trump made unpleasant comments about Democrats. The President should not be attempting to emulate the worst president in history, I will avoid making that comparison. Instead, let’s look at his words to see if they are “accurate”. I realize you have shown us that you do not know that fascism is a right wing ideology, and you have also stated that Republicans cannot be authoritarian because they believe in “small government”. Obviously, Trump (the leader of the Republican Party) is obsessed with authoritarianism (showed this repeatedly while President by cozying up to Dictators, calling them smart, and not having to answer to the press,, while showing disdain for freely elected officials), and we can continue to see his feeling that he is above the law by the events at MAL with the “raid” seizing government documents (my documents he claims? the DOJ is persecuting me?). So, you say that Trump is just one person, how can Biden claim that many in the Republican Party are fascists? I have to guess that you have had your head in the sand for a while, considering the adulation that CPAC (who you claim to have been involved with in the past) has for Orban and his Hungarian governance, going so far as to have meetings in Hungary, and more recently have him as key note speaker at the Texass conference. All of this indicates that the mainstream Republican party is moving in a fascist direction, so while Biden’s words may be unpleasant, they certainly are not inaccurate, and I applaud him for having the guts to point that out to mainstream America who may not follow the news as closely as some of us….

    • Clifford mckinney

      It’s always dangerous to let a moron make public speeches

      • frank stetson

        Turnabout is fair play. If you can’t take it, then don’t dish it out.

        In this case, Larry, who bloviates he is a Trumplicant in policy only, disdaining the man’s personality, claims Joe is the bad boy on the stump. God only knows where Larry stands on character, may be an unknown attribute for him. In this case Larry says of Biden: “…one of the most outrageous and dangerous speeches of any President in my memory.” (Larry points out that he is old, very old, and you do know it’s the second thing to go :>) He continues: “It was eerily reminiscent of Hitler riling up the masses against the Jews as enemies of the state – very belligerent and authoritarian in image and words. (I understand making analogies to Hitler violates the Godwin Rule, but the analogy is defensible in this case.)” Wow, dangerous, belligerent, authoritarian, and Hitler-analogy defensible. That’s some bad shit. Biden is analogous to Hitler.

        But the guy who had a rally and then his invited crowd descended on the Capitol to stop the election, kill Pence and Pelosi, took on and brutalized police, pissed on our Nation’s seat of government, and are being locked up for seditious conspiracy, well, that’s not as bad as Biden…….at least to Larry.

        Meanwhile, Biden was joined by Obama to unveil the Presidential portrait that Trump would not allow during his term. First time in recent history that one President could not rise above petty, petulant, personality and instead, dissed another like this. Whattta guy. So Presidential where personality would never interfere with policy or being Presidential. (sarcasm alert Larry. I point it out because it’s hard for you to detect at your age.)

        Was Biden worse than Trump saying: “He’s an enemy of the state. You want to know the truth. The enemy of the state is him,” while “The FBI and the Justice Department have become vicious monsters. controlled by radical left scoundrels’ lawyers and the media who tell them what to do—you people right there—and when to do it.” Enemy of the state supported by vicious monsters controlled by the left, their lawyers and the entire media. Sounds like some Hitleresque bad juju.

        But why stop with Biden alone when “These are bad people. They’re trying to destroy our country, and we can’t let it go on. Any longer because we have too much work to do.” “Our movement is fighting against a corrupt group of unelected tyrants who believe they can wield absolute power over you, with the help of a willing and very corrupt media” and they are coming for you “pulverizing the middle class and now you have the privilege of having 87,000 IRS agents go after you. And they’ve actually been approved. I’d never heard of this one. They got approved to carry guns so they can go after you with guns. You know, they don’t want to have guns but it’s okay for the IRS. It’s like an army.” Yes, when it comes to Democrats, “These people are crazy, this figure. I mean, they honestly, they can’t be stupid. They must hate our country. They must hate our country. They surrendered our strength and our wisdom, our everything. They turned Afghanistan into the greatest humiliation our country has ever seen. I believe it was the most humiliating thing, time that our country’s ever gone through.” And back to Biden who “is a puppet of the socialists, Marxists, and the cop hating extremists. And they are cop hating.”

        I believe that covers the entire Democratic Party waterfront, while Joe only calls out MAGA Republicans. Trump says it’s a fight, they have guns, and they are coming for YOU. For some reason, Larry has an issue with those words as being worse than Biden’s. We’ve been doing this for six years Larry, you only got a couple. He says he does not like Trump’s personality, but I say it’s a wink-wink, nudge-nudge sort of dislike. Not to worry, Larry, we will convict over 900 of them and toss a good number is jail, a few for a decade.

        At one of the PA rally’s Trump highlighted one of his army, a real life Nazi sympathizer who even sports a Hitler moustache, makes anti-Semitic comments and has been held in jail even though not charged with violence on 1/6 because he is viewed by the judge as a danger to the nation. Trump was supporting a Hitler look alike at one of his last rallies. And that ain’t Godwin’s law, that’s reality.

        https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/04/politics/trump-rally-nazi-sympathizer-january-6-rioter/index.html

        In a nation of laws, you can bloviate and lie like Larry all you want. In this case, his lie is his false comparison and lack of a 360-degree vantage point obscuring him from the Trumpian truth.

        • M

          And to address Larry’s last point – it is simply not possible to “unite” with the Trump MAGAs. They are committed to every device Trump used to divide the country – calling the Press “enemy of the people”, calling Mexicans rapists, blaming the Chinese for COVID, callig Muslims “terrorists”. Trump commits stochastic violence – anyone who crosses him or even displeases him gets called out, and he riles up his base with the hope that one of the nutcases will attack his enemies.

          There can be no unity with people that are members of the Trump cult. All we can do is whittle them down in numbers by showing disapproval, voting them out of office, educating them about Trump’s open and obvious crimes, and arresting the violent ones. At some point, they’ll fade into the background and the country will start to move forward again.

  4. Reeve Kahabka

    Who is really running the country,Biden isn’t capable of making a speech like that or most of the things the Democrats are doing.

    • Mike

      Or perhaps, just maybe, you have been misled about Joe’s capabilities? Just wondering….

    • Nancy Murphy

      Let’s go with Obama, et al.

  5. Nancy Murphy

    Let’s go with Obama, et al.

  6. frank stetson

    Have you ever read the text of a Trump rally? I mean you talk about speeches, talk about lines. Rambling, bumbling, erratic but not erotic. At his recent PA rally, it would be easier to point out the modicum of truth over his shit pile full of lies. He said:

    “We have a very big, I think really one of the most consequential that we’ve ever had,(a big what don?) because we have to stop what’s going on and they want to keep it going. They’ll keep it going. We have to stop it. The contrast between the Trump Administration’s unbelievable and unprecedented success, and even the enemy says it (there’s a contrast here somewhere, right Don). A lot of bad people that we don’t like and you have people on the other side that we do like, but they all say that we had a great success.” (well, that’s everyone then — the ones you like, the ones you don’t — they all say you’re a great success; maybe you misheard the words “suck cesspool”).
    The truth is: most of the country does not think you were a success; that’s why you are not President anymore.

    “Nobody gave tax decreases like Trump, bigger than the Reagan cuts.”
    The truth is: “It is not the biggest tax cut in US history, measured as either a percentage of US GDP or in absolute terms. It is however, the biggest corporate tax cut in US history.” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-43790895

    “And lower regulations that created all of those jobs,”
    The truth is: “On average, employers have added 170,000 jobs in each of the 10 months since Trump took office. That’s slightly below the 196,000 per month pace during the comparable period in 2016, under President Obama.” And then there was the pandemic losses on Trump’s watch. https://www.npr.org/2017/12/08/569451704/fact-check-president-trumps-record-on-jobs-and-stocks

    I said, “Vladimir, you’re not going to do that, Vladimir.”
    The truth is: there is no record of Trump talking to Putin about Ukraine and certainly as ex-President, he did not offer or make that call, I wonder why?

    “Millions and millions of people are pouring into our country. Nobody has any idea where they’re from. Last month, 129 countries were represented.”
    The truth is: Yes, over 2M attempts to enter the US per year, under Biden. Over 40% or 800K are immediately expulsed, that’s less than 2M entering, a lot less. And over 25% are repeat offenders meaning the real number of actual crossings is well under 2M BEFORE you extract those immediately expulsed. Unfortunately, these are the repeat offenders, but that is the Trumpian law, immediate expulsion even for repeat offenders. But you just release them over the boarder so they can try again. Good Law Don. There may be 1M asylum seekers in this group, however, successful asylum status is usually about 50% so it’s not millions and millions, that’s a bald-faced lie. And, once asylum is determined, it will be less than 500K as 50% of the asylum seekers are deported. There is no proof asylum seekers came from prison. There is no proof that 129 countries were represented last month.
    https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-releases-july-2022-monthly-operational-update

    “Rebuild our manufacturing base, just like I was doing.”
    The truth is: “There are fewer people working in manufacturing today than when Trump became president in 2017. “ https://www.americanmanufacturing.org/blog/what-did-donald-trump-accomplish-for-american-manufacturing/

    “Number two, the batteries have made all in China, all the earth, the rare earth comes out China.”
    The truth is: Australia, by far, is the chief source of lithium, producing over five times China, who is number 3, Chile has the most reserves, China has 10% of that and is 4th in reserves. China does produce 80% of all lithium batteries, however, 80% of the materials could be diverted from China in a heartbeat. https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/stories/2020/03/lithium-mining-what-you-should-know-about-the-contentious-issue.html#

    “The Keystone Pipeline would’ve been great. A lot of jobs and would’ve done a good job”
    The truth is: it was a handful of jobs for a couple of years. The oil is Canadian and would have been mostly exported to foreign lands, not the US.

    “West Virginia is not happy with Joe Manchin because he killed coal and they put taxes on coal. Clean, beautiful coal, he killed it.”
    The truth is Manchin’s US rating is poor, in WV, he’s a a 57% approval rating, it’s great as of July 2022. https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/3566359-despite-vitriol-from-his-own-party-joe-manchin-proves-he-was-right-once-again/

    Given how hard it is to find a kernel of truth in Trump’s pile of shit, I am stopping now….

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