For reasons known only to him and his handlers, President Joe Biden decided to not call it the State of the Union, but something like an address to a joint session of Congress. (Yawn.)
And, thus, Democrats kill another tradition..
Why?
So I decide to throttle another — my analysis of the president’s SOTU, as we journalists like to call it.
Not the same order of gravity, I will admit.
I also will concede that, so far, Biden is a transformational president.
Using COVID-19 as a cover, he is throwing more money at problems and so-called needs than I have seen any president do in my lifetime, and chances are that’s longer than yours.
Speaking of ginormous spending, in tone and manner he reminded me of another transformational president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, doing a quiet fireside chat. FDR remade America. By playing Santa, Biden is attempting to do the same. I will deal with his programs at a future date.
But for now, I decided to pay more attention to the Republican response, delivered by South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, the GOP’s only Black senator. He was the after thought, in a sense.
Despite my advice, Biden mentioned “systemic racism” — twice, but very briefly.
I thought, and hoped, Scott would answer Biden.
I was not disappointed.
“America is not a racist country,” said Scott, standing before U.S. and South Carolina flags. “It’s backwards to fight discrimination with different types of discrimination. And it’s wrong to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present.”
Who would do such a thing?
“I have experienced the pain of discrimination. I know what it’s like to be pulled over for no reason, to be followed around in a store when I’m shopping,” he said. “I’ve also experienced a different kind of intolerance. I’ve been called an Uncle Tom and the N-word by Progressives, by Liberals.”
His response was not really a response to Biden’s remarks. He had his own agenda.
“Race is not a weapon to settle every issue,” he said, defending the vilified Georgia voting law as actually expanding voting hours, and attacking critical race theory being taught in schools for defining people by their color.
In 2010, Scott was elected to the House, and when a Senate seat opened by resignation in 2012, Gov. Nikki Haley, a woman of color of Indian descent, appointed Scott to the Senate. He has since been reelected.
He grew up in his grandparents house, encouraged by a single mother, to achieve.
Like Biden, he called America the greatest nation on Earth, but added, “where my grandfather in his 94 years, saw his family go from cotton to Congress in one lifetime.”
How about Senator Scott’s illiterate Grandfather opening the newspapaper
each day so to encourage him about the importance of education. I’ve always liked this guy and hope republicans center stage him more often.
As for Joe he caused a buzz in my left hearing aid and it “woke” me up. You could put an exclamation after his every
sentence. “….we never stay down!…truth over lies!…we can do it….look….folks!!” And that bit about clean water for our schools….hell they’re still closed!! The Catholic schools never closed!!! And no problem.
And those two jack-in-the-boxes behind him. The masks were to hide the laughter.
Stu, you could write a book on what our leader left out of that address. What I caught between Harper getting hit in the face and the Phils winning and the Sixers blowout and naps was Platitudes!!! Looking forward to your analysis.
I skipped Joe’s remarks and focused on Tim Scott’s. Posted Friday.
Once again you show the wide difference between a factless narrative and the reaction of progressives who use the age-old putdown you are “Dumb and dumber” as if that gives you standing in a factual discussion. I will always ask in plain terms please tell me what does systemic racism mean and who are the practitioners and how do you prove that with a factual basis. Progressives intentionally ignore the growth of minorities in our country compared to the rest of the world. They don’t want to recognize that America was the only country that did away with slavery at the cost of thousands of white soldiers. Why do they fail to confront some of the problems in the minority community where three out of four births are to single teenagers. What can be done to reduce the 75 % fatherless homes, why is there no outcry on the thousands of black on black killings every year? No, let us use the race card to cover everything. Point to the 19 blacks killed by cops and ignore a hundred whites killed by cops. Absolve the overwhelming crime rates in our city by people of color to poverty or racial injustice. Could the answer be to dampen down the charge that racism is the cause of everything? Could we form a consensus that we need to offer school choice so our kids graduate from High school? Find a way to stop the continuing number of fatherless homes and out-of-control gun crimes. Stop supporting badass criminals who refuse to simply comply with a police directive. Most importantly there has to be an outcry against anyone from president on down to our demagogues that any statement of systemic racism must be given courtroom proof of beyond a reasonable doubt rather than just unproven rhetoric that intimidates weak white members of our society to capitulate rather than question the charge.
Those questions could get you kicked off Facebook. 😃
Stu, I find the term ‘systemic racism’ attempts to bridge the ominous with the ambiguous in a way that loses any real meaning. To my mind, actions that are racist are always specific. In accruing responsibility for such actions to a system, rather than to the individuals involved, we indulge in deflection.
At the same time, America (and Canada) clearly have problems rooted in racism perpetrated by individuals who are many times agents of our institutions. So what alternative adjective would best characterize this situation?
Pervasive?
Prevalent?
Extensive?
Frequent?
Common?
See the column I just posted. This issue is addressed.
In an unrelated vein, does anyone know what did Joe Biden meant when he said in his whatever-it’s-called speech, “No one should have to choose between a job and a paycheck”? Until I heard that sentence, I thought I was well-educated.
So far as there being ‘systemic racism’ in the USA, harping on that horrid lie serves the agenda of the far left ‘progressives’ of keeping the people of USA perpetually on edge and fearful.
Philadelphia, PA
Dear Stu,
The charge of systematic racism is an attempt to intimidate those inclined to resist leftist rhetoric and top-down, political programs. “If you dispute that,” (whatever it is) “then it could only be racism.” It’s an argument of convenience, and since it is supposed to cover just about everything and anything, logically, its a poor argument. As remarked above, the charge is so vague that it is rarely even thought to require any specific evidence.
No doubt, racism exists, and it is not about to go away any time soon. At best it will be a slow, gradual change, based on interaction of one person with another –which depends on integration. It won’t be erased by the kinds of concentrated political attacks we are seeing, though many a politician (and others) may ride that rollercoaster in the meantime. The problem is that the leftist approach erodes trust and cooperation and encourages fear and separation. It undercuts our common national narrative at every possible turn and undermines the belief that we have enough in common to live in the same society under the same government –employing a monopoly on the use of force. Mr. Biden has made a mistake by including the phrase “systematic racism” in his speech. This is not a plausible route to the unity he says he seeks.
H.G. Callaway
Agree, 100%