Pathetic defined: Pitifully inferior or inadequate. Although those words are graphic, they don’t even begin to capture some of what is coming out of the mouth of our president as he moves into full-campaign mode.
FOR or TO? Those two little words can capture a politician’s campaign intent. Is Biden talking about what he can do for the American people or is his rhetoric about what he is going to do to all of us? Conclusions later on.
PREFACE
Let’s start at the beginning; literally the first few hours of the Biden administration. In the opening minutes during the inaugural address, our new president read an impassioned plea about the need to reunite America. Yes, we needed to reunite but who from what? In the previous four years the conservatives had not gone anywhere while the Liberals and Progressives were self-drowning in a culture of hate for President Trump; so much hate that they refused to see what his actions and policies were actually doing for we-the-people.
But, before the sun set on 20 January, 2021, Biden was in the Oval Office signing the “Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government”, stating in part, “It is therefore the policy of my administration that the Federal Government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all” (equity, not equality). The EO went on to direct all the leaders in the Executive Branch to get in line with the program with six-month and one-year deadlines for action items. This EO action stemmed from his belief in the existence of systemic racism across America.
SYSTEMIC RACISM: Systemic racism was a central theme during Biden’s campaign; in his inaugural address he mentioned, “The sting of systemic racism”; a few weeks later in his State of the Union address he claimed that, “We have a real chance to root out systemic racism that plagues America.” All of this nonsense is without definition and no proof but yet he wants us all to believe systemic racism has become the bogeyman responsible for every problem in American society.
How did that evolve? During the 2020 campaign Biden and Bernie Sanders created the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force with a 110-page far left policy document. In it, they use systemic racism to justify overhauling the police and justice systems, a federal takeover of K-12 education, elimination of border security, a host of environmental measures and a transformation of the economy that moves the country towards socialism. Candidate Trump got it right in his Republican Convention acceptance speech when he said, “In the left’s backward view, they do not see America as the most free, just and exceptional nation on earth. Instead, they see a wicked nation that must be punished for its sins. Our opponents say that redemption for you can only come from giving power to them. This is a tired anthem spoken by every repressive movement throughout history.”
The inauguration-day Executive Order was specifically designed to unleash every element of the federal government to combat Biden’s claim of systemic racism across America. You can go on line and see the quotes from all the Secretaries of Departments, agency heads, the Vice President and senior White House officials, all dutifully talking about “systemic racism.” It is crystal clear who, in Biden’s mind, the offenders are; if you didn’t vote for Biden, you are a racist, all 73.6 million of us. Pathetic. It is right in line with Hillary’s infamous categorization of Trump supporters in 2016; “You could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables; the racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it.”
If there was ever a day in our history when a president so forcefully set-the-stage for his administration, 20 January, 2021 was that day. In retrospect it is now clear that his intent was to instill in the minds of Americans the thought that Republicans are extremists in all they say and do. Was he successful? We will know the answer in a couple months.
PART 1: WHAT BIDEN WILL NOT CAMPAIGN ABOUT. (Sometimes it’s not what you say, it’s what you don’t say that is important).
Border Crisis: His campaign is not about the border. The only thing he will say about the most egregious, willful, pre-ordained threat to our national security is that, “The border is not open.” It’s a lie and everyone knows it. The statistics are staggering. An estimated 5 million illegals have entered the U.S. since Biden took office and the monthly numbers are increasing at an increasing rate. Since 20 January, 2021, nearly 250,000 unaccompanied minors have entered the U.S.; shameful. The illegal immigrant cost to taxpayers is hundreds of billions of dollars per year. Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas routinely testifies before Congressional Committees under oath, “The border is not open”, while all the Democrats in Congress remain silent. Pathetic.
Taxes: He will not campaign specifically about raising taxes but he will push hard for his thousand-page bills in Congress that contain all manner of increased taxes. He may even stop saying his favorite tax promise, “No one earning less than $400,000 will pay a penny more in taxes.”, because it is a bold-faced lie and everyone knows it.
Amnesty: Amnesty for all illegal aliens is the Democrat’s objective but it is too pathetic a concept to say it out loud. He will, however, continue to put the amnesty requirement into his Build-Back-Better type legislation.
Inflation: He will not have much to say about inflation since it was 1.5% the day he was sworn in and he has no plan to fix it other than to change the name of legislation to the “Inflation Reduction Act.” His deep-seated economic philosophy of tax-and-spend will continue and it is the worst thing he could possibly do to combat inflation.
Recession: By all internationally accepted criteria the U.S. is in a recession. But he will not talk about it because King Biden has decreed to his subjects that recession does not exist in the U.S. End of discussion.
Fentanyl: His campaign is not about fentanyl coming across our open border. 2100 pounds of fentanyl were seized in July 2022, an increase of 202% over June 2022. One million fentanyl pills were seized at the Arizona border in one week. Question, how much fentanyl was not seized? Last year a record 108,000 Americans died of drug overdose; 70% involved fentanyl. Pem Schaeffer recently published an eye-opening analogy. If tomorrow morning the news was about a U.S. jumbo jet flying into a mountain killing all 296 people aboard, we would be shocked, saddened and want some answers. What if another plane crashed the very next day and the next, every day for a year; every day 296 more dead Americans? The country would be going crazy with 108,000 dead Americans and the President would be all over it. September, 2021 in the midst of a record year for drug-related American deaths, the Biden administration proposed eliminating quantity-based penalties for drug dealers trafficking in fentanyl. Last week Biden’s press secretary informed America that, “The president is securing the border against fentanyl.” No, he is not. There are two drug dealers the president should be holding accountable, “My old friend, Xi Jinping” and a couple Cartel leaders.
Energy Independence: He will not want to mention that on day-one of his administration, he pounded a stake in the heart of a 50-year American dream of energy independence that was finally achieved September, 2019. The U.S. has a strategic reserve capacity of about 714 million barrels. As of March, 2022 we had 568 million barrels on hand. In May, 2022 Biden began a six-month program of removing 1 million barrels a day from the strategic reserve in an attempt to lower gas prices and take the heat off of his administration. A pathetic self-inflicted anti-Trump action that has greatly increased America’s vulnerability.
Foreign Affairs: There is not much Biden can say about foreign policy because our enemies no longer respect our strength and our former allies do not trust us. He won’t mention his do-nothing approach to the growing threat by the nut-case Kim Jong-on in North Korea. He has insulted our long-time important ally Saudi Arabia. His non-support of Israel is disgusting. His weakness and appeasement towards Iran has strengthened the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. He insulted our centuries-old relationship with France over some stupid submarine deal. He is making nice with Venezuela, begging for oil. Nor will he discuss the Afghanistan debacle which he called an “extraordinary success.” Give him credit, he is half right, the withdrawal was extraordinary but it failed in so many terrible ways. His ineptitude in foreign affairs is embarrassing and makes us more vulnerable every day.
Law and Order: There are no new or ongoing Biden administration policies on law and order that will mitigate the crime wave sweeping across the U.S. He will talk a little about throwing a few billion dollars to hire more police officers in blue cities that defunded and demoralized their law enforcement organizations. Liberal prosecutors and the democrat’s bail reform agenda are also on the do-not-mention list.
Education: Education results across America are a disgrace. Biden is against school choice, for union dominance, for CRT and against parent involvement with local schoolboards. Not a positive campaign option for him to talk about.
Anti-States’ Rights: A massive domineering federal government with cradle-to-grave control is what he supports and is moving forward with all of his proposed legislation. Not a best-seller to the general public.
U.S. is on the move: There is a mass movement across America by businesses and the general population from blue states and cities to red ones. Various headlines: “300,000 households moved from blue to red during the first quarter of 2021.” “Census numbers show citizens fleeing by the millions from blue to red states.” “The IRS divulged there was a mass migration from blue to red states.” “Texas enjoyed an inpouring of new residents from blue states with a net income increase of $6.3 billion.” “They are leaving blue states with high minimum wages, pro-union work rules, high taxes on the rich, generous welfare benefits, expansive regulations and green energy policies.” But it is not just citizens: “More companies join the great migration from blue to red states.” “An economic wave has been building for years with no end in sight as companies flood out of blue states into red states.” How much of this information will Biden use in his campaign speeches? Zero.
We-The-People Speaking: 42% of adults say they are struggling economically. Just 10% say the country is on the right track while 88% say it’s on the wrong track. Only 8% say the government has helped their most important concern over the last six months and 57% say the government has hurt it. These are startling statistics but Biden cannot address them because he has no plan to fix it.
Conclusions from Part 1: The above subjects are about what is seriously impacting Americans every day. This is what we get up each morning worrying about. And our president won’t/can’t talk about them during this campaign season. Pathetic.
PART 2: WHAT BIDEN WILL CAMPAIGN ABOUT.
Deficit reduction: On 16 August he signed the mis-named Inflation Reduction Act which is to provide a $305 billion deficit reduction over the next ten years. Biden has said, “We are cutting deficits to fight inflation.” Note, however, the $305 billion deficit reduction is based on some very shaky assumptions in the out-years and, according to the Congressional Budget Office, it will likely never happen.
Student Debt Relief: As the campaign season shifted into high gear the president issued an edict that obligated the federal government to spend $500 billion to $1 trillion to cancel student-loan debt. First of all, it was an illegal action; the Congress must obligate that kind of spending. Secondly, it is a blatant attempt at vote-buying and everyone knows it.
Abortion: this is the issue that will turn out a massive democrat vote. June, 2022 the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, thereby ending the federal right to abortion on demand until birth and returning the issue to the individual states. The Democrats and main-stream media are all saying, “Abortion is a Constitutional right.” Two points of clarification:
First, abortion, is not discussed in the Constitution; it is a liberal interpretation of the Fourth Amendment on protection of privacy. The Fourth Amendment: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated……..” Calling this the constitutional right to an abortion a very far extension of the right to privacy. Even when the president calls abortion a constitutional right doesn’t make it so. But he can’t be bothered by such a detail while campaigning. Biden has said he is a 100% supporter of Roe v. Wade without placing restrictions of any kind on the procedure; that is, abortion on demand until birth.
Secondly, it is a well-accepted fact that the Founding Fathers’ intent for the Constitution and Bill of Rights was, to the maximum extent possible, create a Republic in which the power and authority of the federal government is limited. The power is to belong to the states and its people.
It is interesting to note that only 8% of Americans polled agree with abortion on demand right up to the date of birth; aka premeditated murder.
The Supreme Court: Because of the court’s ruling on abortion, Biden will take every opportunity to slam the court’s majority constitutionalists for their “outrageous and out of control behavior.”
Within his first 100 days in office, Biden formed a commission to study the issue of packing the Supreme Court. This was not because there is general agreement that nine justices is not the right number, but it was to seek an argument for quickly appointing a number of liberal justices that would likely secure a liberal view of the law for decades to come. His intent was to wipe out 153 years of a successful nine-judge court and in so doing transform the court from a separate impartial branch of government as opposed to being a rubber stamp for future liberal policies.
Electric Vehicles: Biden is obsessed with the idea that if we all get an EV the climate problems will be solved. His campaign is about electric vehicles as a single-minded approach to solving carbon buildup; his target is 50% of U.S. vehicles electric by 2030. But he won’t talk about the math. Here are some facts he will NOT mention:
The massive carbon profile associated with mining, transporting and processing 250 tons of earth materials for every battery. Considering that, what then is the net carbon reduction per battery?
What about the fact that China now controls about 80% of the world’s supply of mineable lithium for EV batteries? Lithium prices increased about 400% in 2021. At what point to EV batteries become unaffordable? Can we afford a new battery every 7-10 years?
EV batteries are only under warranty for about eight years. A Tesla Model 3 vehicle that sells for $47,000 will at some point need a new $16,000 battery (today’s price).
Can we generate enough electricity to power the EV fleet? It is estimated that by 2050 the U.S. will demand about 90% more power than it did in 2018 in a scenario in which all new passenger vehicles sold by 2030 are electric. There is a massive carbon buildup associated with construction of millions of wind turbines and solar farms. What is the net carbon reduction? And what is the backup when the sun doesn’t shine and/or the wind doesn’t blow. How many trillions of dollars will it take to double the nation’s power grid capability?
To defeat global warming, the whole world needs to be involved. Fact, 152 nations are classified as “developing”, aka countries that cannot afford a green new deal. For example, India’s (a developing country) response to the Paris Climate Agreement was, that they will, “need $2.5 trillion in aid.”
Can we even charge up 290 million U.S. vehicles? Consider this scenario: In order to match the 2,000 cars that a typical filling station can service in a busy 12 hours, an EV charging station would require 600, 50-watt chargers at an estimated cost of $24 million, plus a supply of 30 megawatts of power from the grid which is enough to power 20,000 homes and that’s just for one large filling station. How many wind turbines does it take to support one station and what if the wind doesn’t blow?
The worst part about Biden’s obsession on electronic vehicles is that he won’t even put other options for more electricity on the table and build a plan to use them. Nuclear power production is cheap, safe and carbon free. For example, the concept for mini-nuclear power production is ready, safe and clean; it just needs a sponsor, like the president, to get it started. Yes, it is safe, thousands of your sons and daughters in the navy are sleeping with a nuclear reactor every day on our aircraft carriers and submarines and have been for the last 65 years. I have canoed the Missouri River in Montana and there is very little commercial traffic. Why don’t we build a half dozen dams for hydroelectric power to feed into the western power grid with locks for boat traffic. Dams are a low-maintenance 24/7 source of electricity. The Hoover Dam has been putting out electricity for the last 84 years. Biden just needs to turn private industry loose with ideas, ingenuity and a can-do spirit; left to the government it would take forever with massive cost overruns. Why not run big trucks on natural gas? Waste Management does so with 6000 of their big garbage trucks. We have the largest natural gas reserves in the world, natural gas for electric power is 80% cleaner than coal and it works at night and when the wind doesn’t blow.
Voter ID: Biden’s position, “voter ID is racist” and, “The 2020 election was the most secure in American history.” Those statements are both false but that won’t keep him from striking out at Republicans for wanting to fix it. You will recall that Congressional bills HR1 and S1 in January 2021 were the Democrat’s immediate priority. The bills were an 800-page federal takeover from the states of all election rules to include mandating mail-in voting for every state. Additionally, he will not accept the following facts:
Election fraud is not new but it is real and it did exist in 2020 in the form of stopping the count, mail-in ballots, no witnesses allowed, too many voters, changing the vote, dead people voting, ballot mishandling.
Fact: Voter registration rolls are in terrible shape across the nation. January, 2020, Judicial Watch cited 378 counties with more voter registrations than citizens living there and old enough to vote. That’s about 2.5 million residents who will potentially get a mail-in ballot and what will they do with them? Los Angeles county alone had a 117% registration rate. Mail-in ballots have long been recognized as a fraud risk.
Voter ID solves all these problems. Simply add voter ID cards to the products the local DMV offices across the nation provide. For example, they are providing the new “Real ID” mandated by Congress. As of May 2023, everyone who may want to go through airport security will need a Real ID. To get one a person must provide documented proof of U.S. citizenship. No one is objecting or calling the Real ID racist. Every county/state voter registration roll would consist of accurate data from current Voter ID cards only and thereby always be accurate and current. When a voter goes to vote their card will be used to print a personal ballot with all of the voter’s verified information on the ballot. The voting machines will be programmed to only accept an individual’s Voter ID number one time. Is all of this racist, Mr. President?
“Republican MAGA extremists”: First of all, it is a ludicrous argument that Biden cannot or will not define beyond saying, “Equity and democracy are under assault by MAGA Republicans.” There are at least 70 million MAGA believers and here is some of what their extremism is all about. MAGAs believe in energy independence, year to year economic growth, lower taxes for everyone, employing more women and Black Americans than any time in history, support for Israel, no nuclear weapons for Iran, shutting down North Korea’s missile and nuclear testing, secure borders, best qualified leaders for Executive Branch Departments, each NATO country paying their share, deregulating the federal government, support to small businesses, lower corporate taxes, states’ rights, criminals in prison not on the streets, support for police, if you are able to work and there are jobs available, get one. That is what was happening in 2019 and all of that is an “assault on democracy?” Biden’s record in his first 18 months tells us he is against all of that.
Every Republican candidate across this country should open every campaign speech every day by reciting the above paragraph and throw Biden’s MAGA BS right back in his face.
Tax credits: Biden may campaign on the concept of tax credits. It is another classic vote-buying gimmick. For example, he is a big fan of the Child Tax Credit. It simply says that if a joint-filing family has children and makes less than $150,000 they can deduct $2000 per child. $150,000 and they need a tax credit?
Fascism: Biden said, “What we are seeing now is either the beginning or the death knell of extreme MAGA philosophy. It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the—-I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism.” What a statement; it seems he didn’t even know what the hell he was talking about. But here we are with a new label, semi-fascists.
Fascism emerged in Germany, Japan and Italy in the 1930s and we saw how all that turned out with an estimated 50 million casualties from World War II. Fascism was about total control of all things and all the people. They began by redefining their history and progressed through transformation of existing government organizations into weapons of the state. They controlled criticism and propagated fake claims against those who would oppose them. Their internal propaganda was all about accusing the opposition of doing exactly what their fascist agenda was all about. Liberty and freedom ceased to exist. Fascism is about altering the very fabric of a nation. Any of that sound familiar?
Blame: Every Biden campaign message will work its way back to blaming everything that is so wrong about this administration on Trump and MAGAs. Blame is the go-to position for a failed leader.
January 6th: Of course, Biden will make frequent reference to the actions on Capitol Hill, January 6th. He has called the January riot an “armed insurrection” and an “assault on democracy.” It was neither; it was a mob of impassioned citizens at a rally that turned into a riot. It was shameful but not an insurrection. There was no intent to topple the government. There was no leader to take charge of a successful rebellion. There was no plan that was more than a few minutes old. It was not an armed force. No charges of rebellion or insurrection have been filed. Video footage shows people walking single file past idle police officers. Of course people who damaged property and trespassed should be prosecuted. But words have meaning, especially coming from the president and Biden is completely out of his lane with a false narrative, about what happened January 6th and he is doing it purely for political purposes. President Biden, can’t you for once just tell the truth?
Conclusions From Part 2: His hate-filled messages are directed at 70-plus millions of us; “Racist, fascists, domestic terrorist, white supremacist, existential threat to the nation.” and then wrap them all together and call it a “Republican movement to destroy democracy.” Apparently, this demonizing, name-calling path our president and vice president take is what they revert to when they have nothing positive to offer the American people?
So where is Vice President Harris on all this? We know where she stands on law and order. During the 2020 summer of left-wing rioting, burning and looting, thousands of small businesses were destroyed, a billion dollars in damages, 35 Americans were killed and hundreds of police officers were injured. Kamala’s law-and-order position was to seek doners to provide money to immediately bail out those arrested for assault, looting and arson so they could get back on the streets and into the action. Her request to the nation just before being selected as the vice presidential candidate, “If you’re able to, chip in now to the Minnesota Freedom Fund to help post bail for those protesting on the ground in Minnesota.”
And what did she envision going forward from the 2020 summer riots? On 24 September, 2020, well into the presidential campaign, she said of the rioters, looters, arsonists, “They’re not gonna stop, and everyone beware, because they’re not gonna stop. They’re not gonna stop before election day in November and they’re not gonna stop after election day.” Where in hell did she come from?
BOTTOM LINE:
This is the point where we should reflect on the Biden tweet 7 November,2020: “It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature and listen to each other again. To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy. We are not enemies, we are Americans.” Perhaps that was the real Joe Biden, the Representative Biden, the Senator Biden. Perhaps it is still what he feels deep in his gut. But this is now President Biden and after eight years of being Sal Alinsky-ized by President Obama we have to judge him by his deeds and his ugly, demeaning rhetoric.
Keep in mind that on 20 January, 2021 Biden was handed an expanding economy successfully recovering from the COVID shutdowns, a plunging unemployment rate, gasoline about $2 per gallon, energy independence, a foreign policy successful at keeping international thugs in check, a secure border, inflation at 1.5% and a democrat-controlled Congress. And now he cannot even put together a positive campaign message.
Back to the question of TO or FOR and intent: From his campaign rhetoric, what can we infer that Biden intends to do for we-the-people, for all the people? Not much.
What then does he intend to do to we-the-people? Greater divisiveness and an expanding culture of hate, more demeaning rhetoric, more taxes, more spending, more federal government, more regulation, more bureaucratic oversight, more wokism, less freedom of speech, more vote buying, a fixation on electric vehicles, a weaponized FBI/Justice Department/IRS and greater vulnerability from encouraged enemies. Its all about power and control.
What comes to mind is the famous Thomas Paine quote from 1775: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.”
Given what we-the-people are facing, we cannot be the “summer soldier or sunshine patriot”. In a few short weeks we can all speak out with our vote. Two years ago, 80 million Americans did not bother to vote. Disgusting and disappointing. We need to help each other through the mess our country is in and the direction we are headed. If you know one of these non-voting so-called patriots, take them to the voting booth with you. Voting is not just a right, it is a responsibility, it is our duty. Stand up for America on 8 November.
Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, and a new book May 2022, FIX THE SYSTEMS, TRANSFORM AMERICA as well as the author of a blog WeThePeopleSpeaking.com