When I worked for Digital Equipment way back in the wayback, Digital had seriously embarked on competition with IBM in markets that IBM very much controlled. A good friend and colleague noted to our team that wherever Digital went to try to sell its wares, IBM had already been there and set the agenda, no matter what Digital had to say
Let’s look at the current narrative about Pres. Biden. The “old” and “bumbling” tropes are Fox/right-wing concoctions that too many people have willingly bought into and gladly repeat as if they’re facts. They aren’t. They’re merely agenda-setters. We can’t be so stupid as to buy into them.
Is he old? Sure he is. But so is Trump. Is he bumbling and fumbling? No. He stutters. He tells stories (something he’s done since he was young). But his stories are coherent. More to the point, he runs a coherent administration that has accomplished a whole lot. You might not agree that some of it should have been accomplished, but the fact remains: his administration, under his leadership, has accomplished it. He’s restored our status in world politics and leadership as well. And he’s been a compassionate presence for those who have suffered great losses, whether from gun violence or, as is the case with Israel, from murderous incursion into their country.
So why are we so unthinkingly buying a corrosive narrative concocted by his opposition? What are we worried about that we so easily repeat it? Are we nuts?
His main opponent should rightly be the target of a negative narrative in the largest possible way. Bumbling? Just listen to him speak on any topic for 5 minutes (or for however long you can stand to do it). Old? He’s just 3 years younger than Pres. Biden – and he’s been showing clear indications of decline for quite some time. As for coherence – his prior administration was a shit show and the damage it did has taken huge effort to undo. And we’re not even talking about his criminal insurrection.
I’m speaking here mainly to Democrats and disaffected Republicans. And I’m saying, if you’re believing or repeating the right-wing talking points about Pres. Biden, just f’ing stop it! Start paying attention to the sanity that’s been restored, to the powerful legislation Biden’s championed, gotten passed and signed, to the slow but steady restoration of a proper federal judicial system, to an honest and properly focused Justice Department, to a strong and steady (to say nothing of highly respected) foreign policy and diplomatic apparatus, and, no matter what idiotic things get said about it, an economic recovery unequaled in recent times (and confined, in the prior administration, to the very wealthy).
Think about just a few things that have gotten done or that will be done in the coming years. Things like making the Internet available both to remote places and to “Internet deserts” in our inner cities. Bridge repair and replacement (remember the collapse of the I-95 overpass, a casualty of our total neglect of infrastructure?). Getting us out of the COVID pandemic. It’s a long list. Real effort at curbing gun violence, something no opposition administration would even consider. Advocacy for and protection of LGBTQ+ rights and people. Championing the right of women to have full control of their own bodies. Let the other guy back in and this all goes away in an instant.
Let me almost stop here. I want to say something about focusing on “inflation” and the general pissing and moaning about it. Our current inflation rate is 3.7%. So is the whole world’s. Many countries have worse interest rates for loans than we do. But not many have the high rate of employment and of open positions, along with low unemployment, that we have. So the whining is not about “inflation.” It’s up to you to figure out what you’re really whining about. But it’s time to stop it. It’s time to make sure that we don’t, in our constant bitching, let ourselves be fooled into descending into the sheer fascism planned by the truly deranged “leader” of the opposition.
Let’s get real, people.