It took me a day of watching and rewatching Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address, but I was finally able to put my finger on what was troubling me: Reagan! Biden spent Tuesday doing his best Ronald Reagan impression. It took a while to spot it because Biden lacks the performative chops Reagan brought wherever he went, and because I hadn’t seen the real item in the flesh for thirty years. It was impossible to miss once I saw it.
Biden was at times a national lightning rod of outrage, a peddler for comforting fictions and our big-talking tough man. He was also the grandparent you want cheering on your child from the stands at a Little League match.
Reagan is perhaps the most admired bullshit artist to ever occupy the presidency. Reagan was a master of supply-side economic nonsense, splinter Protestant missionary evangelism, and stochastic Cold War terror of a patriotic hue. He wrapped them in a strong cord that continues to choke this country and the world. Reagan was a man of great strength. He believed every word he said and did not use subterfuge to achieve this.
Biden is not Reagan, but he tried to be all things for all people on Tuesday night, and, like Reagan, seemed to believe every word. Biden, just like Reagan, did this time and again by either ignoring or glossing over the sharks who patrol these well-chummed waters. I’d love to live in the America Biden championed; I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.
The entire legislative story of last summer and fall involved the Congressional Progressive Caucus fighting to the knife to defend the climate-salvaging elements of Biden’s infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act, only to have those efforts undermined by a cabal of corporate Vichy Democrats led by Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. The United Nations published a huge report detailing the effects of climate change hours before the speech. we are climate-screwedA timetable that is measured in days, unless immediate action takes place.
Biden and his speechwriters chose almost to ignore the climate crisis in the face of all this. The betrayal here — not only of the caucus that went to war for him only to be betrayed over and over, but of the truth, of the facts, of the growing menace that seeks to burn and drown us simultaneously — is nearly unfathomable. Another way to put it: What would it have looked like if Biden had spent the entire night without ever mentioning Ukraine. Unthinkable, right? Why was he allowed to ignore the huge calamity that is threatening the life of the planet as we know?
As with any good Reagan speech, capitalism got its star turn thanks to Biden, who happily proclaimed “I am a capitalist” before faux-scolding the room: “Capitalism without competition is exploitation.” There are a few good hoots wrapped up in this one, and pretty much everyone in the chamber that night was in on the joke.
Biden recalls a conversation with Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO. He suggested that new legislation be passed to provide government subsidies for tech firms. “Pat came to see me,” said Biden, “and he told me they’re ready to increase their investment from $20 billion to $100 billion. This would be the largest investment in American manufacturing history. And all they’re waiting for is for [Congress] to pass this bill.”
These companies are already receiving huge amounts of subsidy money and they use large swathes of it to buy stock and pay the CEOs instead of investing in the projects Biden referred to. Most of those subsidies came from free trade bills championed by — you guessed it — Joe Biden over the course of his Senate career. On Tuesday night, he painted an image of capitalism that was almost as realistic as the portrait Donald Trump riding a velociraptor.
Reagan was a gifted communicator who could talk himself out of trouble. Biden attempted the same approach last night regarding COVID-19. This was his second attempt at the presidency. The first attempt at “All Is Well” exploded in his face last summer, leaving his approval rating in tatters and the mood of the country at an all-time low. On Tuesday night, with a maskless Vice President Harris and House Speaker Pelosi arrayed behind him, Biden tried it again, leaning specifically into the idea that kids — now maskless, too — belong in school no matter what. It was dangerous both on a political and a public health level, but gosh didn’t it make people feel good. Reagan’s talent.
Biden, like Reagan had Russia available to him as a foil on Tuesday night. Biden, like Reagan, painted the Ukraine-Russia fiasco using the primary colors of evil vs. good, which is a poor choice for a complex situation. Biden made it seem like the massive, devastating sanctions against Russia were some benign super weapon aimed only towards Vladimir Putin and his allies.
After the first Gulf War ended, huge sanctions were placed on Iraq. These sanctions resulted in the deaths of 500,000 children. dismissedOn 60 minutes back in May of 1996: “We think the price is worth it.”
Which “we” is that? While the necessity of properly addressing Putin’s horrific invasion remains a desperately important open question, the idea of falling back on massive sanctions without question is perilous in the extreme. Biden chose the optimistic tale that leaves no chapters uncut, with a mastery so impressive it would have made Reagan proud.
No politician with a functioning head is going to rise from the podium and tell you how much everything has succeeded, especially not the State of the Union. The Reagan approach is particularly troubling to me, as the state of the Union is weak and everyone knows it.
In fact, the union today is more fragile than it was during my lifetime. We are facing more threats than ever because we haven’t paid enough attention to them, a trick that Reagan was able to teach us. It was all over again Tuesday night.
