Biden’s speech moves us closer to the brink
In a prime-time speech Thursday, delivered in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall lit in ghostly red, President Joe Biden cast the most strident opponents of his administration as enemies of American democracy. In doing so, Mr. Biden pushed an already perilously divided and intolerant society closer to the brink, using rhetoric similar to the very people he was calling out.
Like his predecessor, the president has concluded that he and his party will benefit from heightening the already sky-high tensions in American society. He apparently believes that the “unity” he calls for, while labeling “MAGA Republicans” as threats to “the very foundations of our Republic,” can be achieved only by defining tens of millions of Americans as domestic enemies.
Mr. Biden’s election was supposed to be a step back from the brink — a move away from a place where reasoned debate and truth lose all power and chaos and nihilism fill the void. To be sure, healing the lacerations to democracy inflicted by Donald Trump would be practically impossible. But many Americans — including some who did not vote for Mr. Biden — hoped and expected the new president would show measured leadership that would start the healing, and certainly not salt the wounds Instead, Mr. Biden chose to add his voice to the chorus pitting Americans against one another.
Many Americans have unreasonable doubts about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and some of the people stoking those doubts know they are spreading lies. Such dangerous, anti- democratic designs must be condemned.
But most everyday people sympathetic to Mr. Trump support democracy. They don’t hate the American system; they distrust the people and institutions that run it. They may be misled and wrong, but they are not seditious — unless
doubts about the candor of the FBI, for instance, can be called seditious. Casting such people as enemies of the state merely confirms their darkest fears, making reconciliation all but impossible. It’s more characteristic of a demagogue than a statesman.
Roller coasters with old-fashioned chain lifts climb with a staccato click-click-click. With each click, there’s no going back. Once the train nears the top, though, the clicks stop. Now, the train’s momentum pulls itself over the crest, and there’s no going back. That moment of no return always comes a bit earlier than expected.
On Thursday, Mr. Biden chose to take the country one big click closer to the edge.