Biden: the Absent President who didn’t even try
As we wrap up Biden’s tenure, I can’t help but be utterly disappointed that he had powerful tools at his disposal, and used almost none of it to prevent the ascent of Fascism.
He allowed the Supreme Court to remain full of Fascist agents, even after they decided that a president was immune from prosecution, a patently absurd idea.
He did effectively nothing as Netanyahu destroyed Gaza and its residents.
He did not put pressure on Jack Smith to quickly bring charges against Trump despite a four year window, essentially running out the clock and allowing an insurrectionist to get on the ballot.
He did absolutely nothing that matters to help Harris win the election.
Could Biden have pulled any of this off given the divided Congress? Maybe not, but he could have tried. And he certainly could have used his bully pulpit to drive national conversation and build grassroot support.
Instead, we got an Absent President, who silently made life great for shareholders.
Was Biden a bad president? In any other era, no. He was an exemplary administrator. He got the economy restarted after Trump Episode One put it in the shitter. He appointed Lina Khan to the FTC, a great fighter for the interests of the people against corporate hegemony. He likely did a thousand good works we didn’t even hear about, keeping this nation rolling, and mostly doing right by us. And of course, compared to his predecessor, he’s an absolute saint and superstar.
But as a president installed in the aftermath of a failed insurrection, during a global resurgence of Fascism, overseeing a nation awash in a storm of disinformation financed by our enemies, with the people crying out for justice and accountability, he was an abject failure. Fascist agents made steady progress while he worked his desk job. He did the opposite of rising to the occasion: he pretended it didn’t happen.