Saving democracy from ‘bothsidesism’
Truth is on one side, sedition and lies on the other House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy provoked mirth Sept. 1 in his prebuttal of President Biden’s speech on threats to democracy, with a botched attempt to sound Lincolnesque: “The electric cord of liberty still sparks in our hearts.” Call it his Thomas Edison Paine moment.
McCarthy was like Shemar Moore in the Paycom “unnecessary action hero” commercial, minus the talent, sex appeal and a point.
Biden spoke with conviction and clarity about what is at stake in this country. He nailed the MAGA Republicans for insisting that either they win or they were cheated.
The president spoke that night outside Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. He condemned white supremacists. On MSNBC afterward, presidential historian Michael Beschloss mentioned Lincoln’s 1858 “House Divided” speech in which he said, “I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.” Republicans, meanwhile, objected to Biden having military officers standing behind him, though their Glorious Leader Trump did the same thing.
