8th September 2023, 6:10 AM
You know what? To the letter of your initial statement, sure, Biden IS the best president "since" FDR, but absolutely not including FDR. The reasons so many don't approve of him is twofold, depending on which side of the divided aisle you're on. One side hates him because they were told to hate him. I keep getting told in arguments over him that "Hunter Biden" did this or that, and well, I don't know how often I need to tell them that I don't care if Hunter goes to jail. If he broke the law, lock him up, but they'll need an actual crime to investigate. I mean there's that firearm charge. That's probably going to result in some jail time. So be it. Of course, there's nothing at all tying one hunter to the other (which would result in an article titled Hunter x Hunter), but if there WAS? Yes, Joe should see jail too. In any case, the rest is typical blaming him for things that began under Trump, or accusing him of being a socialist or any number of things which he is very decidedly not.
Then there's the attacks coming from the left. These ones are... mostly... legitimate complaints, but I was never under any illusion that Biden was actually going to do anything progressive. He's a neoliberal and promotes neoliberal policies. "Nothing will fundamentally change." That's a direct quote and that was him being completely honest. A lot of people right now are suffering under the current system. Texas is very close to becoming unlivable and in my state we need to be prepared to take on climate refugees in I'd say... a decade or two. We can't take them all, and we'll be next. Don't misunderstand. Biden JUST did something very good by protecting a lot of Alaskan wilderness in a way that will be hard for the next administration to reverse. That's simply a win, but it's also simply insufficient. Cars... were a mistake. Ever since Judge Doom tore down Toon Town to make way for the freeways and dismantled the Red Car trolley line, cities feel "dead", and the suburbs are a blight that both can't sustain itself in an emergency and are a drain on the cities they are attached to, like cancer. (Yes, I watch a lot of "Not Just Bikes" now.) Beyond that, this all affects black people more, because they are still dealing with poverty and disenfranchisement. There are a lot of issues that Biden hasn't pushed for as much as he could have, but we knew what he believes. That was never going to happen. He's a bulwark against fascism, and that's the best we can hope for from him at this juncture, but for many people living month to month, it isn't nearly enough. They cry out for more. Biden may well be the best in pure numerics since FDR, but he is NOT FDR. He doesn't share FDR's politics. FDR was a democratic socialist, and Biden is a neoliberal in the style of Margaret Thatcher, just like Obama and Clinton before him. Bush and Bush Jr. were both war hawks. Reagan was... frankly what killed off the last of FDR's remaining policies. The worst president we ever had... isn't Trump. Don't get me wrong. He's horrible, and probably the most awful human we've ever made president, but he's not the worst president, because Trump even being elected into office can be traced right back to Reagan's policies and his effect on the national attitude. Trump is only a possibility BECAUSE the system is broken beyond repair. The fact that his reelection is a very real possibility isn't Trump's fault, it's the policies put into place over the past 50 years.
So, Biden is Biden. He's done some good, reversed a lot of terrible things Trump did, and that's all I hoped for from him, but he's not enough by far. People didn't vote FOR Biden. They voted AGAINST Trump, and they will again I think, but if the democrats want someone that actually excites the base, they need to promise that "Things will fundamentally change".
Then there's the attacks coming from the left. These ones are... mostly... legitimate complaints, but I was never under any illusion that Biden was actually going to do anything progressive. He's a neoliberal and promotes neoliberal policies. "Nothing will fundamentally change." That's a direct quote and that was him being completely honest. A lot of people right now are suffering under the current system. Texas is very close to becoming unlivable and in my state we need to be prepared to take on climate refugees in I'd say... a decade or two. We can't take them all, and we'll be next. Don't misunderstand. Biden JUST did something very good by protecting a lot of Alaskan wilderness in a way that will be hard for the next administration to reverse. That's simply a win, but it's also simply insufficient. Cars... were a mistake. Ever since Judge Doom tore down Toon Town to make way for the freeways and dismantled the Red Car trolley line, cities feel "dead", and the suburbs are a blight that both can't sustain itself in an emergency and are a drain on the cities they are attached to, like cancer. (Yes, I watch a lot of "Not Just Bikes" now.) Beyond that, this all affects black people more, because they are still dealing with poverty and disenfranchisement. There are a lot of issues that Biden hasn't pushed for as much as he could have, but we knew what he believes. That was never going to happen. He's a bulwark against fascism, and that's the best we can hope for from him at this juncture, but for many people living month to month, it isn't nearly enough. They cry out for more. Biden may well be the best in pure numerics since FDR, but he is NOT FDR. He doesn't share FDR's politics. FDR was a democratic socialist, and Biden is a neoliberal in the style of Margaret Thatcher, just like Obama and Clinton before him. Bush and Bush Jr. were both war hawks. Reagan was... frankly what killed off the last of FDR's remaining policies. The worst president we ever had... isn't Trump. Don't get me wrong. He's horrible, and probably the most awful human we've ever made president, but he's not the worst president, because Trump even being elected into office can be traced right back to Reagan's policies and his effect on the national attitude. Trump is only a possibility BECAUSE the system is broken beyond repair. The fact that his reelection is a very real possibility isn't Trump's fault, it's the policies put into place over the past 50 years.
So, Biden is Biden. He's done some good, reversed a lot of terrible things Trump did, and that's all I hoped for from him, but he's not enough by far. People didn't vote FOR Biden. They voted AGAINST Trump, and they will again I think, but if the democrats want someone that actually excites the base, they need to promise that "Things will fundamentally change".
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)