Battle for the Soul of the Nation
By: John Semmens
This week, President Biden gave what Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson characterized as an “urgent wartime address. Just as FDR rallied Americans to avenge Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, President called for patriotic Americans to help him defend democracy from the MAGA Republicans who are trying to take the country down an authoritarian path that opposes the regulations, mandates, foreign wars, higher taxes and spending needed to rescue us from the selfishness and liberty that ran rampant under Trump.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rejected GOP complaints that the President was maligning half the country by pointing out “he quite clearly expressed gratitude for independents and Republicans—like Rep. Cheney—who are supporting his efforts to build an America that is free from dissension. He also tried to head off an armed confrontation by reminding his political opponents that their AR15s were no match for the machine guns and flamethrowers his troops can deploy, the smart bombs and napalm his F-15s can deliver, or the nuclear missiles he can launch with the push of a button. He wants to be merciful. All he requires is obedience.”
An appalled Sen. John Kennedy (R-La) said “the President Biden we saw was every inch Joe Biden, the politician. He could have used the time to talk about how he was going to solve the problems of crime, inflation, the learning loss of our children, the Fentanyl coming across the border and killing our teenagers. Instead, he chose to say to the American people, if you don’t agree with me you're a bad person.”
An energized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) called the speech “inspiring and optimistic. He identified the enemies we must defeat. MAGA Republicans are orchestrating a sinister campaign to divide us. As my spiritual adviser Landru says, 'they are not of the body.' Their alien beliefs threaten the well-being of the collective. We must take whatever actions are necessary to ensure the termination of their evil influence.”
The day after his speech, Biden was taken aback by a reporter asking “do you consider all Trump supporters to be a threat to the country?” A baffled Biden replied “I don't remember saying that. Who says I said that? It's only Trump voters who refuse to accept the fact that 81 million voters elected me to rule this country. Their patriotic duty as citizens is to obey my authority and do what I ask of them to build a better future without me having to force them to do it.”