A Tale of Two Speeches
Category: News & Politics
Via: john-russell • 2 years ago • 23 commentsBy: William Saletan (The Bulwark)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Biden's SOTU and Trump's CPAC speeches lay out entirely different visions for America. byWilliam Saletan March 2, 2022 7:58 am (Photos: GettyImages) Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via emailPrint
What does America stand for? This week, the world heard two very different answers to that question.
The first answer was delivered on Saturday by former President Donald Trump in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference. The second was offered on Tuesday by President Joe Biden in his State of the Union Address. These two men, having faced off in the 2020 presidential election, are on track to meet again in 2024. Biden, in his remarks, defended American values. Trump derided and dismissed them.
Biden aimed his address at Vladimir Putin, calling the Russian president a "dictator" and condemning his invasion of Ukraine. Trump, by contrast, repeated his praise of Putin ("He's smart") and boasted, "I spent a lot of time with him. I got along with him." This followed Trump's effusive comments about Putin in a Fox News interview last week—shortly after the invasion began—in which the former president crowed, "I got along with him fantastically." In the interview, Trump defended Putin's motives for the invasion—"I really don't believe he wanted to do this initially"—and instead blamed Biden for somehow tempting Putin into invading Ukraine.
Biden urged America to stand up for the principle of sovereignty: that no country, without provocation, should invade another. Trump belittled that principle, arguing that America should worry about its own borders instead of pretending that "Ukraine's borders are sacred." "The Biden administration has spent months obsessing over how to stop an invasion of a foreign country thousands of miles away," Trump sneered. "The Biden administration cares more about helping citizens of a distant foreign nation than it does about our own citizens."
Biden distinguished authoritarianism from democracy. He applauded "the free world" for coming to Ukraine's defense, and he proclaimed that "in the battle between democracy and autocracy, democracies are rising to the moment." Trump, conversely, flaunted his friendships with autocrats. "I got along with President Xi. I got along with Kim Jong-un," he bragged. "President Xi liked me and respected me, and I liked and respected him. We got along great." Speaking to reporters after his CPAC speech, Trump faulted Biden for displeasing Kim, who, according to Trump, "seems not to like President Biden very much."
In a bizarre pitch straight out of South Park, Trump encouraged Americans to direct their anger at Canada, not Russia. "If the radical Democrats truly want to fight for democracy abroad," he proposed, "they should start with the democracy that is under threat right next door: a place called Canada." He claimed, absurdly, that Canada's temporary invocation of emergency powers to disperse protesters who had shut down parts of the country—mostly because they opposed vaccine mandates and other public health measures—was "tyranny." While fretting that "a line has been crossed," Trump located that line in Ottawa, not Kyiv: "We stand with the Canadian people in their noble quest to reclaim their freedom."
Biden reaffirmed America's commitment to NATO. He warned Putin that "the United States and our allies will defend every inch of territory of NATO countries with the full force of our collective power." Trump sought to undercut that commitment. He ridiculed "the NATO nations," calling them "not so smart," and he proudly reminded the CPAC audience of his threats to withhold American protection from NATO allies who "don't pay" enough.
Biden asked Americans to maintain "unwavering resolve" in the confrontation with Putin, even if sanctions against Russia caused higher gas prices in the United States. Trump scorned such appeals to solidarity, advising Americans to turn against their own government. "Unbelievably, Biden is now claiming that you must sacrifice through higher energy prices to foot the cost of his failed foreign policy in Europe," said the former president.
Biden extolled America. "We are the only nation on Earth that has always turned every crisis we have faced into an opportunity," he declared. "The state of the Union is strong because you, the American people, are strong." Trump disparaged America. "We were a smart country; now we're a stupid country," he said. "We are a laughingstock all over the world . . . We are a laughingstock."
Biden asked his countrymen to put aside their differences. "Let's stop looking at COVID-19 as a partisan dividing line and see it for what it is: a God-awful disease," said the president. "Let's stop seeing each other as enemies and start seeing each other for who we really are: fellow Americans." Trump, conversely, prodded Americans to turn against one another. "Our country is being poisoned from within," he warned, calling his domestic opponents "truly evil" and "vicious people." "As grave as the dangers are abroad, it's the destruction within that spells our doom," said Trump. "Our most dangerous people are people from within."
Biden defended the rule of law. He called for more funding of police departments, and he announced that the Department of Justice would crack down on financial fraud and "the crimes of Russian oligarchs." Trump, on the other hand, smeared prosecutors as Democratic partisans and accused them of mistreating the January 6 insurrectionists. He suggested that "perhaps Republicans should pack the Supreme Court," and he insisted that if Republicans regained power, they must make "every executive branch employee fireable by the president."
Many Republicans pretend that Trump doesn't represent their party. But they suck up to him, refuse to renounce his arguments, and often parrot them. On Sunday, Sen. Tom Cotton repeatedly ducked questions about Trump's praise of Putin. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did the same on Tuesday. Meanwhile, in a 75-minute forum to lay out their agenda, House Republicans barely mentioned Ukraine. They applied terms such as "dictator," "regime," and "communist countries" not to Putin, but to Democrats who enforced vaccine mandates or mask mandates.
Biden has his faults. He botched the negotiations on his Build Back Better plan, misjudged the pullout from Afghanistan, and underrated the severity of inflation. But the gap between his vision of America and Trump's vision of America makes those faults insignificant. Biden believes in democracy and the rule of law. He believes that the free world must stand together. He believes that Americans should treat one another as compatriots, not enemies, and that they should care about people in other countries.
Trump believes none of this.
It's a simple choice.
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William Saletan
William Saletan is a writer at The Bulwark.
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Well done.
At the very least.
State of the Union speech was about America's potential and future.
Trump's CPAC speech was about the continuation of the MAGA grift.
If you REALLY do, you piece of shit, you would realize that a minority of radical truckers who would rather spread a disease among Canadians was a scourge for most Canadians who disagreed with their childish antics because the low-life truckers encouraged and caused a lot more harm than the "good" they thought they were championing. I may not like Justin much, but just as I totally agreed with his father having invoked the War Measures Act, the predecessor of the Emergencies Act, I also totally agree with Justin having invoked the Emergencies Act, and with Ford, the premier of Ontario, for doing likewise.
Aw, tell us where the unvaccinated out there hurt you.
Fact. Getting vaccinated does not prevent someone from getting Covid; transmitting Covid to others; and only "may" (yes that is may according the very drug companies that produce them) diminish the affects of Covid. With each successive version of Covid the vaccines are less and less effective; and there are more breakthrough cases.
Funny how those that screamed bloody murder when Trump sent Federal officers to left wing bastion of stupidity cities where far left Brown Shirts were destroying federal property; now suddenly support left wing politicians going full on fascist against those protesters they don't agree with.
Bullshit. Where I live the guidelines were GLADLY adhered to and there are presently NO cases of the virus in the 32 million population city-state in which I live. Maybe you could explain why the vast majority of those who are hospitalized with the virus in the USA are those who have NOT been vaccinated?
Really Buzz? Expect the CCCP state run media to actually report the truth about what is going on in China? The same state run media that allowed the government's coverup of Covid at the very start. What was your reporting in China on foreign athletes complaining about the food, lodging, snow and ice conditions in China. We had no problems getting those stories here. Pelosi even went live to warn athletes not to complain openly about the conditions- wonder why she did that?
It is your choice to live in a fascist country. Some of us value our freedom. But don't worry; the Democrats are working their hardest towards a one party full on fascist rule, just like China.
That's a good question. We can't even expect the media to report the truth in this country, how can we expect another country to report the truth when the media is managed by the state. oy....
I'll not waste my time to reiterate yet again for those who won't believe me anyway the reasons why I know what I'm talking about. I simply lament the fact that there seem to be so many who are not only content to be naive and convinced by propaganda and misinformation, but also think that others are as well.
I may have to rely upon American media as to what is happening in the USA, but I can rely on my own eyes as to what is happening in China.
That's all well and good to a point, but as you have said you live in a city/state of 32 million people. There is no way you can know everything that is going on in that area. You have to rely on local media and/or something stated by someone else. So in reality you cannot know everything that is going on any more than we can in the US with a supposedly free press. Hell, gun crime is a great example. The press expounds on it so much that one could, if this was the only source of information, tend to believe that every square inch of the US is under threat of violent gun crime at all times and we are all under a very high risk of being shot and killed just while walking out our front doors. That is far from the truth.. but truth doesn't sell the news.
So the simple truth is that we have to rely on the news media. Here in the US we know that the news sources are biased and we have to take it into account. And we don't know how much control the state has over the Chinese news media so simple question ... How was the reporting on foreign athletes complaining about the food, lodging, snow and ice conditions in China.
As I said, Snuffy, I'm not going to reiterate what I've said more than once on this site the reasons why I believe a lot more about China than Americans give me credit for. Of course the news is biased here as well, but because I'm here I have other sources. I've been here more than 15 years, and my critics are not here and have never been. But I have spent a fair part of my life in the USA, including owning and spending time in a condo in Florida.
Not a problem Buzz. I have no desire to get into a pissing contest with you, have too much respect for you. But you do from time to time land fairly heavy based on what you get from main-stream media and it appears to be all one-sided. Above you stated agreement when Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act. I feel that was overkill for the situation personally but I suspect I have a stronger belief in personal freedom than you do. You can complain about the selfish truckers who could spread the virus by their acts, but it wasn't all that long ago they were being hailed as hero's in keeping the economy moving while the rest of the world was in lockdown. As Canada already has a vaccination rate of 81%, how much danger does this minority of truckers really present? With the way some people have been persecuted over the entire protest, I just believe this was overly harsh treatment committed by the government of Canada.
TBH I have a very hard time believing that in a city/state of 32 million people there is not even one case of the Covid virus. I commend the Chinese, they as a people live a healthier lifestyle than American's do, have a healthier diet, and are much more inclined to follow normal protections to avoid infectious disease. But I still have a very hard time believing there is not one single case.
Snuffy, what I said above was "...there are presently NO cases of the virus in the 32 million population city-state in which I live." Previously, Chongqing experienced almost 700 infections, all recovered save for 6 deaths. That was almost 2 years ago, and since then there have been a few imported cases (people coming from elsewhere) but now none. The count of current cases is reported in the China Daily every day. For example, this is reported today...
The report continues, describing imported cases, asymptomatic cases, and running totals. If there were new cases in Chongqing I don't believe the government would hide them. China is following a ZERO COVID policy, and as you've probably already read will test millions of people in a city and apply draconian controls if a breakout happens. I feel quite safe here.
You're debating those who have a vested interest in defending Russian fascists while they attack anyone who doesn't think, vote and pray as conservative Christians do. They can't help but assume anyone who is not 'them' must be a Chinese communist or liberal progressive socialist elitist (as if that contradiction could ever work) which in their shallow brain pans equate to the same thing. They even incorrectly attribute China to being 'fascist' even though they are clearly communist, most likely because they don't have the slightest clue what the difference is between fascism, communism and socialism, to them those words are just insults to call people they disagree with.
Here are a few replies to their hilarious conservative bullshit:
Only a fucking moron would believe the vaccine completely prevents Covid, not even the manufacturers of the vaccine claimed it was 100% effective. The vaccines only provided between 72% and 94% temporary immunity.
Which no one denied, all they claimed is the FACT that getting the vaccine lowered the risk of getting it if exposed which lowered the chance of transmissibility. And not just with "each successive version of Covid" but just with time alone the vaccines efficacy waned, we've always known that.
There wasn't anyone telling these dumb shit conservative hicks and anti-vaccers that the vaccine was 100% effective and would never lose efficacy. The only ones who seem to be bitching that the vaccines weren't 100% are those with room temp IQ's or had their heads shoved so far up Trumps ass that they could only lap up the runny ass juice news trickling from his backside and so clearly wouldn't have an accurate view of reality.
I responded politely to Snuffy because he's not a bad guy, DP. What the pandemic has done, if not occurring previously, has exposed the fools who seem compelled to display their ignorance and prejudices.
I believe that the pandemic exposed those who have been infected by the right wing lies and conspiracy theories that now seem to be the life blood of the right wing extremists.
They seem desperate for any reason to disagree with science or the CDC recommendations. They claim updated and/or changed recommendations mean none of the science can be trusted so they think we should just do whatever we want, ignore basic Covid safety measures, because if the CDC has to keep updating Covid recommendations then its advice is no different than the advice they get from their racist drunk uncle or crazy neighbor. They act as if because scientists revise recommendations they might as well have called an 800 number psychic for Covid advice. They pretend that because the vaccine isn't 100% effective then there's no reason to even bother with it and act as if they'd been lied to by the "deep state".
The mostly right wing conservative anti-vaccers and anti-maskers stand up and scream at school boards and on TV even though no one is actually threatening them, they aren't protesting school shootings, they're not panicking because their child is in another school lock down with an active shooter. They're screaming about their child having to wear a mask. You might think that it would take something like Sandy Hook to anger parents so much, but no, the easy access to high capacity magazines and assault rifles is a constitutional right while being asked to get vaccinated or wear a mask during a deadly pandemic is "authoritarianism", "fascism", "communism" and/or "socialism". The only explanation I can come up with is that apparently conservatives don't know what any of those words actually mean, but they're convinced anything they hate must be one of them.
The anti-maskers are also fucking crazy.
Oh, The Irony!
I wonder how long,if ever, we will take to realize that the quoted person is playing us against each other?
Trump disparaged America. "We were a smart country; now we're a stupid country," he said. "We are a laughingstock all over the world . . . We are a laughingstock."
Trump was a "laughingstock" at the G-7 and the UN.
SOTU and the response are a waste of time.