In Fairness to President Biden
My Sincere Praise of His Good Character and Historic Accomplishments
As my readers have seen, I have evolved these past few years from an independent-minded Democrat to an unaffiliated independent and seemingly implacable critic of the Democratic Party and President Biden.
On this Father’s Day, however, I wish to give credit where it is due.
Above all, I believe that Joe Biden is fundamentally a decent, kind person and a good father and husband.
When he became a widower early in life after losing his first wife and infant daughter in a tragic car accident, he daily commuted between his home in Delaware and Washington, D.C., where he served as an elected Senator. He did so in order to be with his two young boys every night. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Joe Biden also loves dogs and speaks about his dogs only as someone who loves them can do. Many might not understand how much that matters, but only a good, kind man with a generous heart could feel that way.
Mr. Biden is not merely a good guy who happened to become President. On the contrary, he has already become a historic President for at least the following reasons:
In a closely and severely divided Congress, Mr. Biden and his highly capable team managed to pass game-changing legislation on infrastructure, semiconductors and core research, construction permit reform, industrial policy, and the green energy revolution.
Are these perfect laws that facilitate flawless policies in the best possible manner? Of course not. In a democracy, however, give-and-take is required to accomplish anything important, as the President recently reminded us when he and his team astutely negotiated a tolerable debt-ceiling law with Speaker McCarthy (who must contend with a completely irresponsible wing in his own party).
Almost single-handedly, Mr. Biden has revived strong federal enforcement of antitrust law, appointing key people to lead the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission. Mr. Biden also appointed an exceptionally talented antitrust hawk, Professor Tim Wu of Columbia University, to advise him on competition policy. Mr. Wu and his team thereafter authored a groundbreaking executive order on competition policy, which Mr. Biden signed and has since implemented. The policies and practices required or permitted by this order will prove a boon to our economy and society for as long they remain in place.
Mr. Biden has consistently nominated first-rate jurists to serve as federal judges in the federal circuit courts and federal district courts. He also appointed a gifted, strong woman to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court.
President Biden is an exceptionally patient, conciliatory politician.
President Biden defeated Mr. Trump, whose movement still threatens our Republic, but has likely peaked. By so doing, and by his even-keeled manner, Mr. Biden partly restored our allies’ confidence in our country as well as its foreign policy and institutions.
Mr. Biden’s above accomplishments and many others are already far more substantial than those of most former Presidents.
I will leave for future posts my recurring criticisms, which probably can be boiled down as follows. First, Mr. Biden should have the sense and grace to retire in timely manner. Second, he and especially his younger team apparently lack the mettle to stand up to our idiotic fascists at home or the much more dangerous ones abroad.
I also have philosophical quarrels and very practical-minded disagreements with the “identity politics” favored by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
None of my criticisms, however, lessen my fundamental appreciation of President Biden’s accomplishments or what kind of man he has been. But just as conservatives owe a special obligation to repudiate Trumpism, liberals like me owe an obligation to object publicly to the failings that have become apparent in the Democratic Party.
All that to the side, I wish a Happy Father’s Day to our President and congratulate him on his historic accomplishments.