President Biden is providing outstanding leadership in a series of very challenging situations. President Biden’s speech to the nation on 10/19 will impress and move you. The mainstream media focus on drama, conflict, and negativity. Calm, steady, effective leadership doesn’t get the coverage it deserves. Below are three examples of non-mainstream media that have done a much better job of telling the story of Biden’s leadership than the mainstream media. Stop and think for a minute what would be happening if Donald Trump were President.
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In turbulent situations, it’s invaluable to have an experienced, thoughtful, steady, and rational leader. President Biden is providing outstanding leadership in a series of very challenging situations:
- The Covid pandemic and its aftermath, including serious damage to the economy;
- Putin’s attack on Ukraine;
- The dysfunction of the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and, in particular, their threat to default on the U.S. debt; and
- Hamas’s attack on Israel and all the volatility it could unleash in the Middle East.
I don’t think any other President in my lifetime has faced such a set of serious challenges. Stop and think for a minute what would be happening if Donald Trump had been re-elected in 2020.
The mainstream media is now driven by on-line clicks, and therefore focuses on drama, conflict, and negativity. Calm, steady, effective leadership doesn’t generate as many clicks, so it doesn’t get the coverage it deserves.
Non-mainstream media have done a much better job of telling the story of President Biden’s leadership. For example, Robert Reich (who served as President Clinton’s Secretary of Labor and in a number of other federal government jobs before that), in his blog on 10/19/23, titled The last adult in the room, describes President Biden as “shrewd, careful, and calibrated” in the face of major challenges, despite the child-like behavior of many other supposed leaders. Reich highlights Biden’s significant actions and successes on the home and global stages from the Middle East to dealing with Congress to delivering benefits for the American workforce.
Robert Hubbell, in his blog on 10/20/23, titled We cannot give up on peace, reviews President Biden’s speech to the nation on the evening of 10/19. I encourage you to listen to Biden’s 15-minute speech. You will be impressed and moved by it. (It begins 2 hours and 5 minutes into the YouTube recording of the news broadcast.) Hubbell calls it a truly great speech in which Biden forcefully and convincingly addresses the complicated situations in the Middle East, Ukraine, and here in America. He links all of them back to the need to defend democracy from the threats of dictators, terrorists, and hate. Biden is thoughtful, compassionate, and comprehensive; he does not shrink from taking on difficult topics including racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism.
In the speech, Biden underscores the importance of the United States of America and its leadership on the global stage. He calls America the “essential” and “indispensable nation,” noting that America “is a beacon to the world” … “the idea of America, the promise of America.” He states that we must “reject all forms of hate. It’s what great nations do.”
Heather Cox Richardson, in her blog, Letters from an American on 10/18/23, reviews Biden’s visit to Israel and the speeches he gave there, where he adroitly walked the tight rope of condemning terrorism, supporting Israel, stating that the vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas terrorists, and negotiating humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza. He called unequivocally for the protection of civilians on all sides and adherence to the rules of war. He stated that democracies must live by the rule of law, not the rules of terrorism. Richardson takes note of “Biden’s steady hand, experience, and courage” in visiting Israel and taking on the tricky issues the Hamas-Israel conflict presents.
We are lucky, and should be thankful, that President Biden is bringing such capable leadership to our country and the world at this very challenging time both globally and domestically.
Lippitt's Policy and Politics Blog 