Tag: Biden Address to the Joint Session of Congress

Biden sparked outrage calling Jan. 6 ‘the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War’ — he was right

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In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Joe Biden called the January 6 insurrection “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.” This is an apt comparison. The insurrection was the worst attack on our democracy since the shelling of Fort Sumter, because the president of the United States schemed to overturn a free and fair election and remain in power against the will of the people, a high crime for which he was impeached. It was pure luck that the insurgents didn’t assassinate the vice president for refusing the president’s order to steal the election.

Revisionists are already trying to memory-hole the full significance of the attack and cast it as a mere riot rather than as a coordinated assault on American democracy orchestrated by a sitting president. While the out-and-out hacks allege January 6 was a false-flag operation masterminded by BLM, the more intellectually respectable apologists are trying to muddy the waters with spurious historical objections. 

Bloomberg Opinion columnist Eli Lake tweeted: “The Capitol Hill riot was terrible. All of this is true. At the same time, what happened on January 6 is not the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. Some perspective would be nice here.” Continue reading.

GOP Demands “Unity” But Ignores That a Majority of Voters Back Biden’s Proposals

Before and after President Joe Biden’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, Republican lawmakers repeatedly blasted him for allegedly breaking his pledge to unify the country. But the problem may actually lie in the GOP’s concept of “unity.”

Biden has indeed pressed for unity in a number of statements and speeches he’s made before, including in his inauguration speech. Overcoming the challenges presently facing the country “requires more than words,” Biden said on January 20. “It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy: Unity.”

Within that same speech, Biden noted he was for “uniting our people” and “uniting our nation.” To Republicans, however, calls for unity appear to only mean acquiescing or compromising with their demands, not the wants and needs of Americans as a whole. Continue reading.

Nicolle Wallace pans Tim Scott’s rebuttal: ‘Delivered from a planet where facts don’t matter’

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MSNBC anchors fact-checked Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) after his rebuttal speech following President Joe Biden’s first address to Congress.

“I do think it’s going to be hard for most people who are paying any attention to politics to swallow the Republican support making it easier to vote line and the long passage he had about how Democrats are the ones blocking police reform,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow noted. “There’s some stuff there that may make sense in a sliver of Republican world, but in the news world, I don’t think will ring.”

“This is a speech delivered from a planet where facts don’t matter, which is where the current Republican Party resides, so it’s not really his fault, but it is his responsibility to get his facts straight,” Wallace said. Continue reading.

Visualizing the unique, historic diversity of the dais at Biden’s speech

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In the first seconds of his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Biden acknowledged the historic nature of the people who sat behind him.

“Madam Speaker, Madam Vice President,” he began. “No president has ever said those words from this podium. No president has ever said those words. And it’s about time.”

He was referring, of course, to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — the only woman to have ever held that position — and Vice President Harris, the only woman and person of Black or Asian descent to ever have done so. It was a moment without equal in American history. Continue reading.

Biden makes case for sweeping change

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President Biden on Wednesday made the case for sweeping government action in an address to a sparsely populated joint session of Congress like no other in U.S. history.

Speaking on the 99th day of his presidency in a chamber overrun by insurrectionists just more than three months ago, Biden laid out an ambitious legislative agenda before an audience of lawmakers severely limited by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Biden used his address to tout his efforts to get the nation back to normal after the pandemic and the divisive presidency of Donald Trump. He made no direct mention of his predecessor, but argued those present had a responsibility to “prove democracy still works and our government still works and we can deliver for our people.” Continue reading.