Biden’s Sordid Legacy: Ravaged Rights and Liberties
Joe Biden’s presidency ends on January 20, 2025. There will likely be a media stampede to hallow his reign and trumpet his virtues. But Biden perpetually trampled his January 20, 2021, oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
In his 2022 State of the Union address, Biden declared, “When dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they keep moving.” And he kept moving until his own political party dumped him. Later in 2022, President Biden proclaimed that “liberty is under assault.” But he was referring solely to a few court rulings of which he disapproved, not to the federal supremacy he championed for almost 50 years in the Senate and the White House.
Biden’s self-puffery and hypocrisy
The absurdity of the Biden reign was epitomized in July when he was browbeaten into ending his reelection campaign. In Biden’s 11-minute speech announcing that decision, everything was sacred — including the Oval Office (“this sacred space”), “the sacred cause of this country,” “the “sacred task of perfecting our Union,” and the “sacred idea” of America. Biden announced that “I revere this office” — a hint that viewers should revere him, too. Biden has worshiped political power his entire life — and so it was no surprise that religiosity suffused his valedictory address.
Biden asked: “Does character in public life still matter?” That signaled that most of the coverups of his abuses and potential kickbacks will continue at least until January. No wonder Hunter Biden had a big smile as he sat just outside of the video sweep in the Oval Office. But Biden never permitted his Attorney General, Merrick Garland, to release the audiotape of Biden’s bumbling interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur — perhaps the single biggest step toward Biden’s expulsion from American political life.
Biden told viewers of that July spiel: “Nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy.” So Democratic Party bosses had no choice but to nullify 15 million primary ballots cast for Biden and jam a replacement candidate down the nation’s throat. For years, the Democratic Party has equated vanquishing or destroying Trump with saving democracy, justifying any tactic — fair or foul — to thwart Trump. Ginning up bogus criminal charges to get Trump locked away from voters? Check. Using the FBI and other federal agencies to target anyone who is too enthusiastic about MAGA? Check.
Perhaps Biden’s biggest innovation was his doctrine that preserving democracy requires destroying freedom of speech. His appointees launched the Disinformation Governance Board to police Americans’ criticisms of government and plenty of other topics. The Orwellian name helped torpedo that board, but that was not even the tip of the iceberg of federal abuses. A federal appeals court slammed the Biden administration for conducting an unconstitutional censorship “pressure campaign designed to coerce social-media companies into suppressing speakers, viewpoints, and content disfavored by the government.” That same court found that censors especially targeted speech by conservatives and Republicans.
For at least 15 years, Biden has relied on a two-step routine — ruthlessly vilifying his opponents and then appealing to “our better angels,” a phrase recycled from Lincoln’s first inaugural address. Biden lulled listeners into assuming he is personally one of those “better angels” as he flailed anyone in the way of his latest power grab. From portraying any Republican who wanted
Article from LewRockwell
LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
