I still have tears in the corners of my eyes. Among Presidents, only President Joe Biden could have delivered a speech like this with exactly the impact he desired.
I want to start with this. I think many of you may have forgotten, but all the way back in 2020, when it appeared that Biden had the nomination sewed up, he made a statement I’ve never forgotten. He basically said, Make no mistake. If I’m elected President, I am caretaker to hand over the torch to the next generation of progressive leaders. Biden was clear eyed about his role all the way back then, he simply ended up handing over the torch four years before he anticipated back then.
President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is in every possible definition of the word a mensch. He is a man of honor, selfless service, and dignity. It took a fat, racist poltroon 92 minutes to ramble, slobber, insult and whine his way through his acceptance speech. It took President Biden 12 minutes to gracefully turn over the torch to the next generation in a graceful, dignified manner.
Only Biden could have delivered this speech. In his 12 minutes there wasn’t a hint of self pity, bitterness, self grievance, or rancor. Instead Biden eloquently spoke of his pride in his 50 years of public service, and expressed sincere gratitude to the American people for giving him the opportunity to serve them for so long.
Biden took the time to recap his successes as President, but it wasn’t a rally speech, nor was it handled with the kind of braggadocio bullsh*t of Traitor Tot. Instead he tied his accomplishments to the benefits, that the American people received from the results of his labor of love.
And then Biden consigned His Lowness and his bullsh*t MAGA movement to the ash heap of history. When Biden directly named his Vice President Kamala Harris as the one to carry the torch forward, he didn’t waste the opportunity by turning the speech into a campaign rally for Harris. After 50 long years, Biden is smarter than that.
Instead, in the course of 3-4 minutes, Biden irrevocably set the focal point for the November election. And he never mentioned Trump by name, he didn’t mention Harris by name. Instead, he landed a 100 mph sucker punch to the American electorate who will determine the election.
Biden put the weight and responsibility of the future of American democracy exactly where it belongs, the American people. He reminded his audience that the only reason he came out of retirement in 2020 to run for President was because he personally felt that democracy itself was threatened by the autocratic Trump. He reminded the audience that George Washington voluntarily gave up the reins of power, that Lincoln gave his life to unite the American people during the Civil War, and that FDR reminded the American people that “The only thing to fear is fear itself”. Those past leaders all did the job to the best of their abilities, and they changed the course of history.
But you know what? It all comes down to us. And Biden reminded his audience of that, The United States is unique, because democracy is a dream, it’s an idea. And democracy only survives if the American people continue to believe in the dream, that cherished idea. Biden warned the audience that democracy was on the ballot in November, and could only survive if the American people chose once again to stand up and defend it.
He exited with his greatest hits. He reminded the audience of his favorite tag line, We’re the United States of America for god’s sake, there’s nothing, nothing that we can’t do if we all come together and put our minds to it. May God bless the United states of America, and may God protect our troops.
Twelve minutes that may have changed the course of American history. The last month has been a nightmare for the Democrats, and the last four days have been a whirlwind. I would be surprised if the television ratings for Biden’s speech tonight don’t top the viewership for some Super Bowls. Biden is the rare sitting President since George Washington and LBJ to voluntarily release his hold on power. Americans are going to want to hear for themselves what the man has to say. And what he had to say was to break it down to the simplest denominator.
It’s all about democracy. Look, forget about the personalities, forget about the politics, forget about the rhetoric. This entire election boils down to whether or not democracy in the United States thrives, or withers and dies. Do you want to continue to have the right to go to the polls every 2-4 years and vote out people who don’t represent you, or do you want to turn this country over to an autocrat and a single party?
The GOP has no answer. The MAGA cult has spent the last seven years espousing cruelty, sexism, misogyny, and bigotry. They have treated El Pendejo ex Presidente as a cult leader, and their vaunted Project 2025 has cast them in stone as the party of fascism. What do they run on, and how do they refute the Democrat’s claims? In November, the American People will make that decision for them.
I thank you for the privilege of your time.
You have probably written 1000 pieces……and God willing, will write 1000 more.
…….but when all is said and done, they will say, “That THIS…..this was his finest hour.
Hats off to you Murphster!!!
Lose a battle, win the war!
“The only thing to fear is fear itself”.
And fear is all the rethugs offer. They can’t offer hope, or any positive emotions at all.
Just fear. Of immigrants. LGBTQ. ‘Socialism’, ‘Them’. The other.
Just fear.
I sometimes wonder if this wasn’t on President Biden’s mind to do all along. There is no arguing–he is old. He was old when he was elected in 2020. His age being an issue in 2024 had to be on his mind’s horizon or he is/was as short-sighted as trump and President Biden is anything but short-sighted. The only thing that speaks against this is if he were planning this or thinking about it at least, he would have prepared V.P. Harris better by making sure she was doing a lot of things (correctly btw), important things, that would keep her in the spotlight. V.P.’s aren’t generally in the spotlight even tho’ they are holding that position in the line of succession. Tom Lehrer wrote a funny song about it: Whatever Became of Hubert? Yeah, things have changed a bit since the 60’s but not one hell of a lot.
Biden is,and always has been, a decent, caring, compassionate, honorable man. He is everything Trump can never be, because a malignant narcissist is incapable of caring for anyone but himself. I am.pretty sure had DJT been president during WW II, he’d have thrown in with Hitler, because they are both leaders of an evil, hateful cult.
Thank you for this. You summed it up.beautifully.