When I did my time at Patheos, in response to the Trump impeachment mob, I pointed out that during the Watergate scandal, my parents were upset at the idea of Nixon being removed from office. Despite being lifelong Democrats (at least up to that point), they took no pleasure in seeing the president driven out in scandal. They knew that would be bad for the country as a whole, and so it was. I won't bother with the reaction from the good readers at Patheos.
I thought of that when I read this rather gleeful story at FOX News, that President Biden was met with jeers as he toured the devastation in Kentucky. I'm old enough to remember, on the whole, that partisanship happened after tragedies or disasters or other grievous loss of life events. But it usually took some time. Give it a week or two. Sometimes a month or more, before the partisan sharks started swimming.
I won't cast blame. It isn't as if FOX is doing something uniquely repulsive, or those jeering are in some way breaking from modern tradition. Immediately rushing in to put a partisan spin while even the bodies haven't been gathered up has become as American as apple pie and racism used to be. And the last thing I could ever say is that it's those rascally right winger types who are behind it all. I couldn't say who first decided political exploitation should be our first response. But if I was a betting man - and I'm not - I'd put it firmly on some progressive activism, like guns and gun violence and rushing to make it about gun control before facts are known or bodies are covered.
In any event, it shows have far we've sunk as a nation. The divisions are so deep now I wonder at what point we'll stop, or if we've passed a point of no return. In any event, I admit that President Biden is on the fast track to being one of our worst presidents ever. And that's from someone who remembers President Carter, President Obama and President George W. Bush. Nonetheless, there are times and places, and this is certainly neither. Not for a nation that has its priorities straight.
I think W Bush really started the trend of presidents visiting. With New York on 9/11 and then getting hit during Katrina with "Bush doesn't care about black people."
ReplyDeleteNeedless to say, I'm very torn here.
I remember back when Andrew plastered Florida. Perhaps it was more regional, but the media in our neck of the woods (Tampa) ran with stories about people criticizing GHW Bush for not visiting sooner, or at all (can't remember which). So it must have been expected to some degree back then. Nonetheless, it's certainly become more partisan, so that whichever president is in office, the other side will look at these things as chances to score points when it wasn't too long ago that scoring points was pushed down the road a bit after such disasters or loss of life.
DeleteSaying Biden is "on his way" to being one the worst Presidents is something of an understatement. Like a huge one. I've never seen anything like him, and I'm 65. Yes, good manners left long ago. I would agree with your disdain for it as shown in Kentucky, but given the context of what Biden is doing to the country, I would be jeering him as well.
ReplyDeleteI think the state of Biden is almost different than just 'worst'. It's almost as if he really isn't even functioning. Carter was at least Carter and the good or bad fell on him. I don't know where it falls today. I just know we've passed something in our nation and I fear we won't be going back at this point.
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