Biden Nails It Again

Joe Biden has been under pressure to respond to Trump's attacks on him and his depiction of Biden as a radical leftist bent on encouraging violence and seeking the support of extremists while turning a deaf ear to the cornerstone of people worried about the growing chaos and lawlessness in the country.  Yesterday, Biden responded aggressively and forcefully  to Trump's claims that a Biden administration would make America less safe in a twenty-minute speech in Pittsburgh.

"I want a safe America: safe from COVID, safe from crime and looting, safe from racially motivated violence, safe from bad cops," Biden said, adding, "Let me be crystal clear: safe from four more years of Donald Trump." 

Biden clearly condemned the violence emanating from protests against racial injustice and warned demonstrators that allowing violence to get out of hand destroyed the very communities they were trying to help.

"Rioting is not protesting," Biden said.  "Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting. None of this is protesting. It’s lawlessness, plain and simple, and those who do it should be prosecuted." He also said, “Violence will not bring change. It will only bring destruction. It’s wrong in every way. It divides instead of unites ... it makes things worse across the board, not better. It’s not what Dr. King or John Lewis taught and it must end."

He also laid into Trump on how he let the COVID-19 pandemic to spiral out of hand, making Americans less safe even without civil unrest, as well as how Trump's handling of  COVID-19 decimated the economy.  He even cited Kellyanne Conway's observation that more violence helps Trump and how Trump supporters incite violence on their candidate's behalf.

Biden then asked voters to answer whether they're safe after four years of Donald Trump.

"Fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames rather than fighting the flames," Biden also stressed.  "But we must not burn. We have to build."

Needless to say, Biden made a few comments that might not sit well with progressives in his efforts to appeal to the center.  He said that most cops are good, decent people, a characterization that progressives might have a problem with.  Biden tried to cast aside Trump's insistence that how would ban fracking, saying that he would not.  Yes, and the left definitely has a problem with that!  (And in spite of his clean-energy program, which, of course, satisfies no one among the far left.)  And he quoted Pope John Paul II in urging people not to be afraid.  (If you're a Democrat and you want to shore up your own base, John Paul II is probably the last pope you want to quote, not just because of his mishandling od the Church sex-abuse scandal but also because of his own cultural conservatism.)

Biden's biggest mistake would not be anything he said yesterday.  His biggest mistake would be thinking that he doesn't have to say any of that again, because Trump lies so much and so often that this speech will hardly be the last word.  Biden has to keep up his rhetoric because Trump will keep up his rhetoric.  For now, though, Biden has more numbers on the scorecard.   

A Matter of Priorities

The earthquake in Japan and the tsunami that it spawned, which threatened both Hawaii and the mainland Pacific states and caused some formidable waves in both areas, show how important it is that we prepare for the worst and how we should always make sure that we have the resources to make our warning systems work . . . and work well.

So why did the Republicans propose a spending cut of about $126 million for the National Weather Service, which runs the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, before the tsunami was generated?

Why do the Republicans want to cut $454 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, of which the National Weather Service is part, which could cause intermittent closures of weather service offices? Why would they make it more difficult, if not impossible, to get people to safety in the event of a tidal wave - like if, say, Rush Limbaugh goes back to Hawaii for a vacation and decides to go cannonball diving off a pier?

Well, let me let House Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Hing answer that:

"The nation is in an historic fiscal crisis, and it is imperative that the Congress roll back spending in virtually every area of government — including NOAA — so that we can help our economy back on track."

Hing added that the House Republicans recognize the need to keep critical lifesaving and safety programs, which is why their proposed budget would not cut spending for a network of tsunami-detecting buoys in the Pacific Ocean.

Gee, I feel so much better.

It should be clear that the Republicans have no regard for the general welfare in any circumstances - even when the lives and safety of millions of people are involved.

Next, you'll be telling me that they want to cut spending for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, even though the accident at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant shows how badly things can go wrong with nuclear energy even in countries where it is strongly regulated.

On second thought, don't. . . .