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President Joe Biden has received a lot of criticism for the combative speech he gave in Philadelphia criticizing die-hard Trump supporters. He said, “MAGA Republicans do not respect the constitution, they do not believe in the rule of law, they do not recognize the will of the people.” Democrats praised Biden for his fiery speech and his approval ratings rose slightly. Some likened Biden’s tough guy stance to his days as the scrappy senator from Delaware when he was known for being a skilled negotiator who didn’t shy away from controversy. Straight Arrow News contributor Ruben Navarrette says he usually has mixed feelings about President Biden but now wonders if he isn’t the perfect candidate for the turmoil we’re facing today.
I’ve gone back and forth a lot on Joe Biden in the more than 30 years I’ve been following him. And the whiplash has gotten worse in the last two years that he’s been president.
At times, I just can’t decide how I feel about the guy. I recently declared in a column that Biden was a feeble and failed president whose biggest accomplishment was saving the country from the ravings of a crazy man. Not bad, but also not much of a legacy.
So imagine my surprise when I recently discovered something about Biden that I liked, really liked. Actually, it was more like rediscovered. It was there in the back of my mind, a memory lying dormant.
What I remembered is that Joe Biden, the scrapper from hardscrabble Scranton is no prep school snowflake. He can throw a roundhouse punch with the best of them. After the 9/11 attacks leveled the World Trade Center, I remember Biden vowing that the United States would follow Osama bin Laden and his conspirators to quote “the gates of hell.” It was precisely the message that I and other Americans needed to hear at that moment. And he repeated it several times over the years.
