JOE BIDEN'S SPEECH WAS A HOME RUN

…Trump calls Joe Biden “Sleepy Joe”, he was anything but “Sleepy”

Biden calls out the president, and Trump has no real response

A number of my readers have asked that I give my comments on Joe Biden’s latest speech that seriously went after the man in the White House.

In stead of giving this speech at a Democratic campaign event, Biden rightfully chose to show that at this time, he is the best candidate to take on Donald Trump.  He did it via a foreign policy speech, which in itself is a foreign subject to a neophyte such as Donald Trump.  Biden also chose to do it in Trump’s own city by giving the speech at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York.

It was what I would say was one of the finest and well planned speeches that Biden has ever given. 

But don’t get me wrong, it was anything but a boring speech.  Yes, the overall speech was inclusive of an appropriate foreign policy speech.  But it went directly after the president with statements that were all true, and to the point and that even the president did not have the wherewithal to respond in an appropriate way.

To show that the speech was not one of those “oh hum” type of events, and why Biden’s speech is getting so much attention, the following are actual Biden quotes taken from the speech:

Biden: “Trump fosters hatred, not fighting it!”

Biden: “Trump has more in common with George Wallace than George Washington.”

Biden: “In both clear language and code: This president has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation.”

Biden: “Trump offers no moral leadership, no interest in unifying the nation, no evidence the presidency has awakened his conscience in the least.”

Biden: “Diplomacy requires credibility and Donald Trump has absolute eroded our credibility. Pulling out of treaties and lying about matters big and small, he’s bankrupted our credibility and alienated friends.”

The focus of the speech was big on contrasts and the main message was that through Trump’s totally impulsive actions, he has refused to stand for small “d”, democratic values.  Trump’s actions have removed the US from our positive position in the world.  He has hurt most all of our foreign alliances, and in many areas he has kept the US from enlisting our friends to our side while he has made the country less secure.

What was so presidential in Biden’s delivery was the accuracy of his statements that were delivered calmly, yet were definite, and for the lack of another word, as compared to Trump, Biden was “presidential”.

Biden was able to show that due to Trump’s bragging and chest thumping, the United States has lost its leadership position that took many decades to develop and refine.  For the first time in our short history, our allies cannot bank-on what the leader of the US says. 

Biden stated that, “It is in our enlightened self-interest to enhance and support democracy, which is the basis for our alliances and the source of our economy and ingenuity.”  That isn’t anywhere close to Trump’s attitude.

Biden made it all very clear when Trump equated the Nazis and neo-Nazis with their counter-protesters in Charlottesville.  When in Helsinki, President Trump gave one of his many “shameful” performances as a US President on foreign soil, by taking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s side over our own intelligence services.  Biden also argued that Trump undermines our democratic alliances.  And with Putin, this wasn’t the first time Trump has appealed to authoritarian dictators who “play to Trump’s vanity.”

Biden made the case that our democracy at home must be strengthened to reassert our leadership internationally.  What that means is that there needs to be reforms to everything from education reform; to criminal-justice reform; to voting rights reform; to anti-corruption efforts in campaign finance reform, and even to re-instating regular news conferences.

Biden also argued that most importantly, we must restore our moral position in the world.  This, in turn, means pursuing a long list of immigration reforms such as ending child/adult separations and ending the travel ban.   And by supporting women’s rights around the world.

Biden did point to his own role in founding member of the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity to fight back against Russia’s attacks on the elections in Western democracies.  This included a signed pledge committing to transparency in campaign finance and to reject the use of fabricated or hacked material.  As the Democratic front-runner, he called on his presidential rivals to sign that pledge as well.

The former vice president offered a new and original idea.  That being, a Global Summit for Democracy during his first year in office.  This would be his goal to renew the spirit and shared purposes of the nations of the free world.  The Summit’s participants would focus on: fighting corruption; defending against authoritarianism, including election security; and advancing human rights in their own nations and abroad. Biden said he would implore civil society organizations to enlist these ideals in the cause of preserving open democracies and free speech.

Biden focused much of the foreign policy speech on the relationship to domestic policy.  He made the case that a strong foreign policy is dependent on a strong US Policy.

That opening allowed him to speak about his plan to restore the middle class, to promote innovation, to provide workers with skills to compete, and to fixing our infrastructure. One could argue that this has little direct effect on foreign policy, but Biden stated that this is how voters view foreign policy, by showing other nation that by doing this it enhances the way our domestic economic and technological prowess is viewed by others.

It sets the examples for others, while it fixes our domestic issues.

He reaffirmed the serious threat from China, but criticized the tariff wars as doing nothing but hurting American farmers and consumers.  It wouldn’t be “back to normal” on trade, Biden vowed. That would require bringing all democracies into negotiations with China to pursue our own interest and values.  He stated that if we don’t shape the norms and institutions, “some nation will step into the vacuum or no nation will, and then chaos will ensue.”

Biden kept to the foreign policy subject by returning to the world at large.  He made the argument for leading the international efforts to solve problems that defy national boundaries.  That would mean reviving efforts to fight terrorism, cyberthreats and climate change. In a nod to the sentiments of the Democratic base, he promised to end “long wars”.  However,  unlike his opponents, he vowed only to bring home “vast majority of our troops” from Afghanistan and to “narrowly focus” on al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.  

He did vow to end support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. He pledged to use force when necessary, but only as a last resort.

Biden said, he would “reinvest” in the diplomatic corps and put professionals back to work at the State Department.  

This was when he stated: “Diplomacy requires credibility and Donald Trump has absolute eroded our credibility.  He does this by pulling out of treaties and by lying about matters big and small.  He has bankrupted our credibility and alienated our friends.”

This was a very mature foreign policy address and something we haven’t experienced since Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. 

So, how has Donald Trump responded to Joe Biden’s speech?

Of course, it was through a Tweet:

Trump’s only Tweet: “Watching Sleepy Joe Biden making a speech, So Boring.”

As expected, Trump did not say anything Biden said was incorrect.  Therefore I guess we should take Biden’s speech as gospel.

Copyright G. Ater 2019