When Joe Biden became 46th president of the United States, conservative media began an all-out assault to piss all over him, and completely whitewash his predecessor. Actually, it began long before, with conservative media’s unwillingness to hold a president to account for his lackluster response to a pandemic, and his shameless behavior throughout, which included attacking and demonizing his administration’s top infectious disease advisor. It continued with bogus claims of election fraud, and his media sycophants and their eager willingness to feed his narcissistic ego, to kiss his ass and repeat his lies – all of which culminated in the assault on the Capitol.
On the November 23 edition of Bret Baier’s Special Report, former energy secretary to the Reagan administration, Bill Bennett worked the rubes into a frothing rage. Their cult leader is no longer in the White House, so the new resident must be demeaned at all costs.
“There’s a problem with the Biden administration right now that’s getting acute,” he said. “And that is ‘keep saying things are getting better, things are okay, you think things are bad, don’t believe your own eyes. Don’t believe what you see at the gas pump, believe me.’ This is what happens in authoritarian countries, and it’s a very dangerous road, a very dangerous road to take.”
Is Joe Biden an authoritarian dictator for rising gas prices? Certainly not. It’s insane to make that claim.
Is Joe Biden responsible for rising gas prices? Not really. But he is the current president and conservative critics are looking for every excuse to make him look bad, even if the accusations make no sense.
From Tuscaloosa News:
“When the world economy shut down in early 2020, we already had higher than normal stockpiles of crude oil, the raw material from which gasoline is produced. The shutdowns exponentially reduced our driving, which in turn reduced demand for gasoline at a time when the market already had a glut of crude on hand.
“Now that the economy is restarting and demand is rising rapidly all over the world, prices have risen. The old law of supply and demand raises its ugly head. But Biden…”
“Note when oil and gasoline prices began to rise. That started in May of 2020. Between the first week of May 2020 and the last week of December 2020, oil prices had tripled. Was Trump to blame for this?
“No, the reason oil and gasoline prices rose is that the economy started to open back up from COVID shutdowns…”
Biden is now president, so, naturally, he gets the blame. Conservative media isn’t interested in discussing the actual reasons that gasoline prices are higher now. Biden is an easy scapegoat, so blaming his policies is easier than looking at the bigger picture.
The Washington Post’s Charles Lane brought up the fact the former president often acted like an authoritarian in his four years, to which Bennett said, “Get off Trump.”
In an article in the Washington Post, Johnathan Greenberg outlines 10 ways in which Trump acted like an authoritarian dictator:
- Trump uses military power and federal law enforcement to suppress peaceful political protest. In June ( 2020 ) he deployed the National Guard and federal officers to violently evict protesters in Washington, terrorizing them with two military helicopters flying low near the crowd…
- Trump persistently lies about voter fraud, setting the stage for him to use emergency powers to seize control or challenge the results if he loses…
- Trump has repeatedly suggested that he might remain in office after a second term and has offered reason to doubt he’d leave peacefully after his first term…
- Trump believes he has the power to outlaw speech critical of him, and calls the free press ‘the enemy of the people…’ John Bolton in his new book claims that Trump said of journalists: ‘These people should be executed…’
- With Fox News promoting Trump’s lies as truth, the president controls one of the most powerful propaganda machines ever created. During the impeachment trial, for example, Fox hosts repeatedly attacked the character and mental faculties of Democratic reps. and witnesses, while focusing almost exclusively on testimony of pro-Trump Republicans…
- Trump believes he has the power to do what he wants, regardless of Congress or the courts. “I have an Article 2 where I have the right to do whatever I want as president,” he has said.
- Trump had messianic delusions that are supported with religious fervor by millions of his supporters. He has “jokingly” looked up to the sky and said,”I am the chosen one” in relation to negotiations with China. Then energy secretary Rick Perry echoed other evangelicals who have said that Trump was sent by God to do great things when he seriously proclaimed Trump is the “chosen one.” A Guardian report described the evangelical response to Trump’s photo op in front of Lafayette Square’s St. John’s Episcopal Church, which many viewed positively…”
Now, some will point out that Obama behaved similarly during his presidency. I would, in turn, like to point out that although there were similar incidents where there were peaceful protesters who were gassed with tear and pepper spray, as well as incidents at the border where migrants seeking asylum were also gassed, Obama never staged a photo-op during a protest, in front of a church, with a Bible in his hand to virtue signal to his base.
Conservative media consistently accused Obama of not being transparent. Yet when it came to Trump, who claimed to be the most transparent president ever, they had no problem whatsoever.
Conservative media often claimed Obama would remain in office if he were not reelected and would declare martial law to ensure that he remained in power. From day one, his critics concocted all manner of lies and conspiracy theories to discredit him. Some had to do with executive orders. One email claimed that he had signed over one thousand in six years. He actually signed 276 in eight years. Obama never hinted at staying in office like Trump did, defying election results. When Obama said at an education event at the WH,”I’m going to be working with Congress where I can to accomplish this, but I am also going to act on my own if Congress is deadlocked. I’ve got a pen to take executive actions where Congress won’t, and I’ve got a telephone to rally folks around the country on this mission.” When he said this, his Republican critics accused him of ignoring the Constitution and acting like a dictator. But again, when it came to Trump, he was given a free pass.
Conservatives accused Obama of having a messiah complex, who wanted to be a king and God who made “everything about himself. It never happened. Obama never said he wanted to be a king and/or a God. He never made anything about himself. Conservatives made everything about him. They were racist and bigoted toward him, so they claimed he made everything about race.
He was never declared or given the Godlike status of his supporters the way Trump has by his supporters. Trump received the support of millions of evangelicals and conspiracy theory crackpots who literally believe he was chosen by God. He has been enthusiastically endorsed and embraced by extremist fundamentalist Christians. Obama was neither endorsed by evangelical Christians to the extent Trump has. Obama was condemned for not attending church, though he often did. Trump never attended church as president, his sycophants ignored it. Obama was never depicted with Godlike attributes in political cartoons as Trump was by Ben Garrison. Obama was often depicted as a skinny weakling with big ears.
“This guy is creating a disaster,” Bennett continued, ” and he is reversing all of the Trump policies. Whatever one thinks of Trump, he wasn’t destroying the country in the way that this administration is. Whether you’re talking about the border, whether you’re talking about China, whether you’re talking about the price of oil, it’s really quite extraordinary what’s going on.”
Trump reversed a number of Obama’s directives. The world didn’t end. Biden’s border policy is almost as restrictive, and yet Republicans keep saying he’s allowing them to waltz across the border by the hundreds of thousands. The country and the economy hasn’t come crashing down. Biden doesn’t have his head up China’s ass, and gas and oil prices are not destroying America. It’s really nothing extraordinary going on that hasn’t happened before. What’s really going on, is a Republican party – aided and abetted by it’s sycophantic media, i.e. Fox News, Newsmax, OAN – perpetuating a pandemic that may never end, while shamelessly blaming the Democrats; perpetuating the myth that the election was stolen, that did indeed inspire a mob; perpetuating the myth that Biden and the Democratic party are destroying the country, while they continue to lie about the vaccines and people continue to die. That’s what’s going on.
Lane reminded the blockhead that Trump inspired a mob to attack the Capitol.
Sources: Mediaite, Tuscaloosa News, Washington Post.
The Weekly News 