Jan.02

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GOP 49

The Best and Worst Things Biden Did in 2022

The Washington Post did something that is a little bit interesting. They have two token arch-conservative fire-breathers on their op-ed staff, namely Hugh Hewitt and Marc Thiessen. And the paper assigned the latter to do was write two lists, one of the 10 best things Joe Biden did in 2022 and another of the 10 worst.

Let's start with the worst. Thiessen begins that piece by describing the Biden presidency as "the worst presidency in my lifetime." Thiessen is 55, which means he's rating Biden as worse than, among others, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush and Donald Trump. In other words, if we may be so bold, one cannot take Thiessen all that seriously. Still, the "worst" list does give insight into the top right-wing talking points of 2022 (and, very likely, going forward):

10. He presided over a plethora of disasters.
11. He called Georgia's election law "Jim Crow 2.0".
12. He urged Republicans to reject extremists while promoting them in GOP primaries.
13. His administration discharged thousands of troops for refusing coronavirus vaccination.
14. He begged foreign despots to produce more oil while weakening domestic production.
15. In an unconstitutional power grab, he canceled up to $1 trillion in student loans.
16. He has failed to avenge the Kabul airport bombing that killed 183 people, including 13 Americans.
17. He signed into law an Inflation Reduction Act that will not reduce inflation or climate change.
18. He made the worst border crisis in U.S. history even worse.
19. He slow-rolled military aid to Ukraine out of fear of provoking Vladimir Putin.

Some of these are particularly laughable. For example, number 8. While the various Democratic campaign apparatuses may well have promoted extremists (a.k.a. rat**cking), Biden had nothing to do with that. Or how about number 5? We do not seem to recall any footage of Biden begging any foreign despot to produce more oil. Shaking the hand of MbS is not begging. And, at the same time, how does releasing tens of millions of barrels of oil from the strategic reserve constitute "weakening domestic production"? Still, the point here is not to discover any sort of objective truths, but to understand the right-wing mindset when it comes to Biden and to the 2024 elections.

And now the "best" list. It must have turned Thiessen's stomach to have to write this one. Still, it gives some insight into the things that Biden and Democrats can highlight if they want to try to connect with independents and crossover Republicans:

10. He acted to prevent a crippling national rail strike.
11. He is sending B-52s to Australia to counter China.
12. He launched a "full-court press" against China's domestic semiconductor industry.
13. He signed the first bipartisan gun legislation in decades.
14. He secured extradition of the terrorist who bombed Pan Am Flight 103, killing 190 Americans.
15. He kept Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations.
16. He won support for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
17. He killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
18. He declared the United States will defend Taiwan.
19. He saved Ukraine.

So, Biden's worst thing was his handling of Ukraine. And his best thing was... his handling of Ukraine. Thiessen is not known for his consistency, so it's not surprising that the two lists look a little odd when placed next to each other. In any event, the lists give some insight into the thought processes of Trumpy Republicans. (V & Z)