RUTHFULLY YOURS

Drew Magary is a San Francisco columnist who comes at politics from a place far, far along the leftist spectrum. He is the radical base that drives the modern Democrat party. On the Venn diagram mapping out my political views and Magary’s, however, there is one point of intersection: We both think of Biden as a failed president. That’s good for my side of the aisle and very, very bad for Magary’s.

Margary’s essay is entitled “Joe Biden is a lousy president.” In it, you’ll find phrases such as this: “Joe Biden is out of excuses.” “In many ways, it feels as if Biden’s presidency is already over.” “All this begs the question: Does Joe Biden even know he’s president? Does he give a s—t?” “He’s uninterested….” “He’s shown no ambition….” “I am sick to death of this….” “It’s not merely that Biden has been a lousy president; it’s that I’ve seen nothing to suggest that he’ll STOP being lousy.” “I briefly had high hopes for Joe Biden, and that’s on me.”

I think we conservatives can agree with every one of those statements. Where the opinion piece starts having that funhouse mirror feel is learning that, aside from being as disgusted as conservatives about Biden’s Afghanistan pullout fiasco, every one of Magary’s complaints comes about because he feels that Biden has failed as a leftist. Thus, stripped to its essentials, Margary’s article complains that Biden:

1. Wasn’t sufficiently proactive about distributing “free” COVID tests. (Of course, they’re not “free” at all. You and I paid for them.)
2. Failed to increase the federal minimum wage.
3. Failed to override Manchin, who then dealt the death blow to Build Back Better.
4. Failed to override Sinema, who killed the effort to federalize elections.
5. Failed to continue COVID unemployment benefits.
6. Failed to come down hard on the side of quarantining and mask-wearing.
7. Failed to campaign vigorously to the Supreme Court to force it to preserve Roe v. Wade.
8. Failed to use his bully pulpit to get foreign oil producers to keep prices down.
9. Failed to use vaccine mandates to socialize America’s healthcare system. (So, you were right all along about the larger plan the left had for COVID.)
10. Failed to pack the Supreme Court.

As far as Magary is concerned, Biden is a weak leader who blew every important item on the leftist wish list.

Indeed, when Magary looks back on Biden’s presidency, the best that Magary can say about him is that “he wasn’t Donald Trump.” Additionally, Magary remains thrilled that Biden did sign off on that first “Nearly $2 trillion stimulus fund,” even while he complains that Biden didn’t do anything to stop inflation. Apparently being a columnist at SF Gate does not require even the vaguest understanding of basic economics.

The reason I was caught by Magary’s attack on Biden is that it showed something interesting about the man in the Oval Office: He is so extraordinarily bad that even his base hates him. He’s managed to repulse most Americans. What this means is that Democrat turnout in November 2022 will almost certainly be lackluster. More than that, it may mean that Biden is driving a stake through the heart of the Democrat party.