Outline and Sources for ‘This American Left’ — Episode 1

Matthew John

Sep 13, 2020·15 min read

Description: Matthew and Hannah discuss the latest Contapoints video and then drive into the disturbing legacy of Joe Biden. Get your facts straight, Jack!

Audio clips

• “look me over if you like what you see help out, if not vote for the other Biden” / “running for the U.S. Senate” https://youtu.be/_dtviIYHWbA
• “president… my boss”
• “why why why why…”
• “lying dog faced pony soldier” https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-biden-new-hampshire-voter-lying-dog-faced-pony-soldier-2020-2
• “look, fat…” (challenges guy to a push-up contest)
• “Corn Pop/hairy legs”
• “you ain’t black”
• “O’Biden-Bama”
• Favorite Biden quotes tweet https://twitter.com/LovesTheBern/status/1303181029876797445?s=20

Categories (Biden)

Race/criminal justice

• Eulogized Strom Thurmond
• “Joe Biden once praised the segregationist Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina as “one of my closest friends” and championed him as someone who believed in America’s diversity.”“Thurmond, a Southern Democrat-turned-Republican, ran for president in 1948 on a segregationist platform and led a record-setting filibuster to block the Civil Rights Act in 1957.” [Washington Examiner]
• Didn’t want his kids living “in a racial jungle”
• “Unless we do something about this, my children are going to grow up in a jungle, the jungle being a racial jungle with tensions having built so high that it is going to explode at some point. We have got to make some move on this.” (Joe Biden, 1977) https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/biden-racial-jungle-quote/
• supported segregation NBC News article by Janell Ross entitled, “Joe Biden didn’t just compromise with segregationists. He fought for their cause in schools, experts say.” Subtitle: “Joe Biden helped give America the language that is still used to oppose school integration today”
• 1994 crime bill & mass incarceration (put mass incarceration into overdrive)
• some quotes from the ACLU about the 1994 crime bill:
• The 1994 federal crime bill … created tough new criminal sentences and incentivized states to build more prisons…” and”….following [the] passage of the federal crime bill, incarceration rates continued to climb for an additional 14 years.”
• “The platform encouraged states to pass truth-in-sentencing laws, bragged about instituting the death penalty for nearly 60 [additional] crimes, and even encouraged the prosecution of young people as adults.”
• “THE UNTOLD STORY: JOE BIDEN PUSHED RONALD REAGAN TO RAMP UP INCARCERATION — NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND” (The Intercept)
• used the term “predator” and other racist dog whistles in his rhetoric https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/07/politics/biden-1993-speech-predators/index.html
• However, despite all the racist stuff Biden has said and done, there was something redeeming that I’d like to mention (this is satire). In 2007, Biden referred to Barack Obama as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean.” (CNN) So… for Biden, I thought that was a nice compliment that he made… (lol)

Healthcare/Austerity

• Medicare for All
• In March 2020 “Former Vice President Joe Biden suggested Monday that he would veto the universal health-care legislation known as “Medicare for All” championed by his primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders if it were passed after Biden took office.” [CNBC]
• using right-wing talking points abut M4A — Ex-Clinton aide Jess McIntosh said Biden’s rhetoric was “dangerously close to using Republican talking points”
• Biden said M4A “means getting rid of Obamacare”
• ex-Clinton aide Jess McIntosh: “That sounds suspiciously like Donald Trump, and as long as Biden is trying to appeal to the Democratic base during the primary, they’re not going to like him engaging with this topic using that kind of language.”
• remember to mention that, even without the pandemic, something like 30,000 Americans die every year due to lack of access to healthcare
• NAFTA
• He voted for NAFTA.
• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which went into effect on January 1, 1994, resulted in the further destruction of labor unions and the loss of about a million American jobs as multinational corporations raked in profits.
• He voted to repeal Glass-Steagall.
• The Clinton administration’s 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act was one of the primary legislative events that set the stage for the 2008 financial crisis. In the United States, this global catastrophe resulted in about 8.7 million Americans losing their jobs and as many as 10 million losing their homes.
• economist Joseph Stiglitz explained:
• “In November 1999, Congress repealed the Glass-Steagall Act — the culmination of a $300 million lobbying effort by the banking and financial-services industries…”
• “Glass-Steagall had long separated commercial banks (which lend money) and investment banks(which organize the sale of bonds and equities); it had been enacted in the aftermath of the Great Depression and was meant to curb the excesses of that era, including grave conflicts of interest.”
• “When repeal of Glass-Steagall brought investment and commercial banks together, the investment-bank culture came out on top. There was a demand for the kind of high returns that could be obtained only through high leverage and big risktaking.”
• Biden has, throughout his career, repeatedly advocated cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans benefits (The Intercept)
• The PATRIOT Act
• “The USA PATRIOT Act was an authoritarian piece of legislation that was hastily jammed through Congress in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It infringed upon basic civil liberties, erected a domestic mass surveillance apparatus, and disproportionately targeted the American Muslim community and anti-war activists. Due to the nationalistic fervor surrounding 9/11, most congresspeople voted in support of this law, but some refused. Not only did Biden support this legislation, he also helped write its predecessor.” (from my listicle)
• 2005 Bankruptcy bill (so this is like toward the end of Biden’s reign of terror as a senator)
• In 2005, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) was passed. The purported purpose of this bill was to prevent Americans from abusing Chapter 7 bankruptcy, but a University of North Carolina law professor later said that these abuses “didn’t necessarily existin the first place”. (Politco) However, one detrimental effect the law had in practice was that it prevented borrowers from discharging their student loan debt through bankruptcy, entrenching the now nearly $1.7 trillion student debt crisis (source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/student-loan-debt-statistics/ar-BB18f1cS)
• Joe Biden was one of the main Democratic advocates for this legislation
• also from that GQ article: “But in 2005, BAPCPA made it through, successfully erecting all kinds of roadblocks for Americans struggling with debt, and doing so just before the financial crisis of 2008.” https://www.gq.com/story/joe-biden-bankruptcy-bill (So, basically, this legislation not only prevented student borrowers from discharging their loan debt through bankruptcy, it also massively increased the financial hardships of millions of Americans in the wake of the Great Recession)

Women’s Reproductive Rights

• In 1981, Senator Joe Biden voted to allow states to overturn the landmark 1973 abortion legislation Roe v. Wade. This unsuccessful legislative attempt was referred to by the National Abortion Rights Action League as “the most devastating attack yet on abortion rights.”
• On the topic of abortion legislation, Biden also supported the Hyde Amendment, a 1976 bill that prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion services. He only reversed his position on this matter LAST YEAR (2019), though he made “no apologies for the last position.” *Biden supported this for literally his entire career! (43 years!) He supported the Hyde Amendment longer than I’ve been alive!
• In 2006 Joe Biden said, “I do not view abortion as a choice and a right.” (Guardian)
• “As vice president, Biden actively worked to undermine reproductive rights by trying to cut mandated coverage for contraception from the Affordable Care Act.” (The Intercept)
• Foreign Policy (this might not be a full category, might just do Iraq and then Obama’s foreign policy, since Biden is complicit in all of that)
• Iraq: Not only did Biden vote in favor of the 2002 Iraq War Resolution — he also played a leading role in inspiring congressional support for the invasion, which was infamously justified using fabricated intelligence. According to Vox,“ in the months leading up to the vote authorizing war,[Biden] organized a series of Senate hearings, in close coordination with the White House, during which he echoed the administration’s talking points about weapons of mass destruction.” This disastrous military intervention eventually resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, cost American taxpayers more than $2 trillion, and led to the formation of ISIS.
• (side note: this is one of the reasons I often say Biden has contributed to far more death and suffering that Trump — this in combination with the crime bill, bankruptcy bill, NAFTA, repeal of Glass-Steagall, etc.)

Sexual Misconduct/Creepiness

• Intro: So… lots of people realize that Joe Biden gives off creepy vibes and has been filmed groping women and children. Some of these the cases were women who, when later asked, said they felt uncomfortable…(details) There’s lots of video footage of Biden groping young girls (mention that Republicans often bring this up, not because they actually care, but because he’s a Democrat… so, even though it is often used as a disingenuous Republican talking point, it’s also actually true and quite disturbing)
• As VP, Biden was notorious for swimming naked in front of female Secret Service personnel (Politico)
• eight cases so far, — (of “unwanted touching” — the broad category we could use) including the details of the Tara Reade case (if we actually go into detail, we’d have to do a content warning beforehand) (Don’t go into detail, just say we’ll link to articles explaining it)

MORE:

Lying/Plagiarism

• https://theintercept.com/2020/02/14/ahead-south-carolina-vote-joe-biden-faces-questions-claims-civil-rights-activism-2/
• Another source on this topic: https://newsone.com/3853735/joe-biden-civil-rights-movement-lies/
• He has lied about teaching at the University of Pennsylvania
• about his support for the Iraq War
• about his role in silencing Anita Hill (during the Clarence Thomas hearings)
• about allegedly being arrested in South Africa
• about his ties to the fossil fuel industry, and has lied extensively
• about his involvement in the civil rights movement (basically he wasn’t involved)
• Joe Biden’s 1988 presidential campaign was even derailed by a plagiarism scandal
• When people say, “Oh, he can change,” or, “He has changed…” How can we trust that this man will reverse a lifetime of conservative policy decisions when we can’t even believe a single sentence that falls from his lips?”

Last thing? -Shitting on Millennials

• In a 2018 conversation with a reporter for the LA Times, Joe Biden had some harsh words for millennials:
• “The younger generation now tells me how tough things are. Give me a break. No, no, I have no empathy for it. Give me a break. Because here’s the deal guys, we decided we were gonna change the world. And we did.”
• This stunning combination of gaslighting and victim-blaming is the ultimate boomerism, especially considering the fact that Biden himself was so intimately involved in crafting the neoliberal legislation that royally screwed over the millennial generation. (This is where I could insert some of those facts about the decline in the standard of living — many could be taken from that Bernie Sanders article…)

Obama

(intro. So, you’ve heard that Joe is an O’Biden-Bama Democrat. But who is this “Bama” you might be asking…)

FROM ACTUAL ARTICLE BY ME and additional notes:

• contributed to the destruction of black wealth (explain better: like “His economic policies in the wake of the Great Recession caused a historic destruction of black wealth in the U.S. and I’ll link to an entire report on this topic, since I know this statement could come off as racially insensitive to more liberal listeners due to the fact that Obama is black…) The report from the People’s Policy Project here: https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2017/12/07/destruction-of-black-wealth-during-the-obama-presidency/
• deported more immigrants than any other administration in American history
• built the cages, which they used to detain immigrant families (Snopes)
• prosecuted more whistleblowers under the Espionage Act than all previous administrations combined
• conducted ten times more drone strikes than his predecessor, George W. Bush, killing hundreds (if not thousands) of civilians in at least seven different countries (Source: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism) …
• …this included killing three American citizens abroad, including a 16-year-old boy (as part of his larger assassination program) (Sources: Amnesty International and The Intercept)
• helped overthrow the democratically-elected Honduran government in 2009 and supported the subsequent right-wing regime
• helped overthrow the Ukrainian government in 2014 and supported the subsequent right-wing regime which includes literal fascists (most notably the Azov Battalion, a neo-Nazi militia of about 3,000 that is now an official component of the Ukrainian military) And Biden personally met with Ukrainian Social-National Party co-founder Oleh Tyanhbok, a Sieg Heil-ing anti-Semite. The Social-National Party was described by Tel-Aviv University as “an extremist, right-wing, nationalist organization which emphasizes its identification with the ideology of German National Socialism” (Nazism) ***MORE ABOUT THE HORRIFIC NEO-NAZI VIOLENCE OF THE U.S.-BACKED UKRAINIAN MILITARY COUP: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/americas-collusion-with-neo-nazis/
• spied on millions of American citizens without their knowledge or consent and expanded domestic surveillance powers mere days before Trump took office
• mocked the residents of Flint, Michigan in a cruel stunt (explain). … mention that a disturbing scene is featured in the Michael Moore documentary “Fahrenheit 11/9”
• filed a petition to grant the Bush administration immunity against all civil and criminal charges related to the Iraq War (war criminals have each other’s backs I guess)
• LIBYA! — maybe I could frame it as “Obama’s Iraq” (not that Obama ended the actual occupation of Iraq or anything…) “The Obama administration’s violent intervention (including NATO bombing campaign and arming terrorists) in Libya was particularly disastrous. In a disturbingly ironic twist, the actions of America’s first black president contributed to the return of slavery in the previously stable African nation.” (Rephrase this and add details, including that Libya was a country with one of the highest standards of living in all of Africa (There was universal healthcare, education, and housing) and is now a failed state overrun with terrorists — many of whom were funded by the U.S. — and warlords) … and maybe briefly mention Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen… Has become flooded with weapons and is now a hub for the illegal arms trade… In 2014, the United Nations named Libya as the primary source of illegal weapons for 14 different countries, fueling a series of international conflicts.
• Yes, Gaddafi was a dictator, but… From a Hampton Institute article, which, in full disclosure, is a publication to which I am a contributor: “Under Gaddafi’s rule, Libyan living standards consistently increased. Healthcare was universalized and available to all; the average life expectancy rose from 55 years in 1969 to 70 years in 2011; the average literacy rate peaked 91 percent, making it one of the highest literacy rates in Africa. Libya attained the highest Human Development Index score in 2010 within the entire African continent, demonstrating it had a high level of development in the country, as well as a comparatively low rate of malnourishment at 5 percent.”

Misc. other things to mention/cover

• Will have to talk a little (at least) about the Rick Snyder endorsement and Biden still saying he won’t ban fracking…
• cover the basics of recent social media arguments
• Emphasize that I’m not telling people who to vote for — just articulating why I’m personally not voting for Biden
• emphasize that Biden is and always has been a right-wing conservative and that this is what happens when you settle for the “lesser of two evils” (not that I agree with the notion that Biden is “less evil”) — this is sort of a culmination of that phenomenon — we can now choose between two old, white, racist war criminals, both of whom oppose universal healthcare and both of whom have been accused of rape…
• Make the point that it’s not just Biden’s terrible record, as if that can be abstracted… It’s how that record translated into tangible policy and material conditions.
• When people ask “Then what do you propose?” First of I, in the face of that question, including how it’s phrased, I inadvertently reflect on how pathetic and docile the American masses have become in recent decades. Like, people literally go pull a level every four years and act morally superior to people who think and act outside the corporate two-party political system. So, obviously the first thing I’d advocate is not only voting third party but getting involved in politics as much as possible — including strengthening working-class, socialist political parties (if you look at history, it’s pretty difficult to gain power without being politically organized, and that includes a party that represents your interests). More things: mutual aid, community defense, tenant organizations, unions, labor strikes, boycotts, civil disobedience, etc. The most frustrating aspect of this question is it implies that voting for Biden is a solution… If you think about the full interaction…
• Since I’m a Marxist, present a Marxist perspective (below)
• The notion (a liberal talking point) that somehow we can dismiss all these terrible things Biden did in the past… They say, “he can change,” or, “he has changed.” Not only is there no evidence that he has changed, but he provided an outright confirmation of this when he told a group of Wall Street donors last year that “nothing will fundamentally change” if he is elected president. ALSO HIS VAST HISTORY OF LYING
• Cover the issue of not voting or voting third party as allegedly “privileged.”
• Cover what liberals say about supreme court justices (one of the only things they can point to in order to suggest Biden is “better” than Trump, yet it’ not even true) *go through Biden’s history of conservatism, including support for conservative Supreme Court justices, review his previous stances on abortion, etc.
• Biden demonizing China (in a racist campaign ad https://theintercept.com/2020/04/22/biden-china-campaign-ad-trump/), demonizing the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela (as Trump does), and supporting Trump’s decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. https://twitter.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1255626360766238720?s=20
• (in short, he tries to position himself to the RIGHT of Trump on foreign policy and often on domestic issues as well, insisting he will be tough on protesters and advocated locking up “anarchists” and describing the uprisings as “riots” etc.
• quote from one of my articles on how neoliberalism created Trump: “Though many liberal pundits decry him as an uncharted divergence from ‘normalcy’, Trump is simply the hideous, unmasked expression of neoliberalism — a ghastly gremlin our decaying society has vomited up after four decades of germination. In short, neoliberalism created Trump. Year after year we witnessed the dismantling of labor unions, the passing of job-killing trade deals, the gutting of social services, and the continued stagnation of wages. These policies tilled the political soil for an outgrowth of right-wing populism that attempts to harken back to the ‘great’ white supremacist legacy of America. It is a faux-populism that scapegoats immigrants and minorities, blaming the most marginalized for the societal rot produced by the implementation of free market fundamentalist ideology. Trumpism as a specific historical phenomenon is certainly new. But, in terms of the systemic nature of this barbarism, Trump is not an ‘aberration’ — he is an inevitable extension of the existing system.”
• quote from one of my articles as sort of a “final though”: To clarify this once and for all, progressives don’t see the Democratic Party as automatically “better” than the Republican Party. Both parties are political organs of the ruling class, entities designed to protect the interests of capital. To me and others like me, they are virtually the same. And Joe Biden happens to be a perfect poster boy for the two-party system. Whether it was NAFTA, the 2005 bankruptcy bill, the PATRIOT Act, or the repeal of Glass-Steagall, Biden, probably more so than any other modern politician, has had his dirty fingerprints on the legislation that has most profoundly contributed to the decline of the American standard of living and the subsequent emergence of Trumpism. Of course, Donald Trump is monstrous. But we can’t treat the symptoms by electing the disease.
• Marxist analysis: https://socialistrevolution.org/election-2020-the-socialist-case-against-lesser-evil-politics/
• “While some “lesser evilists” concede that Biden is also “evil,” they allege that he will be more “susceptible to pressure” and that his attacks on the workers will be “less severe.” But what is the Democrats’ track record when it comes to such susceptibility? The historic protests against the bipartisan Iraq War did nothing to“pressure” Biden into voting against it. And the ongoing BLM movement has not “pressured” Biden and his top-cop running mate into supporting even milquetoast reforms like partially defunding the police. And although Trump has overtly cheered on the chaos and violence, Biden blames “all sides” equally — both the protesters who have history on their side and the reactionary scum who shoot them and ram them with their vehicles.” […]
• “For example, during the debates around Obamacare, the president did not propose universal coverage and allowed both single-payer health care and “a public option” to be taken off the table under the pressure of the HMOs and other big corporations that really call the shots in Washington. Not even the slightest change was made to anti-union laws like Taft-Hartley when the Democrats controlled both the White House and Congress. The reality is that there will be no significant reforms paid for by the ruling class under a Biden administration and that any crumbs doled out to this or that section of the working class will be underwritten by cuts or taxes on another part of the working class.”

MORE: