(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Dueling speeches and visions of "Deliverance," Huckabee-Sanders defines crazy for us... [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-09 dada da da da da da da da... deliverance The last few weeks have been good for Democrats, but even better for Americans. The State of the Union Address was billed as a Biden “test”— some worried about his temperament, others whispered in opinion columns about Biden’s plan to avoid stuttering. Who would’ve thought that it would be a night when Republican sputtering would elevate Biden’s oratory to Clintonesque levels? Afterward, while their spittle was still drying on the House floor, Sarah Huckabee-Sanders delivered the coup de grâce, the “blow of mercy,” making the president’s point. Most folks were all too familiar with her theme, a ChatGPT version of Trump’s “American Carnage:” “Americans want common sense from their leaders, but in Washington, the Biden administration is doubling down on crazy. “President Biden inherited the fastest economic recovery on record. The most secure border in history. Cheap abundant, home-grown energy. Fast-rising wages. A rebuilt military. And a world that was stable and at peace. But over the last two years, Democrats destroyed it all. — Sarah Huckabee Sanders Biden goes off script Watching Sanders as she unconscience-ly performed her own “double down” on crazy, it was clear that the Democrats were having a good night. Trading oration for plain speak, Biden turned the tables on his opponents and reduced their “age” problem in a brilliant counter as he nimbly replaced wizened with wise. He parried and roped-the-dopes into their frenzy, then he allowed them their moment. They helped convert the generational argument, suggesting that Biden was too old to govern, into his talking point that they were too extreme. When your own House Speaker has to shush his members on camera, you know you have an optics issue. Biden rallied the nation as he tweaked their hypocrisy with his own masterstroke as he spoke over the jeers of Republicans being rude. At the outset, before enumerating his administration’s bi-partisan successes, he playfully apologized to the speaker for the coming comity: Speaker, I don’t want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you. then he slammed those seated in front of him who would take advantage of the coming boon from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: I want to thank my Republican friends who voted for the law. And my Republican friends who voted against it as well. But I’m still — I still get asked to fund the projects in those districts as well, but don’t worry. I promised I’d be a president for all Americans. We’ll fund these projects. And I’ll see you at the groundbreaking. (emphasis mine, dagger Biden’s) As the President finished his speech about finishing the job, clearly he was suggesting that he was not finished— not yet. Joe Biden had found not only his own voice but the voice of the nation. Sarah’s Rant In Sarah Huckabee’s rebuttal to the President’s speech, she branded the Republican agenda for 2024 and their vision for the future: “I’ll be the first to admit, President Biden and I don’t have a lot in common. “I’m for freedom. He’s for government control. “At 40, I’m the youngest governor in the country. At 80, he’s the oldest president in American history. “I’m the first woman to lead my state. He’s the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is... “The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left. “The choice is between normal or crazy. “It is time for a new generation of Republican leadership. “Upon taking office just a few weeks ago I signed Executive Orders to ban CRT, racism, and indoctrination in our schools, eliminate the use of the derogatory term ‘Latinx’ in our government, repealed COVID orders and said never again to authoritarian mandates and shutdowns. blah, blah blah... Separation of Church and sanity Enough of Marjorie Taylor, George Santos, Lauren Boebert, and the others who embody the enemy from within. Enough of Ron DeSantis who would ban motherhood and the apple pie if they dared to oppose his fascist dream of an uber state. Yes, and enough of the Sarah Huckabees who think you can “ban” diversity, eliminate racism, and “repeal” a pandemic as if her laws could somehow rule men’s hearts. Enough. There is something troubling when Sanders chooses to equate racism with the other ills she proudly banned. Her words seem to say precisely what she doesn’t mean. It is impossible to ban “isms” which exist in the heart without calling out the racists who harbor the hate. It is equally mind-numbing to say you can eliminate a term without diminishing what it describes, or misuse the term indoctrinate to mean governmental censorship. Listening to Biden, then Huckabee-Sanders, one gets the impression that the differences now between the parties have exploded with the fake religiosity and moral certitudes adopted by the right. They choose to rule by fiat— banning this and damning that as if they were darker vestiges of a biblical fable in which the problems of mankind could be solved simply with blind obedience to their collected wills. Like the cautionary tale of a serpent in a tree, for them, man’s problem begins with a desire for knowledge and an impertinence to be godlike. In their hardly Christian nationalism, they know better and if others choose to disagree, they can be damned. They forget that here in the real world, our fate is truly our own doing— we choose, not them. I am old enough to recall the stirring of the past century that moved our nation closer to its mission. Biden likes to use verbal crutches like “ ...and I mean this”, and “here’s the deal…. ” His speechwriter must cringe knowing that their client is going off script. But in his State of the Union address Biden touches on what Republicans are truly afraid of, their tree in the garden so to speak: As we gather here tonight, we’re writing the next chapter in the great American story, a story of progress and resilience. When world leaders ask me to define America, and they do, believe it or not, I say I can define it in one word, and I mean this: possibilities. We don’t think anything is beyond our capacity. Everything is a possibility. Biden’s words remind me of the liberal imagining of America found in the better parts of the New Deal, New Frontier, and The Great Society— touchstones I grew up with and truly believed in. They all agree that progress and human betterment best not be left to others. JFK said it in his inaugural and it is best that we revisit his vision of the separation of church and state which is all about responsibility and conscience: “With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.” — JFK, Inaugural Address, 1961 The dystopian vision in the Republican rebuttal is a far cry from that. Hell, it’s a far cry from Reagan’s vision of American exceptionalism taken from the Puritan minister John Wintrop’s oft-quoted sermon, “A Model of Christian Charity”. It mentions ” ...a city on the hill” first found in the gospel (Book of Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden”). Huckabee-Sanders and the Republican rabble that convened in the House this week have modified Winthrop's sermon, turning it on its head: Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck, and to provide for our posterity, is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together, in this work, as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection. — from “A Model of Christian Charity,” by Jonathon Winthrop Huckabee-Sanders did get one line right, and she referred to it often, “The choice is between normal or crazy,” she told us. In her mad-Hatter upside-down world, she nailed it! Damn, the woman does have a way with words. 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