Dittoville

UPDATE 10/1/20: Almost exactly 8 years on, Joe Biden reveals himself once again, albeit with a fraction of the energy, to be the fount of contempt he was with Paul Ryan. Admittedly, he’s now facing off now with a two-fisted street fighter, no prim gentleman of the Republican establishment. Biden’s disadvantage is that, in complete contrast to Trump, he can’t utter a single spontaneous syllable of truth and has no record of accomplishment in a lackluster 50 year political career. What he manages to cough up now is in total service to his Party’s dominant far-Left ideology, perfect for totalitarian Cuba or Venezuela, not so much for the USA. Open Borders, Green New Deals, ObamaCare, Packing The Court, perpetual lockdown of the economy, mandatory masking 300 million purportedly free US citizens stand out among his most beguiling campaign promises.

Missing those trademark sneers and faux guffaws of the 2012 debates, Sleepy Joe now has only ad hominem insults to spew. Among them: “He’s a fool on this.” “Everybody knows he’s a liar.” “Will you shut up, man?” “Keep yapping, man.” “He’s the racist.” “He’s Putin’s puppy.” “He never keeps his word.” “Well, it’s hard to get any word in with this clown.”  “You’re the worst president America has ever had.”

Trump’s no choir boy, but he has an admirable record to stand on, and millions of us cheer him and his rollicking American spirit on. Joe? As Dirty Harry pointed out, a smirk, dead eyes and a grin fronting…nothing. There is no there there.

ORIGINAL POST 10/15/12: Warning-here is a long, long question, but it bears asking: Is it red-baiting to call Joe Biden a committed Marxist if he a)enthusiastically supports policies that Marxists applaud; b)acts as the more-than-eager tool of an administration bent on “transforming” America into a Marxist, State-run society: c)intentionally stirs up class/race enmity and civil unrest for his own political purposes in a country that doesn’t have a  rigid, instituted class system [yet!]; and to the immediate point here, d)behaves like a Marxist thug by disregarding the most basic customs, conventions, courtesies, mores, manners in order to disarm a mannerly debate opponent who can be counted on to act like a civilized human being? Obama’s Chicago mentor, Saul Alinksy, patron Satan of  “Community Organizers,” borrowed equally from both Marxists and Mobsters to get his way. Any means justifies the ends of an Alinsky acolyte.

Do not underestimate the destructive power of sweeping aside the normal boundaries most civilized people expect. In a genuinely civilized debate and virtually all our civilized daily dealings, both parties are expected to play by the rules: tell the truth, back it up with evidence, don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t invade the personal space of the other. In the intentionally provocative charade acted out by Odious Joe, there are no boundaries. The most hardened grown-up has braced himself against this sort of emotional terrorism designed to knock one off guard. In these cases, it is not a matter of the best, the most truthful, the most worthy winning. For the Bidens and the Mob he runs with, the winner is whoever screams the loudest, drowns out all opposition, confuses and demoralizes those who live by the rules and the truth.

The lesson: don’t expect to win this sort of debate with facts and good policy alone. It is human dignity backed by the steel of genuine decency and devotion to the truth. Ryan won by handling Biden’s boorishness and bullying with the good humor, confidence and calm of a decent principled adult. It is also a source of no little satisfaction to know that Ryan’s commendable performance is there for all to see, forever, right next to Revoltin’ Joe and his pitiful attempt to play Al Capone with a baseball bat.

Thank you, Internet. Thank you, YouTube. Thank you, Fox News. Thank you, Talk Radio. Thank you, everyone, who has chosen individual human freedom and dignity as the goal of all politics. Mind your manners, but don’t back down.