On the final night of the virtual Democratic National Convention, host Julia Louis-Dreyfus found a need to remind viewers that “Joe Biden knows how to read, and he reads everything.”
By way of proof, an undated clip showed the former U.S. senator from Delaware citing philosopher Søren Kierkegaard that “faith sees best in the dark.” None of the Democrat luminaries or unnamed cast members provided any background on Kierkegaard, who died in 1855. On the other hand, the theme did surface in Biden’s speech.
“Give people light and they will find a way,” Biden said. “I’ll be an ally of the light, not the darkness,” a reference to the existential threat of climate change, tax breaks for the wealthy, and systemic racism, which Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) called the “original sin” of America, along with slavery. Coons also testified that Biden’s faith is strong and he “knows the power of prayer.”
For Biden, “the end of this chapter of American darkness begins tonight.” This was “not a partisan moment,” but the nation was poised “to make great progress again” and “find the light once more.” And the grateful Democratic nominee closed with, “may God bless you and may God protect our troops,” as though he were already their commander in chief.
It was hard to tell whether the speech was live or prerecorded, but it obviously was carefully rehearsed. Biden looked stiff and nervous, but kept on going after he said “the days of cozying up to dictators is over,” and “there’s never been anything we’ve been able to accomplish.” The chances that Joe Biden wrote the speech are slim and none, and as the great Chick Hearn used to say, Slim just left town.
On the other hand, Biden is an expert at gaslighting, the effort to gain power by making people deny their own reality.
According to Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D., the 11 warning signs of gaslighting include blatant lies, actions not matching words, and confusion. Gaslighters also “project,” accusing people of the very thing they are doing. Anyone who heard Biden’s speech might apply that analysis to the Democratic nominee himself.
He calls a college student a “dog-faced pony soldier,” so maybe Biden isn’t too sure of what he is at any given time. Barack Obama’s vice president is on record that black people who fail to support him “ain’t black.” He has also expressed uncertainty on his location and the office for which he is running. He tells an auto worker “you’re full of shit,” so the worker might think Biden is really talking about himself. In his convention speech Thursday night, he repeated blatant lies about President Trump and Charlottesville.
Like other Democratic Party luminaries, the “ally of the light” had nothing to say about the violence now plaguing American cities. If Biden had any thoughts on the execution of 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant, he did not share them with viewers. Did the child’s life matter? Was this an example of “gun violence?” On those life-and-death questions, Biden left viewers in the dark, and the former vice president shed no light on the arson, looting, and savage beatings, now going on in places controlled by Democrats.
Also missing from the virtual DNC were Democratic kingmakers such as former California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. Back in the day, when he was 60, Brown spotted Kamala Harris, some 30 years his junior. Brown set her up in lucrative sinecures and she became his main squeeze. That act of poontronage helped launch a career that has landed Harris on the 2020 ticket under Biden.
Also missing from the virtual DNC was Angela Davis, the 1980 and 1984 candidate for vice president of the Communist Party USA. Davis was the keynote speaker at the 2017 Women’s March, and now says that “to vote for ourselves I think that means that we will have to campaign for and vote for Joe Biden.”
Biden attended his first DNC in 1972, so this year’s show is the 12th outing for the Democratic nominee who knows how to read and reads everything. It’s never been clear whether Biden has read The Road to Serfdom or any books by Thomas Sowell, such as Basic Economics. To be fair, Biden has read a speech by British leftist Neil Kinnock, which he plagiarized in 1987. And he wasn’t done.
“The plagiarism controversy led to further questions about Biden’s accuracy and integrity,” the Washington Examiner recalls, “including a citation in a law school paper he attributed incorrectly. It also emerged that he had used passages from the speeches of Democratic greats Robert Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey. The scandals snowballed and Biden dropped out of the race within weeks.”
For what it’s worth, Neil Kinnock has endorsed Biden’s 2020 presidential bid.