The right wing decepto-mail stream is coming back online, and it’s time to disassemble an example. Here’s the entirety of the email:
It makes President Biden look terribly hypocritical, doesn’t it?
But only if you’re skimming quickly and pre-disposed to believe anything negative about President Biden.
For the properly skeptical reader, one of the very first steps is to ask about the context. There is information provided, to which I’ll stipulate, and then a quote, again to which I’ll stipulate.
I can do that because the two don’t go together, actually.
The Biden quote refers to using Executive Orders (EOs) to implement what should be legislated. As a former long-time Senator, it makes sense that Biden would find the use of EOs to do what was essentially his shared responsibility repugnant, thus the alleged hypocrisy.
But does that applyp here? Here’s CNN’s list of the first 30 EOs. Let’s pick a couple out for analysis. Here’s his first EO:
Directs OMB director to develop recommendations to modernize regulatory review and undoes Trump’s regulatory approval process
That has nothing to do with legislation, but instead directs an Executive Agency to do some research on improving a regulatory process, while undoing Trump’s amateur hour effort. That’s entirely within Biden’s purview. How about the second?
Requires executive branch appointees to sign an ethics pledge barring them from acting in personal interest and requiring them to uphold the independence of the Department of Justice
Nothing legislative here, obviously. Picking at random, here’s #6:
Reverses the Trump administration’s restrictions on US entry for passport holders from seven Muslim-majority countries
Reversing a previous EO requires an EO; again, it’s not a usurpation of legislation. #11:
Cancels the Keystone XL pipeline and directs agencies to review and reverse more than 100 Trump actions on the environment
Again, this is within the Executive wing and is completely appropriate.
For my conservative reader, no, I’m not picking and choosing. These are random selections. I did go through all of them, and perhaps an argument could be made for a single EO:
Fortifies DACA after Trump’s efforts to undo protections for undocumented people brought into the country as children
This would require believing that DACA itself is un-Constitutional, and that is a position that the Federal Judiciary has not taken, despite opportunity.
The lesson here? Believing what you’re pre-disposed to believe will lead you into error. If some piece of mail plays to your inclinations, put on your Skeptical Mask and read it again. In this case, remember: Biden is an institutionalist through and through. He believes in the checks and balances system that is at the core of our government; he believes in divided responsibilities. His whole life has been built around it. He’s been a compromiser as a legislator while passing large pieces of legislature. He knows how things work in Washington.
Why would he suddenly shift to dictator mode?
This sham piece of mail isn’t meant to convince the non-MAGA voter of Biden perfidy; it’s meant to keep the MAGA voter firmly in line by engendering contempt for the hypocritical Democrat.
The only problem: the Democrat is not a hypocrite. Biden, having decades of experience vs Trump’s zero experience, knew to have his aides begin work on how to retract the damage done by Trump and his amateur hour aides from the moment he started campaigning. Biden came in ready: he knows the problems, he knows how to attack them, and he won’t put up with bullshit or playing to snowflake sensibilities.
And that is evidenced by his jump off the sprinters’ blocks.
