These times are different because nowadays political lies are often in plain sight.
A healthy majority of Americans could see for years that President Biden was not fit to serve another four years. But that didn’t stop Democratic Party leaders and their media megaphones from insisting repeatedly that he was “sharp as a tack.”
Biden’s fractured debate performance — and his broken attempts to demonstrate command in the weeks that followed — only confirmed that the emperor had no clothes. It was a game changer only because the power brokers who actually control the party realized that their fraud had been exposed; the jig was up. Reality finally overwhelmed their narrative.
In a New York minute they went from proclaiming Biden the savior of our democracy to humiliating him as a stubborn old fool. Never mind the national interest, the diminished president only had to go when he no longer proved useful to party bosses. Given this lightning-bolt 180, one might feel sorry for the president. What the heck happened, man? But he is not just Scranton Joe, he is leader of the free world. His diminished capacity puts America, and the world, at risk.
The fact that Democrats and their allies are trying to shut down discussion of whether he is truly capable of carrying out the duties of his office as two large wars rage and China is threatening Taiwan shows they are more concerned about their party than our country.
Pushing Biden out allows Democrats to push the reset button on their palpably false narratives. We are already being told that Biden selflessly put America first when, in fact, he had selfishly refused for weeks, maybe years, to acknowledge his decline. Biden always put himself first; they will insist on the opposite.
Even though Biden’s job approval rating was dismal even before the June 27 debate, Democrats and their media allies are now pretending that he was one of the most effective leaders in American history. Their strategy is to exploit America’s deep reservoir of compassion and goodwill regarding a sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory to delegitimize critiques of his failed policies. We get to say he was a lion; those who complain are nasty jackals gnawing at wounded prey.
Democrats’ new presumptive nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, offers them a new canvas to paint — though not as clean as ones that might be offered by relative unknowns such Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, whom they could have turned into anybody they wanted. Given that Harris was selected as vice president because Biden promised to pick a woman of color — an identity that makes her hard to bypass now that Biden is out — one wonders if the Democrats will be hoist on their DEI petard just as Republicans paid the price for their opposition to abortion in 2022.
Nevertheless, just as they depicted Biden as a vigorous and visionary figure, they will now portray Harris as the hands-down best choice, a bold new leader who has come to the rescue of her party and the country. Even as they attach her to Biden’s supposed achievements, they will cast the president’s unpopular positions — especially regarding immigration and Harris’ role as border czar — as backward looking. Americans want us to focus on her plans for the future.
Harris’ approval ratings have been lower than Biden’s for a reason. While accomplishing almost nothing as vice president she has become famous for her inane word salads and dysfunctional office. Expect all of the that to be swept under the rug, cast, like the videos showing Biden’s weakness, as “cheap fakes.”
Most Americans know better, but Democrats and their media propagandists will do it anyway, because that’s their modus operandi. They don’t just concoct false narratives, they continue advancing them long after they have been debunked. Despite the Mueller Report, they still say Donald Trump colluded with Vladimir Putin to steal the 2016 election. While transcripts clearly show that Trump did not praise the neo-Nazis who marched at Charlottesville or advise Americans to inject bleach to fight COVID, they repeat such canards ad nauseam. Even though they defied the Supreme Court’s ruling on student loans, ignored the law to create open borders, sought to remove their opponents from the ballot, and used the courts to undermine their biggest political rival, their main campaign message is that Trump is an existential threat to democracy. No wonder a recent poll found that one-third of Biden voters believe the Trump assassination attempt was staged.
This and more would be laughable if it weren’t so serious.
Of course, Trump and other Republicans spew nonsense all the time. The difference is, the press works tirelessly — and often tendentiously — to challenge these assertions. The American people are fully aware of their missteps and mistruths, while Democrat falsehoods are often hidden, dismissed, given a pass.
Democrats say that the November election is a battle for America’s soul. Their tactics remind us of the adage that “truth is the first casualty of war.” But, as Biden’s withdrawal also shows, sometimes reality wins out.
This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.
J. Peder Zane
J. Peder Zane is a RealClearInvestigations editor and columnist. He previously worked as a book review editor and book columnist for the News & Observer (Raleigh), where his writing won several national honors. Zane has also worked at the New York Times and taught writing at Duke University and Saint Augustine’s University.
