Biden As Tragic Figure?

 I read a piece that coupled Joe Biden and Mike Pence, with the conclusion that Biden had become a tragic figure. Not tragic as we think of sadness or loss as a tragedy, but tragedy in the sense of Euripides. 

I found the idea interesting enough to overcome my bias against the misuse of the word tragedy.

Then along came The Guardian's An American tragedy: how Biden paved the way for Trump’s White House return.

Yes, events have our most-likely-to-be-a-dictator politician succeeding our most-stringent-advocate-for democracy President. But is that truly a tragedy, or is it justice for our national hubris? 

On a narrower scale, are pieces like this merely an attempt at apologetics for Biden? If so, I think they are optimistic about their attempts. The American people have no idea what good Biden did for them. If there is a true tragedy here, the ignorance of the American voter may be it. 

I am trying to find an analogy for Biden. It is not Richard II; Biden was not incompetent in his governing. He had too great a faith in the American people and our Constitution.

Othello comes to mind, and it took its own sweet time doing so. Othello was competent and honest, but the second left him defenseless against Iago, and his competency only inflamed Iago's ire.

Then along came Sam Stein's Biden Had the World’s Most Powerful Perch—and Rarely Used It from The Bulwark. Perhaps the following contains the moral failing that makes Biden, instead of the American voter, the subject of tragedy:

As Tom Malinowski, the former congressman from New Jersey, put it: Biden “believed in our values but not our power. Whereas Trump believes in our power, but not our values.”

Malinowski, in an interview with The Bulwark, recalled a similar type of complaisance from Biden on the domestic front. In the fall of 2021, House Democrats were stuck in an internal caucus debate over whether to move forward on an infrastructure bill or fast track their Build Back Better initiative first. Biden went up to Capitol Hill to meet with members to help break the impasse.

The plan from House leadership, according to Malinowski and confirmed by a Democratic aide, was for Biden to deliver a pep talk and then to call on the members to follow him to the House floor to pass the infrastructure bill with an express promise to tackle the BBB agenda next. It would have been an Aaron Sorkin–esque gesture—a dramatic use of the presidential stage to manifest a result into existence. Party leadership seemed convinced that few, if any, lawmakers would cross Biden at such a spectacular moment.

“And then, he didn’t do it. He didn’t make the ask. He just couldn’t bring himself to put us on the spot,” recalled Malinowski. “I remember going up to some of his aides after and asking, ‘What was that?’ And they were like, ‘I don’t know.’ He was just super nice. He gave a really nice talk. It was Biden at his homespun best.

So, what do we have? The man of power who chooses the path of conciliation only to find his good intentions allows his destruction? Yes, there may be an idea for a story in there. 

sch 1/19

The Canadians got in the act, too. The following is from Drew Nelles's Trump Triumphs (Or How Joe Blew It) (The Walrus):

Historical trivia like this is, well, trivial. But it’s worth considering for one simple reason—or, rather, because of one simple man: Biden himself. Over the arc of the American saga, there have been presidents who better represented era-defining change; there have been presidents who were more consequential, or at least served in more consequential times. But Biden does have one distinguishing characteristic: there has been no modern president so attentive to the story of the institution, or so desperate to write himself into its annals.

Barack Obama pushed forward, toward the realization of the American promise; Ronald Reagan staked his claim on the present, the last stand of the American dream; Joe Biden looked to the past, promising the restoration of America’s soul. It’s only fair, then, to judge his legacy accordingly. And on those terms, Biden has been an epochal failure.

(The same article contains what seems to me as having the most damning criticism of the Democrats I have read so far. My complaint has been fecklessness, but this surpasses fecklessness:

 Of course, that won’t happen. Democrats call themselves the party of democracy, but really, they’re the party of decorum, more invested in politesse than power, learning all the wrong lessons from the past eight years. They’re attached to normalcy as an end in itself, even when the times are anything but normal. If all that sounds familiar, it should. Unthinking adherence to precedent is Biden’s signature. After their resounding defeat in November, Democrats across the party’s ideological spectrum are eager to turn the page. But whether they like it or not, Biden doesn’t just remain their leader. He’s their avatar.)

sch 1/21