Left And George Will Have Found The Real Fascist Dictator, Can You Guess It Is Joe Biden

Well done, George! We all feel better now!

‘A snobbish ginger cat wearing round glasses and a bow tie’ Image generated by Substack AI, eyes made slightly less freaky in Photoshop

Leaving aside the question of why George Will still has gainful employment after churning out what amounts to the same basic seven or eight columns again and again for 40 years … no, we don’t know where we were going with that, but it stands pretty well on its own. Anyway, he’s done it again, this time in a column where he says there’s no reason to worry about Donald Trump’s increasingly fascistic public statements and plans for remaking government in his own oft-bankrupt image, because Trump can’t actually manage that, and anyway, as the headline proclaims, “A Constitution-flouting ‘authoritarian’ is already in the White House” (WaPo gift link). Yes, that’s Joe Biden, power-mad tyrant.

Will agrees Trump is vile and all that, but adds we should remember that Trump failed even to build WALL in his first term, so hooray, nothing to worry about if he returns, probably:

But next time, the fevered forecasters warn, the entire federal apparatus, which mostly loathes him, will suddenly be submissive. Such alarmism, which evidently gives some people pleasurable frissons, distracts attention from the similarity of Trump’s and Biden’s disdain for legality.

Never mind that this time out, Trump is already bent on making sure there aren’t any adults in the room to spoil his fun, and disregard the plans rightwing think tanks have already drawn up for culling non-loyalists from federal agencies. Joe Biden is the real monster, says Will, and why is no one as upset as George Will about this?

Just to be clear, Will absolutely does not agree with — or even mention — the kids on Twitter who are calling Biden a fascist for his support of Israel’s war in Gaza. For all we know, Will might consider that Biden’s sole redeeming feature. Nope, instead, Will briefly reviews the most dangerous stuff Biden’s up to, which he insists is every bit as great an assault on the Constitution as anything Trump could even dream of:

Instances of Trump’s anti-constitutional behavior have been amply reported and deplored. Biden’s, less so — although they (e.g., the eviction moratorium, the vaccine mandate, the cancellation of student debt), and judicial reprimands of them, have been frequent.

At least two of the three (we have no idea about the eviction moratorium!) have firm basis in either congressional statute or Justice Samuel Alito’s stricture that policies be “deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition.” But Trump’s Supreme Court said vaccine mandates are bad and so is erasing student loan debt, so you can’t argue with that. Mostly because they didn’t really bother with the “arguments” part.

And finally, after a wee hosanna for the blessed restraining influence of the courts, Will gets to the latest example of Biden’s willingness to run roughshod over all the Norms ‘n’ Standards of a constitutional Republic, Biden’s supposed “contempt for the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, and the Senate majority’s supine complicity.”

Y’see kids, back in March 2023 Biden nominated Ann Carlson to head up the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and her nomination went nowhere in the Senate Commerce Committee. That was thanks in part to unified opposition from the Republican minority, led by ranking member Ted Cruz, plus what sure looks like the unwillingness of four Democrats up for reelection to stick their necks out by advancing Carlson and risking the social mediocrity storm Cruz would kick up if they did. (That’s all from Politico; Will just says “it was clear the Senate would not confirm her.")

Five weeks after Carlson withdrew her name from nomination, Joe Biden became Adolf Stalin Mussolini by named Carlson as acting head of NHTSA, that monster. That unspeakable abuse of power is the grist for the rest of Will’s column. He devotes a paragraph to invoking James Madison’s praise for the separation of powers (in Federalist 51, because George Will wants you to know he’s erudite AF and probably reads the founding documents during commercial breaks while watching baseball), details another similar “abuse” by Bill Clinton, and glowingly cites a proposal by Cruz to ban anyone who fails to get Senate confirmation from taking that position with pay.

Oh, yes, and at the very end of the column, Will offhandedly mentions that Carlson stepped down from the job in late December — although he fails to mention she specifically said she did so in order to comply with the federal law limiting acting appointees’ time in office.

Somehow, in all that umbrage about Biden’s mad abuses of his appointment power, Will barely mentions Trump’s notorious habit of appointing “acting” Cabinet-level officials, which he said gave him more “flexibility.” Trump cycled through at least 28 acting Cabinet members in his first three years, and by the end of his administration it felt like half the people in his administration were temps.

Will does mention that, as obliquely as possible, complaining that Biden’s “indifference to these legalities is Trumpian.” That’s the closest he gets, because of course a direct comparison of Biden’s One (1) acting head of NHTSA (who stepped down within the legal amount of time) to Trump’s behavior would give away the game.

Still, what a tyrant, and no one’s keeping Biden accountable, alas.

And you weenies were worried instead about Trump erasing the independence of the Justice Department, seeking to jail his “enemies” including his own military heads, using US troops to put down protests and to shoot people at the border, not to mention stomping on press freedom and overturning elections? Fools.

[WaPo (gift link) / Politico / Fortune]

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