New Book: Dark Brandon's Masterclass in the Old Ways and Getting Things Done

In his book The Last Politician: Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future (Penguin/Random House, $30), author Franklin Foer quickly establishes a central premise. He is dealing with an imperfect President who never really comes to terms with today’s politics of relentless combat and 24/7 public display.

Joe Biden is, rather, a fine example of the old tradition of “nose counting, horse trading, and spreading a thick layer of flattery over his audience.” Biden says of himself: “I will always be a Senate man.” He was, after all, a senator 36 years. Its workload and collegiality helped him recover from the death of his first wife and daughter in an auto crash.

The old way of doing things has recently yielded results, although you’d never know it through the braying hatred and ridicule of right-wing media and the bed-wetting tendencies of liberal commentary. Biden pushed through the infrastructure bill, with bipartisan support — something promised by three previous presidents who failed to deliver. The CHIPS Act (prime sponsor, Sen. Maria Cantwell) is reviving America’s microchip industry and delivering a shot-in-the-arm to American manufacturing.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan cut childhood poverty in half and pumped money into recovery from the pandemic. Rapid nationwide implementation of COVID-19 vaccine reflected, Foer’s words, “the guiding hand of an activist state.” The Inflation Reduction Act is our first real effort to tackle the climate crisis, giving the U.S. “an investment in moral authority” to urge action by the rest of the world.

https://www.postalley.org/2023/09/28/new-book-dark-brandons-masterclass-in-the-old-ways-and-getting-things-done/