Historian Heather Cox Richardson interviewed President Joe Biden before his State of the Union address, focusing on his place in history. “I wanted to hear from a historic figure in a historic time about how he thinks about America in this pivotal moment, to put the specifics of what he does in a larger context,” she said.
“In the past, just when it seemed we were approaching the end of democracy and replacing it with oligarchy — and in each of these periods, elites literally talked about how they alone should lead the country — the American people turned to leaders who helped them reclaim democracy,” she said. “We know these leaders from our history. Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt all have entered the pantheon of our leaders because of their defense of democracy in the face of entrenched power. But all of those presidents became who they were because they rose to the challenge of the pivotal moments in which they lived. They worked to reflect the increasingly loud voices of the majority of the American people.”
Biden spoke of the importance of uniting Americans once again, and of the United States’ role as part of the world community. He avoided placing himself at the level of the great leaders who preceded him, but acknowledged the importance of his role in getting Americans to recognize the need for a return to the selfless ideals upon which the country was founded.
One area where divisions are most apparent at the moment is the issue of gasoline prices. Biden’s decision, made with bipartisan support, to halt the import of Russian oil in the wake of Russia’s brutal attack of Ukraine is pushing gas prices higher. Despite that agreement on the need to shut down the oil imports, many are blaming Biden for the high prices of gasoline, while he is placing much of the blame on greedy oil companies.
Drilling permits are still being issued for federal lands, according to Interior Department records, and the pace of approvals since Biden took office is faster than it was during the administration of Republican Donald Trump. U.S. oil producers have more than 9,100 unused permits to drill on federal land. Oil executives say pressure from shareholders has caused them to hold back spending on exploration and drilling in order to boost investor returns through share buybacks and dividends.
Indeed, oil companies are enjoying their biggest windfalls in more than a decade. Biden warned against profiteering during this crisis, and senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Elizabeth Warren are working on a new tax on those windfall profits.
Meanwhile, the former president’s legacy is continuing to hurt the country. Trump’s refusal to accept losing at the polls has left election officials feeling besieged by the conspiracy theorists who continue to claim election fraud (although the facts are showing that it was Trump loyalists committing fraud). Local election officials are facing threats that leave them in fear for their safety.
Three in 10 election officials surveyed say they know at least one worker who has left the job, in part because of fears for their safety. Sixty percent of the respondents said they are concerned that those issues will make it more difficult to retain or recruit election workers in the future.
Former Trump lawyer John Eastman, who helped to coordinate the scheme to return Trump to office, conceded in an email to Greg Jacob, counsel for then vice-president Mike Pence, that the plan was a violation of the Electoral Count Act, but he urged Pence to move ahead with the scheme, anyway. Eastman claimed that, because the statute had already been violated in small ways, Pence should have no problem committing “one more minor violation and adjourn for 10 days”.
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IT WILL CERTAINLY BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHERE OUR COUNTRY IS ELECTION TIME 2022. WILL BIDEN'S POLICIES ,OPEN BORDER,NO DRILLING TO MAKE THE USA ENERGY INDEPENDENT,COST OF GAS & FOOD,IF THERE IS ANY ON THE STORES SHELVES..SOCIALISM ,IS THAT THEIR OBJECTIVE? TIME WILL TELL.