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What is really behind Biden's inflammatory rhetoric?

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By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist


The most inflammatory rhetoric on the campaign trail today seems to be being delivered by President Joe Biden.

Last week, in Pennsylvania he said, “And for those brave, right-wing Americans who say it's all about keeping America – keeping America as independent and safe: If you want to fight against a country, you need an F-15. You need something a little more than a gun…”

Is that not a threat? You might want to check history, Mr. President. In Vietnam, Presidents Johnson and Nixon thought they could beat a bunch of rag-tag soldiers that had a few old airplanes but lots of rifles. How did that work out? Many of the American soldiers that were involuntarily sent into that meat grinder are still alive and do not recognize the country today.

They are still alive, except for the 50,000-plus who were killed by the enemy, Agent Orange or other brilliant ideas of the day.

Or what about Biden’s speech on Sept. 1 in Philadelphia? Biden said, “MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards, backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love. They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fanned the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country. American democracy only works only if we choose to respect the rule of law and the institutions that were set up in this chamber behind me…”

What has been the reaction to the Sept. 1 speech?

CNN host Brianna Keilar: “Positioning Marines in uniform behind President Biden for a political speech flies in the face of that. It’s wrong when Democrats do it. It’s wrong when Republicans do it.”

“The Marines behind Biden was weird," ABC News producer Jeffrey Cook wrote. "If Trump did that, every Dem operative I follow would be freaking the [expletive] out."

CBS News Senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe: “Like or loathe what he said tonight, it should be noted: The president spoke tonight on the grounds of a national park, flanked by U.S. Marines, and took direct, specific aim at his predecessor and members of the Republican Party.”

According to the Epoch Times, “Some Republicans and other commentators also criticized Biden for standing directly in front of a dark blood-red backdrop during his speech, and cropped photos of the president were being shared.”

U.S. Senate candidate from Ohio JD Vance was not silent. He couldn’t believe the red backdrop image with Biden was a “real photograph.”

“It depicts the president of our nation, as he took to the airwaves and spoke about his fellow citizens as if they were sewer rats,” he wrote on social media.

Meanwhile, on Sept. 2, it was reported that in their raid of former President Trump’s home on Aug. 8, that among other items there were 11,179 government documents and photographs seized by federal agents on Aug. 8 that bore no classification markings at all.

Some of President’s Trump’s clothing was seized as well as magazines and newspaper clippings. Some 103 items were marked “Secret, Top Secret or Confidential” (Source: New York Post.) 

So, I ask, who is more threatening and who is more dangerous? President Biden giving a political speech flanked by Marines or the items in President Trump’s home?

What is President Biden’s intent with his rhetoric and his administration’s actions?

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga. and is a columnist for The Highland County Press. He may be reached at jthompson@taii.com.

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