President Joe Biden hosted a small group of scholars and historians for lunch on Wednesday as he gears up for a speech framing the upcoming election as a battle for the nationās democracy.
The discussion revolved around āongoing threats to democracy and democratic institutions both here in America and around the world, as well as the opportunities we face as a nation,ā the White House said in a statement.
Princetonās Eddie Glaude Jr. and Sean Wilentz, Harvardās Annette Gordon-Reed, Yaleās Beverly Gage and Boston Collegeās Heather Cox Richardson were among the attendees, as well as presidential biographer ā and occasional Biden speech writer ā Jon Meacham.
Attendees were tight-lipped about what was discussed at the gathering. One would only go so far as to say they ātalked about American history and its bearing on the present ā a lively exchange of ideas.ā
Another person in the room, who like the others was not authorized to speak publicly about a private meeting, said the historians urged the president āto call out the moment for what it is.ā In blunt terms, the academics discussed looming threats to the nationās democracy and warned about the slow crawl of authoritarianism around the globe.
I donāt give a shit about it turning into communism.
I give a shit about change, drastic, and soon, because it is the only thing that is going to save us in the long run.
Honestly, I donāt even know where I stand anymore.
Apparently the political party I thought was worth it is justā¦ not what I thought it was.
Like I thought we were all in it together and then it turned out that you guys just donāt give a shit about very serious stuff.
Like I love all my trans and gay and minority Homies, but at the end of the day, theyāre all still alive and well, and we canāt even get you guys to stop sending fucking weapons!
We sure as fuck, couldnāt find artillery shells for Ukraine, but damned if we didnāt find it up for fucking israel.
Why the fuck should we condone someone taking fucking artillery shells that were destined for Ukraine and sending them to fucking israel?!?
Why should we condone someone who does not give a fuck about helping people commit genocidal actions?
Why should I be on that guys team?
We were doing so good for once, we were helping the underdogs save their nation from Russian invaders, not great though, we still held back at every fucking opportunity.
We had no American boots on the ground!
Now we have a whole fleet of Americans in danger.
Plus, tons of other countries who have to put all of their people at risk, because we canāt get the fuck out of Middle Eastern bullshit.
We have a lot of room in America, AFAIK we have every type of biome in America, letās just give them some room here, hell if they want solitude we have a ton of national parks we could just cut out a square of.
It would piss off the Native Americans a shit ton, but they arenāt israel so most people wonāt care.
That was being facetious, but I am serious about letting them move here, there arenāt even ten million of them, thatās barely bigger than New York.
If we had just given those guys, the fucking shit that they asked for when they asked for it instead of fucking waiting forever, this war would look a whole lot damn different.
Iām not even talking about the F-16s and shit that weāre still too pussy to fucking send, and all the other shit theyāve asked for that we havenāt given them, I am only talking about the things that we ended up sending them anyway.
Let someone attack israel, and then the fucking gloves are off though.
If we wouldāve fucking sent aid trucks into Gaza when this shit first started, the killing of thousands of innocent civilians obviously not when Israel first got attacked, with one fucking soldier, driving it, and told them to do what they were going to do, a ton of people would still be alive right now, children wouldnāt be going hungry right now, living in fear right now, because thereās no way in hell that the fucking israelis would bite the hand that feeds them.
We couldāve stopped almost every bit of that bombing if we had just said āNo, youāre not getting shit until you calm down.ā and then sat down and made a real plan.
We could have released the weapons to them in batches that way they could never go too crazy.
Like weāve done some dirty shit to other countries, America is in no way innocent on that front, but it wasnāt supposed to be a fucking lesson plan.
Honestly, I donāt think that weāve done as much damage in so short of a time since World War II, at least Vietnam, as they have done in less than three months.
What they canāt kill, they destroy, they keep calling me the places they told people they would be safe.
Theyāre still human by all means, they are just being really shitty ones right now, and we are supporting them.
I was where you are in 2015. Stop thinking it will get better and it will get better.