Seth Abramson: "I'm not certain that the Biden administration gets this."

[triron]

Link to tweet

[Turin_C3PO]

1. What's he basing that on?

It seems to me that the new administration understands exactly who the GOP are.

[triron]

3. Good question. I don't know. Better ask Seth.

[pnwmom]

29. His doubts are probably related to Biden's calls for unity and healing.

But that's like asking an abused spouse to unite and heal with their abuser.

[SlogginThroughIt]

33. I don't think that Seth gets

I don’t think that Seth gets that there are some things that MUST be said. Also I sort if feel like Seth is mansplaining and losing sight of the idea that maybe he doesn’t know more than everyone. I like Seth’s work, a lot, but come on dude.... There are other smart people out there.

[Walleye]

2. I think the Biden administration gets it a lot more than they're given credit for it

Maybe because he’s a Delawarean We don’t tell everything we know. The state is just too small.

[greenjar_01]

6. A lot of Really Smart People were absolutely sure Biden was done this time last year

And would never ever possibly win, ever.

It's possible that Biden is actually smart and knows more than some of these Really Smart People...

[Walleye]

15. He's very smart, and he knows the score.

He also knew he was probably the only one that could beat Trump. A lot of people didn’t give him credit for that either.Just because he lives his Christian values instead of using them to try to control people, they think he’s some kind of pushover

[friendly_iconoclast]

26. I feel Biden shares Will Rogers' take on political tactics:

"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock"

[Hassin Bin Sober]

27. Lol. I've never heard that one!

[Walleye]

32. That's beautiful. I never heard that one 😁

[servermsh]

4. "Unity" is just for messaging, to keep the President "above the fray"

Biden knows full well what will be required.

[Irish_Dem]

12. That is what I think too.

There is another side to the extroverted charming smile.
He has been pushed too far, and he means business.
But his message is crafted to reassure people and stay above the fray as you say.

[Walleye]

16. Correct

[lunatica]

36. It's meant to convince them that he is reaching out to them

Which he is, of course, but if it calms them down while he goes about the business of undoing the Trump legacy then things can get done. After all they will be benefitted as much as the rest of us if Biden can create millions of jobs.

What Trump did was be a brute in general who did his best to create division and alienation. What Biden does is be a diplomatic politician who truly wants to govern for everyone as equal Americans.

Trump loved himself. Biden loves his country.

[greenjar_01]

5. This schmuck should run for President...he'll do great

[triron]

7. Nihilistic or fascist?

[sandensea]

31. +1

'Nihilistic' is too sugar-coated.

Sounds like an art movement.

"Hi, girlfriend! Are you still taking that class on Surrealist Art?"

"Surrealism is so 2020 - I'm taking Nihilistic Art now."

"Cool!"

[bucolic_frolic]

8. Yes, that's true

we have to not only do what's right, moral, just, fair play, we have to anticipate the win at all costs methods of the other side.

And we've got more elections to win in 2022 and we have to fix democracy and anything else we can now, while we can pass legislation into law. There may not be another chance 2 years hence.

[TwilightZone]

9. This "the Biden Admin is naive" nonsense has gone beyond tiresome.

Of course they fucking get it.

I wish people like Abramson would stop acting like they're the only ones who get what's going on, especially when it's something as ridiculously obvious as this. Bullshit like this doesn't help.

[stopdiggin]

24. right. most of the third grade class has it figured out

but -- the Bidens? Just not quite there yet. It's bullsh*t. And it's getting old fast.

----- -- -- -- -- -----

[Bleacher Creature]

10. Whatever. Biden and his team didn't just luck into where they are now.

They absolutely get what they are facing.

[Jarqui]

11. They know exactly what they're dealing with

The good news is that not all of the GOP is is purely nihilistic (ie Mitt Romney or Cindy McCain)

Biden admin is focused on the "four crises": Covid, the economy, racial equality & climate.

I appreciate Seth's posts but I'm not going to get too excited about this one at this juncture.

[JI7]

13. They get it but they also get how important it is to help people

and prevent what happened from happening again.

[Rhiannon12866]

14. Twitter reply:

Link to tweet

[Pantagruel]

17. "The Trumpist GOP (2016-present) is purely nihilistic."

Dubya's gang was also quite far removed from traditional "conservative values" but their destruction was more subtle right up to the Great Recession.

[Thekaspervote]

18. Oh come on..really? You're a journalist Biden has 40 + yrs of service...stop!!

[ret5hd]

19. Say what you will about the tenets of national socialism...

[Srkdqltr]

20. There is always a lot more going on than we see on the surface.

He didn't get elected because he didn't understand the other side.
Biden knows how all this works. I'm sure he had everyone picked out for all posts. I would bet he had people positioned everywhere with lists of others to hire and what direction everyone is going. All this positioned and ready to go last Wed at noon. Biden like Pelosi and Schumer et all know where all the bodies are buried and why and which ones will be dug up first and which ones to leave alone.

[StarfishSaver]

21. I am quite certain the President of the United States and his staff "get this"

In fact, I'd put money on my certainty that they "get this" and many other important things far more than Seth Abramson does.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

22. Seth is playing armchair quarterback and the game is just starting.

Inaugurated four days ago.

Has Seth forgot that Joe has been dealing with Republicans since 1973, which is longer than he's been alive (born 1976)?

Wanting to destroy our government does not necessarily make one nihilistic. It just makes you a greedy asshole.

Sorry, Seth, you're out of your league on that issue.......

[2naSalit]

23. It takes some time to change the language, for now...

The bad guys are the so called conservatives and that's the lingua franca at the moment. If we start to introduce too many changes too fast, people will lose interest and confidence in the message. We know who the bad guys are no matter what we call them.

[Progressive dog]

25. The Biden administration

gets everything necessary to get.

[SunSeeker]

28. Nah, they're not nihilistic. They have one unshakeable principle: white supremacy. nt

[BobTheSubgenius]

30. I've been saying "regressive" when talking about the GOP for several years.

I like "nihilism," though. They have definitely descended into nihilism.

[PurgedVoter]

34. Ask Seth to name a conservative value.

Ask him to name one. All we need to hear is one thing that conservatives consistently do better than liberals that is right or good.

[Still Sensible]

35. I don't buy the Nihilist take

I think the current GOP can be characterized more accurately as a whole that now pursues Power-for-Power's-Sake to maintain a societal order where largely white, European-heritage monied interests remain the dominant control. That they evolved into the party of Trump over the last 40 years is not surprising. What is troubling is that Trumpism has left them in a position where they have to embrace mad fantasy to perpetuate the power structure.

That is why I believe we must take advantage of the opportunity to accomplish as much progress as we can as quickly as we can. If we can successfully emerge from the pandemic on a progressive democratic course, we can solidify our gains in '22 and '24. If we do not press our power position now, we could buy Trumpism another run with smarter authoritarians.

[D23MIURG23]

37. Joe Biden was Obama's VP for 8 years; he saw the formation of this party.

He saw Obama's attempts to work with republicans, and how they were rebuffed and scoffed at. He saw McConnell steal an SC Justice and obstruct absolutely everything Obama tried to do for the last 6 years of his term, and he saw the rise of the tea party, and the ingress of tea party congresspeople in 2010.

He had one of the best vantage points you could ask for during all of that.

I'm convinced that he knows what he's dealing with. Whether he can find an optimal strategy for dealing with it is another matter. How you deal with a party that is willing to declare war on our system of government when it's convenient for them isn't an easy question. Any approach he takes is going to have downsides, and any approach that completely antagonizes them isn't going to work, because he needs to get things done with the fucking disaster that things are right now.