Last Thursday night President Joe Biden used an address at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to deliver a break-the-glass speech about the perilous state of American democracy. Since his inaugural address, Biden has talked about democracy from time to time, but without the force and urgency he displayed last week.
Better late than never.
The indictment he delivered included a detailed bill of particulars. “MAGA Republicans,” Biden said, “do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election, and they’re working right now… to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.”
And Biden took pains to highlight the growing phenomenon of MAGA-inspired political violence. “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.”