The line Joe Biden used to put into nearly every big speech — “I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future” — is a long way from what he says in private now.The line Joe Biden used to put into nearly every big speech — “I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future” — is a long way from what he says in private now.

These days, multiple people who’ve spoken to him over the last year say, Biden often punctuates conversations with: “You think we can actually come back from this?”

The 83-year-old Biden continues to feel out a post-presidency that may prove to be one of the shortest in history and is already one of the most complicated.

There are days when Biden is heartbroken, indignant or in disbelief about what is happening as President Donald Trump — the man he defeated in 2020 — returned and moved not just to tear down his accomplishments, but to dig in with petty insults like the autopen photograph he put in Biden’s spot in the “Presidential Walk of Fame” installed at the White House.

  • chaotic_ugly@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    13
    ·
    edit-2
    55 minutes ago

    Don’t be that guy. Whatever is happening under Trump is something new. Predictable, maybe, but new and uniquely terrifying in modern times.

    *Edit: New in American history. Please stop replying to tell me this is an age old issue that has plagued civilization since the dawn of time. When Biden implies that we (the US) can’t come back from this, he is obviously talking about the loss of whatever is left of American democracy and the descent into authoritarian dictatorship/oligarchy. Americans have never seen anything like it except as bystanders.

    • Krauerking@lemy.lol
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 hour ago

      Funny enough it isn’t.

      There is a concept in imperialism that eventually after running out of room to expand the threat of violence and demand turns inward towards its own people and then when that fails too they lash out violently towards anything they deem as a resource they should own.

      Its actually extremely common throughout history and means also this has not felt new to people that that have been in the sights of the outward facing arm of it for decades now. So it might feel unique to you and you may claimit to be because years have passed and we have new technology to wage these fights with… But its shockingly more of the same just getting spread around more to more people to shelter the controlling classes more, as usual.

    • kreskin@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      ·
      edit-2
      24 hours ago

      Is it? Biden was actively helping run a genocide. Are we all just pretending those deaths didnt happen and Biden didnt play any role in them at all? I will not. Biden was an absolute dogshit president. Compared to Trump he was great, but he absolutely belongs behind bars, same as trump does.

      • chaotic_ugly@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        21 hours ago

        Why are you pretending like Biden isn’t talking specifically about the collapse of whatever is left of American democracy into outright dictatorship? Hungary, North Korea, Russia… whatever you think about America, the crony capitalism of the last 40 - 50 years is nothing compared to Russian oligarchy. In all of American history, nothing even close has existed. And since the beginning of post-war American hegemony, these systems of democratic oppression have always existed “over there”. For the very first time, the full dictator experience is coming to America. It’s entirely, undeniably new.

        I tend to agree with the former president. There is no coming back from this.

      • Auli@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        23 hours ago

        Name a president who wasn’t dog shit? America was always picking fights with people to push their agenda.

        • kreskin@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          23 hours ago

          Carter and Kennedy didnt violate American laws. Biden violated the Leahy act and many other anti genocide laws and acted cute about it by claiming they didnt acknolwedge that what was going on was a genocide.