Joe Biden is doing a lot right as US President, even if many media see it differently. It remains to be seen whether this will be of much use to him, his party and his candidates in the “Midterms” next week.
Prof. Ferdinand Simoneit, the former Spiegel reporter and later head of the Georg von Holtzbrinck School of Journalism, used to say: “Newspaper editors are write-offs.”
By that he didn’t mean the tax aspects of the media business, but rather the herd instinct that has always been pronounced among journalists. One writes down what the other hasn’t thought of himself.
The whole thing is reinforced by the praise cartels of the columnists and the hate brigades of the political journalists, so that in the end reality only serves as modeling clay for what Joseph Beuys called “social sculpture”.
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This reality of its own kind – and this brings us to contemporary journalism – is often duplicated thousands of times and multiplied millions of times in the age of mass production. One commentary is the derivative of the other. Media opinions are now also leverage products.
Reporting on Democratic President Joe Biden has drifted far from the fundamentals of his policies amid a wave of media speculation. He’s better than his reputation, even if that may not do him any good now on election day.
Here are the five facts that should be important in a fair assessment:
Joe Biden does not speak publicly about inflation for election tactical reasons, but he fights it. Unlike the ECB, which acts politically independently, the Federal Reserve is subordinate to him. His appointments with Fed Chair Jerome Powell are aimed at halting monetary debasement – even if it means a mild US recession.
After four consecutive rate hikes of 0.75 percent, the base rate is 4 percent as of this morning and it will continue to rise. Powell says, “We will stay the course until we get there.”
Despite the rate hikes (and their dampening effect on investment), the government is pursuing pro-business policies that have so far prevented the US economy from crashing. The increase in jobs during Joe Biden’s tenure is impressive: almost ten million new jobs have been created since he took office.
The profits of the big corporations also prove that the country’s economic machine works well even under the stressful conditions of inflation, war and pandemic. In the current earnings season, giants Apple ($20.7 billion), ExxonMobil ($19.7 billion) and Pfizer ($9.9 billion) all reported strong quarterly earnings.
Biden ended the wrong war to fight the right one. In Afghanistan, 20 years after the intervention, there was nothing left. The export of democracy to the Islamic country can be considered a failure. Consequently, the USA withdrew from the country on the Hindu Kush.
At the same time, however, Biden is concentrating his military activities on discreet but effective support for the Ukrainian army.
To date, the US has invested over $15 billion in this war. Selenskyj’s gains in terrain are always Joe Biden’s gains in terrain.
The system rival Russia – also through the further expansion of NATO to Finland and Sweden – is shown the limits. Unlike Olaf Scholz, Joe Biden is crystal clear about the motives for his warfare: “This man has to go.”
Biden has pushed a social and climate package through the Senate that is impressing progressive America. Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader, called the deal “one of the most important legislative achievements of the 21st century.” The package provides:
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It is the largest investment in combating climate change. According to energy experts, the measures would help the United States cut greenhouse gas emissions by about 40 percent below 2005 levels by the end of this decade.
In all likelihood, the Biden government could thus meet its goal of halving emissions by 2030, unlike the traffic light coalition in Germany.
He is conducting a clever election campaign because he does not focus on his personality or his achievements, but on the greatest good of all Western countries: democracy. “Democracy is on the ballot,” he says. Or also: “We have to defend our democracy, stand up for it.”
In doing so, he raises the political debate to a high, almost philosophical level and contradicts the media, which acts like a betting shop by constantly pitting Trump against Biden.
Conclusion: Joe Biden, who is curving through his term of office at an advanced age and with little visionary power, is currently the guarantor that America will not derail. This is no small thing at high cruising speeds.
Gabor Steingart is one of the best-known journalists in the country. He publishes the newsletter The Pioneer Briefing. The podcast of the same name is Germany’s leading daily podcast for politics and business. Since May 2020, Steingart has been working with his editorial staff on the ship “The Pioneer One”. Before founding Media Pioneer, Steingart was, among other things, Chairman of the Management Board of the Handelsblatt Media Group. You can subscribe to his free newsletter here.
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