TUESDAY, MARCH 1 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A27“M
y fellow Americans, the
state of the union is...
better. Much, much bet-
ter.”
I doubt President Biden will use
those exact words in his first State of the
Union address on Tuesday night — not
with inflation still in the headlines —
but they encapsulate the truth. Biden
has not solved all the problems of the
nation or the world in his first year in
the White House. But he has done a
heck of a lot.
Recall where we were on the day Joe
Biden took the oath of office.
The nation was gripped by the covid-
19 pandemic, and there was no work-
able process or plan to get everyone
vaccinated. The economy was in crisis;
restaurants and hotels were shuttered,
and airports were like ghost towns.
Schools were closed. Two weeks earlier,
a shocking and unprecedented violent
assault on the U. S. Capitol was waged by
insurrectionists bent on overturning
the presidential election and keeping
Biden’s predecessor in power. That de-
feated incumbent, bitter because the
putsch had failed, lacked the respect for
tradition and country to attend Biden’s
inauguration.
Look where we are now.
Some 65 percent of the U. S. popula-
tion is fully vaccinated, and nearly
44 percent has also had a booster shot.
Covid- 19 cases, hospitalizations and
deaths are in free fall. During Biden’s
first year, the economy added a record
6.6 million jobs and the unemployment
rate fell to 4 percent. Schools are open
and functioning normally. Mask man-
dates are being lifted. Our political
discourse has returned to Democrats
and Republicans shouting at e ach other
across a yawning divide, but they are
once again fighting with words, not
cudgels and bear spray.
Working with a slim majority in the
House and a 50-50 Senate, Biden and
the congressional leadership — House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schu-
mer (D-N.Y.) — managed to pass a
$1. 9 trillion covid- 19 rescue package
and a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.
Biden has had a record 46 federal judges
confirmed. And this past week, he nom-
inated U. S. Court of Appeals Judge
Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme
Court — she could be the first Black
female justice in our nation’s history.
By any standard, that’s pretty re-
markable for a year’s work.
Perhaps just as important as the
concrete achievements are the intangi-
bles. We have moved beyond the ex-
hausting craziness of Donald Tr ump’s
time in office. For four long years,
Americans woke every morning to a
fresh barrage of insanity, inanity and
insults from the president and his ad-
ministration. Now, e verything is so nor-
mal as to be almost boring.
White House statements are not rid-
dled with misspellings. Media briefings
are once again held daily and are infor-
mative, not argumentative. Policy posi-
tions are developed through an exhaus-
tive process, not announced and aban-
doned according to whim. Nobody gets
fired via angry tweet.
Yet Biden’s approval rating stands at
just 40.8 percent, according to the
RealClearPolitics average of polls, with
disapproval at 5 4.6 percent. In p art, that
just demonstrates the absolutist nature
of our partisan divide. In p art, it reflects
the fact that Biden and the Democrats
overpromised by heavily touting the
benefits of the Build Back Better spend-
ing package, which they lacked the
votes to pass — and then spent more
time talking about what they couldn’t
do than what they’d already done.
The biggest and most important fac-
tor, however, is likely that inflation has
soared to levels not experienced in four
decades. Biden has taken concrete steps
to demonstrate that he sees the problem
and is trying to address it — releasing oil
from the strategic reserve, for example.
But some of his actions are unlikely to
lower prices very much and others will
take time to have an impact, and the
administration needs to visibly do
much more.
Voters care about inflation because
they see and feel it every day. They
understand that it cannot be van-
quished overnight. But they have little
patience with politicians they perceive
as indifferent to rising prices for gas,
food, housing and almost everything
else. In his State of the Union, Biden
should offer a long list of actions he is
taking to try to defeat inflation, and he
should treat the subject with the urgen-
cy it deserves.
Biden took over from an administra-
tion that had bashed our NATO and
European Union allies and gone out of
its way to praise Russian President
Vladimir Putin. Today, f ollowing Putin’s
brutal and unprovoked invasion of
Ukraine, the transatlantic alliance is
stronger than it has been in decades.
The United States leads a coordinated
response designed to isolate Russia and
devastate its corrupt Potemkin-village
economy.
On foreign policy, B iden needs only to
explain how Ukraine shows that “Amer-
ica is back” is more than a slogan. It’s t he
hope of the free world.EUGENE ROBINSONBiden’s Stateof the Unionshould buildon his recordThe State of the Union address
is usually highly anticipated
and quickly forgotten. But the
speech is useful in determin-
ing how the president and his team of
advisers want the president to be
seen. A good speech is more than the
listing of priorities but an attempt to
create a brand.
So how fares the Biden brand?
Badly — if recently a bit improved.
In the Ukraine crisis, President
Biden seems to be leading events
rather than being led by them. For the
moment, he has the right mix of
elements in his response: diplomacy,
sanctions, resolve. He benefits, of
course, from t he heroism o f the Ukrai-
nians and the madness of Russian
President Vladimir Putin. But in the
largest test of his presidency thus far,
Biden is performing well.
It remains to be seen if Biden’s
improved reputation on the global
stage will influence his dramatically
different standing at home. In almost
every general political conversation I
have, there is talk of Biden’s apparent
tiredness and lack of focus. Any
communications strategy that does
not take this into account is not
serving him well.
President John F. K ennedy talked of
vigor — in his pronunciation, “vigah”
— as a public virtue. It didn’t matter
that he had digestive issues including
colitis and urinary infections, was
plagued by back pain and suffered
from Addison’s disease. Or that he
employed a small hospital of doctors
to dose him. Kennedy’s brand was
energy in service to modernization.
It helped, of course, that Kennedy
always looked as if he’d stepped out of
a fashion magazine. And it’s hardly
feasible to recommend to Biden: Be
more youthful and graceful. The mag-
ic of rhetoric goes only so far. But
every president must demonstrate to
Americans that he or she is fully
engaged and active in the public
interest. And this is Biden’s particular
burden. His brand should be that of
the leader who is relentless in pursuit
of attainable, moderate and unifying
national goals. He should be the
reformer who rejects complacency
and radicalism.
This involves a certain kind of
public modesty. Not all useful change
must be “transformational.” Trying to
assume the part of Franklin D.
Roosevelt was not a good fit for Biden.
He n eeds instead to be the advocate of
public policies that will elicit positive
nods from independent voters.
Good speechwriting can help con-
vey the right tone. The State of the
Union calls for short sentences and
tight paragraphs. The speech should
be energetic, future-oriented and not
interminable. Most that run longer
than an hour are victims of message
indiscipline. Speeches that dwell on
gaining credit for unrecognized
achievements are saying, in essence:
Most of you have been too blind or
stupid to see the glory of my t riumphs.
This is hardly the basis for a political
romance.
When I oversaw the production of
five State of the Unions, we were
always looking for incremental,
m edium-size policies that contributed
to a composite image of the president
himself. The goal was not only to
describe what he would do but to
reveal the type of man he was. Every
policy choice should be a shard in the
mosaic of a leader. And the crisp
velocity of his language can communi-
cate energy and capability.
If this year I were writing the State
of the Union (not a task I ever
particularly enjoyed), I’d give particu-
lar focus to the child tax credit. Under
the American Rescue Plan, this meas-
ure provided families $3,000 for chil-
dren a ge 6 t o 17 e ach year or $3,600 for
children age 5 or younger. The meas-
ure didn’t c reate some new, n ightmar-
ish federal bureaucracy to administer
it. Instead, it sent monthly checks for
every qualifying child.
The legislation — which has now
expired — took an estimated 3 million
children out of poverty, while shifting
the benefits of federal policy in favor
of the young. It achieved greater
social justice while rejecting leftist
zeal. For Biden, a move to resurrect it
would symbolize an orientation
toward the f uture. And since S en. Mitt
Romney (R-Utah) has his own version
of the legislation, it is a prime oppor-
tunity for bipartisanship.
There is much for Biden’s first
State of the Union to cover, from
historically high inflation to a histor-
ic choice for the Supreme Court. And
the crisis in Ukraine will overshadow
his remarks. It would be particularly
useful for him to provide a general
overview of the 20 th century, in
which the distant discontents of
Europe, and the limitless ambitions
of tyrants, invariably required Ameri-
can intervention.
But in all this, Biden’s political need
is not to show empathy but energy. He
must be a whirlwind of positive,
achievable change. He must be an
activist outsider to his own adminis-
tration — driving progress and inno-
vation against ossified elites.
What Biden needs most is to show
much more vigor on a national stage.MICHAEL GERSONA chancef or Bidento rebrandWhen I learned that President
Biden had asked Judge Ket-
anji Brown Jackson to serve
on the Supreme Court, my
first instinct was to cheer this historic
appointment. But what soon followed
was a n instinct t o dream of t he moment
when the elevation of such a supremely
talented person would be more routine
than remarkable.
I hope to see a world where we can
stop tossing confetti when 232 - year-old
institutions include women, people
with brown skin, those who are differ-
ently abled, those who are L GBTQ or
those who have been locked out for
centuries.
I hope to see a world where braids
and p assion twists o r kinky, c urly, fuzzy,
nappy, “grow as God gave me” hairstyles
are as common as side-part, soft-fade,
executive haircuts in CEO suites and
anywhere people exert influence over
life, learning, longevity and the engines
of our economies.
I hope to see a world where names
like Ketanji and Kamala and K izzmekia
roll off the tongue as easily as Ashok,
Xiomara or Eun-Woo. A world where
more National Football League coaches
have names such a s Kwame and Francis-
co. A world where college students do
not feel like they must Anglicize their
names s o their résumés d on’t g o straight
to the piles labeled “not ready” or “not
sure” or “ not now.”
Consider this: Researchers at the
University of C hicago, H arvard and MIT
sent résumés to employers with similar
levels of education and experience. The
only difference was the n ame a t the top.
Candidates with African American or
ethnic-sounding names were much less
likely to get a call back. Opportunities
flow more freely i n some directions than
in others. I want to see a world wherethat does not h appen.
Studies have found t hat the most com-
mon names for CEOs in the United States
over the past 20 years were Peter, Jack,
Bob, Chris, Fred, Bill, Ron, Don, Bruce
and Alexander. According to an analysis
by LinkedIn, if you are a woman who
aspires to become a CEO, your chances
are improved if your name is Deborah,
Pamela, Cynthia, Cheryl or Sally.
Is that a coincidence? Is it about
natural selection o r the subtle messages
that are passed on over decades about
what authority should look and sound
like?
I want to live in a world where a
Supreme Court nominee, or anyone else
making history, w ill not be able to tell the
story, as Jackson did, about the high
school guidance counselor who urged
her to lower her s ights when she aspired
to attend Harvard. My Post colleague
Jonathan Capehart took to Twitter and
asked, “Raise your hand if you h ad *that*
guidance counselor?” The response was
revealing and heartbreaking: Dozens
upon dozens of lawyers, journalists, p ro-
fessors, CPAs, nurses and a chemical
physicist all reported that they had
*that* guidance c ounselor.
It reminded me of a book club meet-
ing I attended before Michelle Obama
published her memoir, “Becoming,” in
which she recalled how her high school
guidance counselor suggested that she
rethink her plan to follow her older
brother t o college a t Princeton.
This was no ordinary book club. A
dozen women had a chance to read and
discuss “Becoming” with the former
first lady before its publication; they
included TV producer Shonda Rhimes,
historians Erica Armstrong D unbar a nd
Martha S. Jones, Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation President Elizabeth Alex-
ander, former U. S. poet laureateNatasha Tr ethewey, civil rights lawyer
Sherrilyn Ifill, law school dean Verna
Williams, a nd authors Tayari Jones, Jac-
queline Woodson and Farah Jasmine
Griffin.
When asked whether anyone in the
group had a high s chool guidance coun-
selor who tried to clip their wings, al-
most every woman present raised her
hand; so did some of the younger wom-
en in attendance from O bama’s staff. We
all stared at one another. We didn’t
know whether to laugh or to c ry.
Some of us have been in touch after
hearing Jackson share her story last
week from the White House lectern. A
few of us had parents, including me,
who took time off from work to set the
counselor straight. One ran into her old
guidance counselor at a train station
after she had made a name for herself.
That day, he told her, “I knew you’d do
great t hings.”
Why couldn’t h e have s aid that to her
as a 17-year-old?
Thank goodness all these accom-
plished people soared beyond their
guidance counselors’ limited visions.
But I w orry about all the kids w ho sadly
succumb to low expectations or who
don’t have champions to nurture their
ambitions.
So, I h ave a slight twist on Jonathan’s
query. I’d ask: “Are you n ow *that* guid-
ance counselor, unable to see the p oten-
tial that resides i nside brown skin, or in
some kid who d oesn’t have t he ‘ right’ Z ip
code, name or gender?”
I want to live in a world where young
people, regardless of color, or sexual
orientation, or station in life, can follow
their dreams without running into a
counselor who will “guide” them t oward
a lower altitude based on nothing more
than the unfortunate limits of *that*
counselor’s imagination.MICHELE L. NORRISWhat Ketanji Brown Jackson’sguidance counselor missedKEVIN LAMARQUE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Ketanji Brown Jackson delivers remarks during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in April 2021.Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
(R-Ga.) doesn’t want to be held
accountable for the white su-
premacists she pals around with.
Judge her instead by her own words, she
pleads.
Sure thing, Congresswoman. Challenge
accepted.
On Friday, G reene spoke at t he America
First Political Action Conference, a white-
nationalist rival to the much larger Con-
servative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) she addressed across town in Or-
lando the next day. Her fellow Republi-
cans Rep. Paul A. Gosar (Ariz.), Idaho Lt.
Gov. Janice McGeachin and Arizona state
Sen. Wendy Rogers, a mong others, p artici-
pated in the “groyper” gathering as well.
Not long ago, appearing in such compa-
ny would have been anathema for elected
officials.
To understand why, consider some of
the remarks uttered by the event’s orga-
nizer, Nicholas Fuentes, an unabashed
antisemite previously expelled from
CPAC. The FBI has referred to him in court
documents as a white supremacist.
Minutes before Greene addressed the
crowd, Fuentes crowed that “our secret
sauce here, it’s these young White men.”
He declared that the Jan. 6 insurrection
was “awesome.” He solicited a “round of
applause for Russia,” to which the crowd
chanted “Putin! Putin!” And he seemed to
suggest t hat attempts to compare Russian
President Vladimir Putin to Hitler are
flattering.
And that was just at this e vent.
In prior settings, Fuentes has ques-
tioned whether the Holocaust happened;
railed against “Jewish Power” and “race
mixing”; worked to galvanize the crowd
outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 and later
repeatedly praised the uprising; argued
that women should be denied the right to
vote; a nd pined for the days of Jim Crow.
Fuentes’s reputation and comments
can be found with a quick Google search.But when criticized for appearing at his
event, alongside other speakers mocking
“QueerPAC” next door, Greene pleaded
ignorance.
“I do not know Nick Fuentes,” Greene
told reporters the following day, despite
video and photos of their appearance
together. “I’ve never heard him speak. I’ve
never seen a video. I don’t know what his
views are, so I’m not aligned with anything
that may be controversial.”
She then tweeted several defenses of
her participation. She acknowledged that
some speakers offered “a few off-color
remarks” (an inventive euphemism, ap-
parently, for “openly bigoted”). But she
defiantly proclaimed, “I am not going to
play the guilt by association game in
which you demand every conservative
should justify anything ever said by any-
one they’ve ever shared a room with.” She
added: “I’m only responsible for what I
say.”
Well, we at least agree on that last part.
Greene should be held responsible for
what she says, at a neo-Nazi confab or
elsewhere.
For instance, Greene should be held
accountable for continuing to compare
every Democratic policy she opposes —
whether mask mandates, vaccination re-
quirements or Jan. 6 responses — to the
Holocaust. This includes her more color-
ful misfires on the subject, such as when
she denounced Democratic colleagues in-
vestigating J an. 6 as the “gazpacho police.”
(Perhaps she f ears the gazpacho police will
send innocent patriots to the goulash for
their attempted soup d’état.)
She has shared other antisemitic gar-
bage over the years.
These include claims about Jewish
space lasers supposedly sparking Califor-
nia wildfires. And how “Zionist suprema-
cists” are conspiring to replace the West’s
White Christian population with non-
White Muslim immigrants, an endorse-
ment of the “Great Replacement” theorythat was also voiced by other speakers in
Orlando.
Add to the list her remarks that Mus-
lims do not belong in government. Her
claim that 9/11 was an inside job, with no
plane ever c rashing into the Pentagon. Her
assertion that the shooting massacres in
Newtown, Conn., Las Vegas and Parkland,
Fla., w ere all staged.
And that leading Democratic officials
should be executed. A nd so on.
Over the weekend, former secretary of
state Mike P ompeo condemned Greene for
“playing footsie” with “anti-Semitic neo-
Nazis.” But given Greene’s r ecord, it might
be more accurate to say the neo-Nazis wish
to play footsie with her, perhaps in hopes
that she can lend their once-shunned
organization political legitimacy.
One might be tempted to forgive
Greene for not realizing how embarrassed
she should be to “share a room w ith” these
speakers and pro-Putin attendees. After
all, it’s usually Greene who’s the most
embarrassing person to share a room
with. When Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah)
was asked Sunday what he thought of
Greene’s (and Gosar’s) participation at a
white-nationalist event, he replied: “I
don’t k now t hem, but I’m reminded of that
old line from the ‘Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid’ movie, where one charac-
ter says: ‘Morons. I have got morons on my
team.’ ”
Greene, like Gosar, has already been
stripped of her committee a ssignments for
comments endorsing conspiracy theories
and encouraging violence against fellow
lawmakers. She has been denounced by
some of the few Republicans who still have
principles. She has even been disavowed
by her gym!
Yet the House h as so far refused to expel
this tinfoil-hat-wearer from its ranks, an
action that would require a two-thirds
vote of her peers.
Most Republicans, it seems, would pre-
fer to keep the morons on their team.CATHERINE RAMPELLMarjorie Taylor Greene wants to be judgedby her own words? Challenge accepted.