The 10 Most Important Lines From President Biden’s Address

In case you missed it, friends

The most amusing shot in Wednesday night’s broadcast of the president’s speech to a joint session of Congress — alas, it was not an official “State of the Union Address” — was of a masked Bernie Sanders. You could only imagine the smirk hiding under his COVID-cover, as he listened to a normally centrist Joe Biden call for so much of what Sanders has been ranting about for years: free college, paid sick leave, an exciting future of electric cars and green jobs; the list goes on. We couldn’t see it, but the smirk was likely a mix of “I am the one who’s been saying that!” and real pride that years of barking the same bark have somewhat paid off.

The pandemic has changed the context in which we’re evaluating how much we are actually willing to care for our fellow Americans (i.e., give a shit), and it seems these proposals have found their moment. When the president called for childcare reform — caregivers would be paid to stay at home with children and the elderly — Elizabeth Warren pumped her fist. The speech, or at least the agenda in it, was clearly a team effort. It seems the Great Liberal Apology (decades of tip-toeing so we don’t offend) is over, and we should all buckle up for bold investments in a leftist America. I say, raise your glass and biodegradable straw. Cheers!

In case you didn’t catch it, the speech was a calm, confident and heartfelt call for winning the future post-COVID. Of course, Lauren Boebart didn’t think so; she rolled her eyes. Joe Manchin took notes. Ted Cruz shot dirty looks over his mask, like a confused cartoon villain. None of it detracted, though, from the main event — perhaps one of the positive upshots of delivering such an address during the pandemic: the focus wasn’t on the crowd, rather it was on the president.

In a call for unity, Biden laid out his plans for investments in infrastructure, jobs to battle climate change, lower prescription-drug prices, bringing the troops home from Afghanistan, and reuniting with our allies abroad, among others. Noticeably absent was any commitment about student loan debt or universal healthcare. All in all, it was a defense of government and a call for it to rise to meet the needs of the people, and for us all to band together to…