President Joe Biden hosted a small group of scholars and historians for lunch on Wednesday as he gears up for a speech framing the upcoming election as a battle for the nation’s democracy.
The discussion revolved around “ongoing threats to democracy and democratic institutions both here in America and around the world, as well as the opportunities we face as a nation,” the White House said in a statement.
Princeton’s Eddie Glaude Jr. and Sean Wilentz, Harvard’s Annette Gordon-Reed, Yale’s Beverly Gage and Boston College’s Heather Cox Richardson were among the attendees, as well as presidential biographer — and occasional Biden speech writer — Jon Meacham.
Attendees were tight-lipped about what was discussed at the gathering. One would only go so far as to say they “talked about American history and its bearing on the present — a lively exchange of ideas.”
Another person in the room, who like the others was not authorized to speak publicly about a private meeting, said the historians urged the president “to call out the moment for what it is.” In blunt terms, the academics discussed looming threats to the nation’s democracy and warned about the slow crawl of authoritarianism around the globe.
Browbeating is satisfying, and is less work than addressing the issue and trying to make progress toward a resolution. Do you suppose that your response made it more likely that the person you responded to will behave in the way you want?
Dismissiveness indicates an aversion to introspection.
I am not averse to introspection, I did a lot of it before I made my decision.
Morally, I can not support someone who wants to kill Gazans so badly that he did a run around around congress, twice.
He even confirms that he is not concerned about it, just the optics on israel.
I didn’t say you were. I was referring to your interlocutor.
Ah, my apologies then.