Adrastos mentioned something in his Irked in January post, which I read because we are often irked by the same things, that I wanted to highlight. And that is Biden’s farewell address not getting near the attention it deserves.

Biden echoes Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address and its warnings that the military-industrial complex has too much say in our society, too much control that extends down to American’s everyday lives. The modern version of that is Biden’s warnings about tech billionaires. He began it with this:

That’s why my farewell address tonight, I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And this is a dangerous — and that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultrawealthy people, and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. We see the consequences all across America. And we’ve seen it before.

More than a century ago, the American people stood up to the robber barons back then and busted the trusts. They didn’t punish the wealthy. They just made the wealthy play by the rules everybody else had. Workers want rights to earn their fair share. You know, they were dealt into the deal, and it helped put us on the path to building the largest middle class, the most prosperous century any nation the world has ever seen. We’ve got to do that again.

The Republican Party since Reagan was on this path. In fact, as a long-time reader of The Nation, I remember William Greider’s warning about this us reaching this moment more than two decades ago.

Greider spoke of three waves of right-wing attacks on American government and society. The first began in 1980 with Ronald Reagan. The second in 1994 with Newt Gingerich’s Speaker of the House stint. The third was George W. Bush. Obviously, we are in wave number four, which began in earnest probably in 2009 with the rise of the Tea Party, and that has evolved into Trumpism.

I have heard a few historians on podcasts and MSNBC segments talk about how historians of the future would view our current era as beginning around 2009 and likely we are in the middle of it. The faux populism really got going in earnest, and despite too many Americans being blind to it, overtly racist signs alluding to Obama’s race appearing at Tea Party rallies was a flashing red light warning about where we were headed.

This is a bad time for it. Biden pointed to one especially pressing problem:

So much is at stake. Right now, the existential threat of climate change has never been clearer. Just look across the country, from California to North Carolina. That’s why I signed the most significant climate and clean energy law ever — ever — in the history of the world, and the rest of the world is trying to model it now. It’s working, creating jobs and industries of the future.

You know, we’ve proven we don’t have to choose between protecting the environment and growing the economy. We’re doing both.

But powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis to serve their own interest for power and profit. We must not be bullied into sacrificing the future, the future of our children and our grandchildren. We must keep pushing forward and push faster. There is no time to waste.

All this said I am feeling apprehensive that not enough Democrats are getting the assignment and want to think it’s still 1985 and Ronnie and Tip can go have a beer after a long day of political scrapping over tax cuts and food stamp funding. The majority of elected Democrats I believe do but there are some I worry about. We need party leaders who understand the moment, and have 21st Century communication skills.

People who get the value of picking unwinnable fights because it lets every know what you stand for and encourages the base to join the fight – voting against all of Trump’s nominees is not going to stop it, but it will help alleviate some of the discouragement. An added benefit is it makes it much easier to attack them for their inevitable horrors and failures over the next four years.

Also, the “Norms” are dead, and the GOP is not interested in governing, they are focused on destroying and dominating. Good Lord, even Michael Steele gets it.

This is not a blast all the Dems post, because I know the majority of Dems are not interested in making nice with an authoritarian. I just wish all of our leaders acted like the threat they warned us about non-stop during 2024 was real because it is. Biden’s address, as underreported as it was, set the stage for a fight we must engage with, norms and GOP feelings notwithstanding. If that plea doesn’t work, I’ll use the reality that no politician likes to be embarrassed by pointing out that so many people who have tried to give Trump the benefit of the doubt end up looking foolish (remember all the “Trump has become presidential” declarations in his first term?).

We all need to heed Biden’s warnings.

The last word goes to Public Enemy: