# What has the Biden administration done that's so awful? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 7, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060 "2022-02-07T17:52:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/121 "2022-02-13T17:06:14Z")
> [@bump](#): > > 99% of the Republican propaganda is aimed at making their flock feel insecure and scared- that their conception of “America” is going to go away, that their power to affect things that impact them is going away, and that what they’ve worked hard their entire lives for is going to be taken from them. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > Basically, all you have left is to fight fear with fear. Point out to the public the consequences that they will experience if the Republicans are allowed to carry out their agenda. There’s a saying in marketing: “You don’t sell more mousetraps by talking about a better mousetrap. You sell more mousetraps by talking about scarier mice.” The GOP has been talking about scarier mice for 30-ish years, while the Democrats have mostly been talking about better mousetraps and trying to convince people that the mice the GOP is talking about aren’t really scary. Meanwhile, things the GOP are actually doing and saying should be plenty scary to mainstream voters if we’re willing to talk about them the right way. TLDR: I agree with @k9bfriender – lets make the GOP mice as scary as we possibly can. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/122 "2022-02-14T14:47:11Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Presidents need to learn to cater to their own party alone and stop caring about the other side - whether D or R. No. This is the opposite of being a leader. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/123 "2022-02-15T18:31:29Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > There’s a saying in marketing: “You don’t sell more mousetraps by talking about a better mousetrap. You sell more mousetraps by talking about scarier mice.” There’s also a saying: “You can’t polish a turd.” ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/124 "2022-02-15T18:44:50Z")
There are lots of marketing sayings, but I’m not sure what yours has to do with mine. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/125 "2022-02-15T18:51:15Z")
Seems to be a lot of non sequiturs being posted by the good Capt. lately. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/126 "2022-02-15T18:54:18Z")
Let’s run it up the flagpole and see if it makes a splash. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/127 "2022-02-15T18:55:06Z")
I hear you knocking, but you can’t make me drink. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/128 "2022-02-15T19:44:53Z")
We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/129 "2022-02-15T20:40:32Z")
I think we’ve reached the point where this is relevant: > **[Reality Check by Dave Whamond for December 12, 2021 | GoComics.com](https://www.gocomics.com/realitycheck/2021/12/12)** > > December 12, 2021 (I sent this to my daughter — who tends to get sucked into a lot of meetings — with the comment that at least someone’s Buzzword Bingo card must have gotten filled out.) ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/130 "2022-02-15T23:54:52Z")
Hey, no one ever went broke underestimating…the rumors of my death…whenever a door closes…a dead bird falls out of its nest… My comment was meant to convey that you can cover stupidity with all sorts of jingoistic sophistry…it’s still stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/131 "2022-02-15T23:58:57Z")
“Jingoistic: characterized by extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy.” I do not think that word means what you think it means. Perhaps you meant “trite figures of speech”. My trite figure of speech for the day is “You’re trying to be too clever by half” ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/132 "2022-02-16T00:17:12Z")
Well, I was referencing the following: > The GOP has been talking about scarier mice for 30-ish years usually their favored rhetoric along the lines of The Democrats Are UnAmerican And Want to Destroy Our Way of Life, peppered with ancillary warnings about The Homosexuall Agenda and They Are Murdering Our Children And Serving Them on Pizza. Essentially, they are telling their base that Democrats are not true Americans. But, perhaps “jingoistic” was the wrong adjective. Suggest a substitution of “fearmongering” in place of it. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/133 "2022-02-16T14:41:59Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > But, perhaps “jingoistic” was the wrong adjective. Suggest a substitution of “fearmongering” in place of it. No, fearmongering is exactly what it is, and although it appears stupid to many of us it’s been staggeringly effective. My suggestion is that we start fearmongering ourselves. It could be a lot less stupid, because the GOP has given us so many real examples of “scary mice” behavior. - Republicans don’t want people of color to vote. - Republicans will make abortion illegal, and then they’ll come after birth control. - Republicans want Covid to kill as many people as possible. - Republicans want to ~~lock up~~ kill anyone who disagrees with them. - Republicans are working with Russia to undermine American democracy. These are all defensible, if slightly exaggerated, statements. Dressed up in catchier language they could sell a hell of a lot of mousetraps. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/134 "2022-02-16T15:16:34Z")
That’s really not scary enough, most of those don’t touch on things that personally affect the people you are trying to reach. You don’t sell a mousetrap by talking about how mice infested someone else’s house, you sell it be talking about how they are infesting _yours_. > [@Akaj](#): > > Republicans don’t want people of color to vote. Republicans will prevent or invalidate _your_ vote if you don’t vote for them. > [@Akaj](#): > > Republicans will make abortion illegal, and then they’ll come after birth control. Republicans want to control your personal lives, who and how you are allowed to associate with, who you can start a family with, and want to keep them uneducated by destroying public education. > [@Akaj](#): > > Republicans want Covid to kill as many people as possible. Republicans have sided with the virus against humanity. > [@Akaj](#): > > Republicans want to ~~lock up~~ kill anyone who disagrees with them. Okay, that’s not bad. > [@Akaj](#): > > Republicans are working with Russia to undermine American democrac Republicans will work with anyone, Russia, North Korea, China or Venezuela to undermine American democracy. > [@Akaj](#): > > These are all defensible, if slightly exaggerated I don’t see them as exaggerated at all. That they haven’t managed to carry out all of this doesn’t mean that they don’t want to, and won’t do so as soon as they have the power. The thin line against this tyranny are the Democrats, and they need your vote to keep fighting for you. I say we start the “Eagle News Network”, the patriotic news channel that will keep you informed of all the attempts of Republicans to come after _your_ rights, _your_ freedoms, and even your _ **lives** _. ETA: I have to apologize that I attributed your mousetrap analogy to another poster in a different thread. I thought it was a different poster that made it, and I couldn’t remember what thread it was made in to double check. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/135 "2022-02-16T15:21:28Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > The thin line against this tyranny are the Democrats, and they need your vote to keep fighting for you. Yes! I like all your enhancements. A few more ideas: - Speak Spanish? Republicans want to deport you to Mexico even if you’re a US citizen. - Teach school? Republicans want to dictate every word you say in class. - Own a business? Republicans want to tell you exactly who you can and can’t hire – or fire. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/136 "2022-02-16T15:21:29Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Republicans will work with **anyone,** Russia, North Korea, China or Venezuela to undermine American democracy. Make that “the enemies of America!” ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/137 "2022-02-16T15:23:15Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I say we start the “Eagle News Network”, the patriotic news channel that will keep you informed of all the attempts of Republicans to come after _your_ rights, _your_ freedoms, and even your _ **lives** _ . Now I’m picturing a news show with John Cena in character as Peacemaker reading the news, with Eagly as his co-host. I mean, if you’re going to go over the top… ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/138 "2022-02-16T21:23:17Z")
We could start with framing January 6th as a violent attack on the voting rights of 81 million Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/139 "2022-02-17T14:18:46Z")
FIFY: We could start with framing January 6th as a ~~violent~~ terrorist attack on the voting rights of 81 million Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Ziberian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/919ad9/32.png) [@Ziberian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ziberian)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2022, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060/140 "2022-02-19T01:33:50Z")
> [@bump](#): > > AOC is just an example of a vocal congresswoman whose personal policies don’t sync up with the party as a whole. It’s supposedly a center-left party, but she’s very vocal and pretty far from the center. That’s my point- she needs to sing the party line more than grandstand for her own personal politics. So does Ilhan Omar, and for that matter, Joe Manchin and John Bel Edwards, to name a couple from the other side of the party. Publicly all of them should be supporting and pushing policies that are roughly in the Biden, Buttigieg, Booker, Pelosi and Schumer center-left area, not going rogue and saying whatever they want. > > The ONLY reason Democrats won in 2020 is because Trump was SO bad. It wasn’t votes for Biden or any kind of Democratic mandate, it was specifically votes AGAINST Trump. > > But without decisive governance and a firm response to Jan 6 and the voting rights issues, those dipshits out there are going to vote Trump and his ilk back into office later this year. While votes against Trump got Biden into office, it’s the Democratic failure to take big, decisive actions to give working people money/jobs that’s potentially going to cost them 2022. No minimum wage increase, a trivial infrastructure bill, loss of the BBB… each of these cost Biden support. Each of those was sunk, not by progressives, but by the Manchin/Sinema wing. Putting voting rights above jobs is the kind of elitist, out-of-touch action that Republicans (who will ignore voting rights anyway) accuse Dems of taking while ignoring the needs of working people. Without the progressive agenda, it’s just business as usual for Democrats, and that’s what put Trump in office in the first place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-has-the-biden-administration-done-thats-so-awful/959060.md?page=8)