Joe has a plan. That seems to be a standard answer whenever his minions are asked where Biden stands on the various issues. Following Elizabeth Warren’s example earlier in the campaign, they seem to be trying to convince voters that Biden has a precise plan for every problem, while his opponent is flying by the seat of his pants. Most of Biden’s supporters don’t really care about the details of his plans. The claim that he has a strategy seems to be enough.
Take the coronavirus. That particular issue has been a goldmine for Biden. His campaign has been fairly successful in blaming President Trump for the worldwide pandemic, all the deaths, and the economic calamity it caused, and then convincing his supporters that Joe has a plan.
As it turns out, Biden does have a plan - spelled out in excruciating detail. His plan to combat coronavirus is nearly 7,000 words long, filled with meaningless platitudes, political doubletalk, non-sequiturs, and worthless ideas.
Someone once said, “The longer the explanation, the bigger the lie.” But there’s another old saying that might be a better fit in this instance, “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with B.S.”
For those who like the taste of pablum, Biden’s plan is a feast, calling for “rallying the world to confront this crisis” and restoring “trust, credibility, and common purpose.” Much of the plan is simply a copy of President Trump’s response to the pandemic. Biden’s promise to “accelerate the development of treatment and vaccines” is exactly what Trump is accomplishing through his Operation Warp Speed. There’s also a lot of wishful thinking in Joe’s plan, like his commitment to “bring our country together.” And leave it to the Democrats to work climate change into a plan to deal with the coronavirus.
But within Biden’s verbose strategy is this notable promise: “Ensure that public health decisions are made by public health professionals and not politicians.” It’s probably the most crucial difference between Biden’s plan and Trump’s. It’s what Biden has been promising all along.
Biden is right in one respect. Public health decisions should not be made by politicians. But they shouldn’t be made by public health professionals, either. Those decision must be made by our elected leaders, with the advice of health professionals.
Doctors and health professionals may understand how viruses are transmitted. They know that isolation is the most effective means of containing a virus. But they’re not elected representatives of the people, and they don’t have a country to run. True leaders balance their advice against the mental health, morale, and economic wellbeing of a nation. Biden would, in essence, surrender his authority as president to unelected health professionals. If, as president, they instructed him to lock down the country, that’s exactly what he would do. He’s told us as much.
How does Biden’s plan to combat coronavirus compare to the actions taken by this president? Those are spelled out on the White House website. They include:
1. Early action to cut off travel from China
2. Launching an effort to deliver vaccine and therapeutics in record time
3. Completing more than 65 million tests for the virus, far outpacing other countries
4. Urging private companies to produce and distribute masks, ventilators, and testing supplies
Launching the Paycheck Protection Program, helping save 51 million American jobs
5. Committing to reopening the country safely, and avoiding the catastrophic effects of another shutdown
6. Affixing the blame of this pandemic where it belongs, on the Chinese government
Biden has predicted a dark winter for America under the shroud of the coronavirus. Under his presidency, that would be inevitable. It would be the same kind of future envisioned by T.S. Elliot in his poem, Hollow Men. It ends with these words, “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but with a whimper.”
Biden’s strategy for coronavirus is just one of his plans. He has more than a dozen. There’s a plan for women, for older Americans, and for young Americans. They’re the rambling blueprints of a flailing candidate, desperate to please everyone. Though they’re all verbose, none of them dazzle us with brilliance.
