Well, I basically agreed with President Biden’s remarks today about the campus protests. Which, come to think of it, is probably a bad sign for him.
There was nothing particularly contentious or surprising about the mini-speech. It boiled down to: Peaceful protests, good. Chaos, intimidation and violence, bad.
This is more or less the position several colleges have been spotlighting in recent weeks. It is, admittedly, a bit simplistic, inviting questions about when civil disobedience becomes unacceptably disruptive and at what point uncomfortable speech tips over into threatening. Still, it’s a decent foundation for schools trying to muddle through this mess.
That said, it seems unlikely Biden’s words will impress much of anyone, and certainly no one already worked up about the situation. Plenty of young people, upset by his policies in Gaza and further upset by the rough response to protesters by some colleges, are likely to see it as a weak dodge.
People freaked out by the upheaval and the chaotic images circulating online may ask: And? What are you going to do about it? (Post-speech, Biden asserted that he does not favor sending in the National Guard.)
And even folks who share Biden’s middle-of-the-road view may think: Sensible! But what now?
In part, the president was responding to election-year politics. Republicans have latched onto these protests like a school of lampreys, hammering Democrats as the party of lawlessness and disorder. This makes perfect sense. A first principle of politics is that any issue that unites your team and divides your opposition should be shamelessly exploited.
And so we see Republican campaign attack ads popping up featuring the protests. (Theme: Dems support student loan relief for terrorists!) And Donald Trump musing about whether the students involved would be treated like the Jan. 6 rioters. And, oh yes, the National Republican Congressional Committee has been peddling “F🇺🇸k Hamas” T-shirts.
Way to soothe a volatile situation, guys. Seriously. Top-notch adulting.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from both parties keep showing up on campuses. As if that’s going to help matters.
With partisan vitriol on the rise, Biden presumably felt like he needed to say something. Anything. And now he has. Terrific. Box checked.
Now what I’d really like to see is politicians from both teams butt out. The situation is fraught enough. Big-p politics will only make it worse.
