Courtesy of Bastrop Advertiser
Nov. 18, 2021
By Bill McCann
“Is that all you’ve got?” That question is one of the most used movie lines ever. Actors have spoken it in more than 50 movies, from Rocky II (1979) to Kung Fu Panda II (2011). I would like to borrow that well-worn line to ask far-right Republicans: Is your latest tasteless insult aimed at President Joe Biden all you’ve got? Apparently so.
The insult I’m referring to is “Let’s go, Brandon.” It’s right-wing code for “F— Joe Biden.” It started in October in Alabama, according to the Associated Press, when a TV reporter was interviewing a NASCAR driver, Brandon Brown, who had just won a race. The reporter thought the crowd behind them was yelling “Let’s go, Brandon.” It turned out to be the anti-Biden F-bomb.
The Brandon chant then became a crude code for the far-right. Since then, everyone from attention-grabbing Republican politicians to die-hard Donald Trump followers have tried to taunt Democrats with it. For example, Texas Sen. Ted ‘Cancun’ Cruz posed with the Brandon sign at the World Series before shifting his attack to Sesame Street’s Big Bird for promoting COVID-19 vaccinations. The money-grubbing Trump campaign, calling “Let’s go Brandon” America’s “favorite new phrase,” is making money off the crudity by offering Brandon T-shirts for a $45 donation.
While many folks find the vulgarity offensive, we must keep it in perspective. For one thing, it’s what we should expect from members of a political party that has little to offer our citizens except fear, hate and negativity. That’s all they’ve got. Also, Brandon is another GOP attempt to provoke and distract. In this case, it’s one way far-right Republicans are trying to divert attention from what the Biden administration has accomplished.
Maybe you’ve heard right-wingers yelping recently on social media about Biden causing inflation, including high gasoline prices. Anyone closely following current events knows today’s inflation and supply problems are worldwide, thanks primarily to the COVID-19 pandemic, which the Trump administration made worse in the U.S. by managing it so poorly.
Anyone familiar with world energy economics should know that, while presidents are easy political targets, they can’t control gasoline prices, which depend largely on oil prices. Oil prices were low when demand dropped during the height of the pandemic. Now, as vaccines helped the economy come back, demand outstripped supply and prices rose.
And no, the climate-protecting Green New Deal hasn’t caused high gasoline prices either. It is a proposal not a law. And no, Biden did not slow U.S. oil production, which is currently about 11.3 million barrels a day, compared to 9.7 million barrels a day at the peak of the COVID-19 price collapse in 2020, according to Forbes.
My advice to Democrats is forget Brandon. Don’t fall for the provocation. Instead, speak up with facts:
● Unemployment in October 2021 was 4.6%, down from 6.9% a year ago.
● Average hourly earnings are up 4.9% from a year ago.
● In his first nine months in office Biden added 5.6 million jobs, compared to 1.6 million jobs for Trump’s first nine months.
● The National Retail Federation anticipates record sales for the upcoming holidays, with sales growing between 8.5% and 10.5% over 2020 sales.
● Nearly 200 million Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
● The recent passage of a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill pushed by Biden represents an historic long-term investment that will benefit the entire nation. It will provide much-needed funding — and millions of jobs — to upgrade the nation’s roads and bridges, public transit, rail service, airports, internet access, water/wastewater facilities, and the electric power grid. Texas will get about $35 billion. Thank you, Joe Biden.
McCann is a contributing columnist for the Advertiser. He is a retired journalist and may be reached at [email protected].
