Unity Schmoonity.

When last heard from, unity inspired a decent inaugural address and an otherwise dynamite poem. But it doesn’t seem to do much for Republicans in Congress. I think Biden made a serious tactical error in puffing up that very vague concept, “unity.” Because now the right-wing pundits can whine that he talked the unity talk but is not walking the unity walk — thank goodness!

After all, there is nothing unifying about canceling the Keystone Pipeline. Some folks thought the pipeline was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and other folks thought it meant setting fire to the planet and trashing ancestral Indian lands. Fortunately, Biden’s granddaughters have no interest in unity, at least on matters of global warming, and he’s got to stay in their good graces!

Yes, I’m counting on Biden’s granddaughters to pull Pops along. I know, I know, some were counting on Ivanka to temper Trump, and look how that worked out! But I think Joe’s grandkids have a hell of a lot more integrity than Trump’s daughter. Plus they’re young. They’re in the Screwed Generation. Those kids owe it to their contemporaries to use their power.

But I digress.

Unity. Sometimes known as bipartisanship when it has to do with Congress. And it is a fine thing when both sides can support a bill. And I’m sure if Biden decided to give a great big tax cut to billionaires, he’d find plenty of unity with the Republicans.

I’m sorry, but this “unity” business is a pile of crap and it’s what the Democrats have always done — that is, stake out a position a quarter of an inch to the left of the Republicans in order to find “unity,” and then claim they were the party of We the People. But it simply won’t do now because:

1. Our problems are too urgent. Real solutions to the climate crisis, racial injustice, economic inequality, and rampant right-wing insanity (among other things) can be put off no longer.
2. We the People busted our collective asses to get Biden elected, and we want payback.
3. Biden’s granddaughters.

I am not alone in finding Biden’s vaunted “unity” a recipe for total failure.

Paul Krugman, in his “Four Rules That Should Guide Bidenomics in the NY Times, says, “Don’t count on Republicans to help govern.” He points out that Obama was hamstrung by his desperate search for bipartisan support, when he could have passed a much bigger stimulus bill without it.

Krugman has a lot of credibility because he’s the only economist who predicted the 2008 crash. He got a Nobel Prize in Economics for actually looking at what was going on and where it was headed. Now he sees us headed into a real bad depression if the government doesn’t supply major relief fast:

So, the new administration will have to be aggressive, using whatever legislative strategies it must to get things done. By all means, let Biden try to unify the nation, but first, he has to save it.

When Biden called for “healing” and “unity” after the Capitol riots, Susan Bro felt compelled to speak up. Her daughter, Heather Heyer, was murdered in 2017 during the demonstrations by white supremacists in Charlottesville. From the NY Times:

“Healing requires holding perpetrators accountable, Ms. Bro said. Unity follows justice. “Look at the lessons learned from Charlottesville,” she said. “The rush to hug each other and sing ‘Kumbaya’ is not an effective strategy.”

Words of truth from the mouth of a mother.

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