Salon is known for some hot garbage takes, but during this 4th of July weekend, the leftist outlet published something a bit ridiculous even for them. "How Joe Biden is like America's founding fathers — and no, I'm not kidding," read Matthew Rozsa's piece from July 3, published in the "Deep Dive" section no less.
The point of Rozsa's piece appears to be about how history will remember President Joe Biden. As he begins his piece:
Many years ago, a young man named Frank Bourgin, a graduate student in history at the University of Chicago, wrote a dissertation arguing that founding fathers like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had taken economic positions that, by modern standards, were highly progressive. He hoped that thesis would lead to an illustrious career as a historian — but his advisers, without much of an explanation, rejected his arguments. It wasn't until many years later, when Bourgin was an old man and another historian discovered his work, that he was retroactively vindicated.
There's also some arguing about which political side can "claim" Thomas Jefferson as their own, and a mini history lesson about the perceived successes and failures of the founders.
Not much of the piece itself is all that much about the current president, though Rozsa does mention him at the end, including with the real kicker:
Let's consider Joe Biden's most conspicuous failures. From the start of his administration, he has pushed for an ambitious economic program: expanded access to health care, major investments in job creation, financial assistance to parents, accelerated development of green energy and other steps to address climate change. That last part is critically important at this juncture of our history, but because of two "moderate" Democratic senators with major corporate backing — Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — Biden's climate policy, along with most of his ambitious agenda, has died on Capitol Hill.
To this point, the political fates have cursed Joe Biden with the same bad luck that afflicted Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton and other founding fathers at their most ambitious but least effective — but without granting him anything close to their storied accomplishments or historical legacy. Is that just an ironic coincidence, a minor plot twist in the American story, or a telling symbol of the ultimate failure of the American experiment and the corruption of both our political parties? History will have to answer that question.
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So, Biden is "cursed" with "bad luck." That's what he has in common with President George Washington supposedly was, who is consistently ranked one of the best presidents we've had.
Rozsa provides more insight in a tweet of his from Sunday morning, which, as our friends at Twitchy have pointed out, drew some strong reactions. With over 500 replies giving Rozsa grief for this piece, and 73 of the 84 retweets being quote retweets also mocking him, he got thoroughly ratioed.
On July 4th, let's give Joe Biden his due.
— Matthew Rozsa ???? (@MatthewRozsa) July 3, 2022
Like the founding fathers, he has good ideas that he can't implement because of petty politics.
History will be kind to him. Trump will be remembed as a literal "historic loser." (Just Google the term.) @Salonhttps://t.co/RE8DK7Asrz
Rozsa has a historical take, but it's crucial to look to current events.
In the days leading up to July, RealClearPolitics (RCP) had Biden at a 38.4 percent approval rating, while 56.9 percent disapproved. On Friday, FiveThirtyEight had Biden at a 39.2 percent approval rating, while 55.9 percent disapproved. As I've analyzed before when it comes to polling, it's fellow Democrats who are souring on Biden most significantly.
Further, as I highlighted in February of this year, in light of President's Day, Biden cannot expect to be regarded as a top president. Earlier that month, Pew Research released a poll showing that a plurality, at 43 percent, think he'll be unsuccessful, while 37 percent think it's too early to tell. Just 20 percent think he'll be successful. A little over a year into his presidency, Biden's numbers were also down among Christians, including black Protestants, and religious 'nones.'
Again, Joe Biden is no George Washington. As Twitchy called on Rozsa to do, "Put. The. Free. Biden. Crack. Pipe. Down."
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