He sounded experienced. Wise. Like he knew how to handle a crisis.
Even Fox's Brit Hume had to admit it.
As Barack Obama observed, the job of the president is "to explain stuff." I have written that Biden isn't good at that part of the job. But Biden is easy to underestimate. He did a good job on Friday. He explained America to itself and the world at a time of crisis.
First, he put the assault by Hamas into the context of the aggression and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Innocent people are killed, horribly and wantonly. He put the U.S. squarely in opposition to this.
We’ve have not forgotten the mass graves, the bodies found bearing signs of torture, rape used as a weapon by the Russians, and thousands and thousands of Ukrainian children forcibly taken into Russia, stolen from their parents. It’s sick.
Hamas and Putin represent different threats, but they share this in common: They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy — completely annihilate it.
He said this wasn't just morally wrong. It was in America's self-interest to stop aggression.
You know, history has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going, and the cost and the threats to America and to the world keep rising.
He said the U.S. recognized the perils at this moment. He didn't lecture Israel from on-high. He cited our own errors after 9/11 to caution Israelis and others who seek revenge.
When I was in Israel yesterday, I said that when America experienced the hell of 9/11, we felt enraged as well. While we sought and got justice, we made mistakes. So, I cautioned the government of Israel not to be blinded by rage.
He said our goal is long-term peace in the region.
The United States and our partners across the region are working to build a better future for the Middle East. One where the Middle East is more stable, better connected to its neighbors. . . .
And he gave an uncomfortable message to people in Israel who wish to dismiss the interests and aspirations of the 2.5 million Palestinians in Israel. There cannot be long-term peace until this is resolved.
As I said in Israel, as hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace. We cannot give up on a two-state solution. Israel and Palestinians equally deserve to live in safety, dignity and peace.
Then he brought this back to ethnic strife in America. The crisis has a home front. He condemned ethnic jingoism.
Today, Jewish families worried about being targeted in school, wearing symbols of their faith walking down the street, or going out about their daily lives. And I know many of you in the Muslim American community, the Arab American community, the Palestinian American community and so many others are outraged and hardened saying to yourselves, “Here we go again with Islamophobia and the distrust we saw after 9/11.”
Just last week, a mother was brutally stabbed. A little boy here in the United States, a little boy who just turned 6 years old, was murdered in their home outside of Chicago. His name was Wadea. Wadea, a proud American, a proud Palestinian American family.
We can’t stand by and stand silent when this happens. We must without equivocation denounce antisemitism. We must also without equivocation denounce Islamophobia.
And to all you hurting, those of you who are hurting, I want you to know I see you. You belong. And I want to say this to you: You’re all America. You’re all America.
He criticized provocateurs on all sides trying to whip up anger, either at Israel or Palestinians.
I know we have our divisions at home. We have to get past them. We can’t let petty, partisan, angry politics get in the way of our responsibilities as a great nation. We cannot and will not let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win. I refuse to let that happen.
Then a summary that is present in all of Biden's speeches, his expression of optimism.
We are the United States of America. The United States of America. And there is nothing, nothing beyond our capacity, if we do it together.
Some 22 million people saw his speech in real time.
It disappointed people in the U.S. and Israel who wanted a president to support Israel even if it treated civilians in Gaza as "animals" who deserved retribution. It disappointed people who wanted Biden to condemn snot-nose elitists at fancy colleges. It disappointed people who want one-state Jewish control of all land west of the Jordan. It disappointed people who wanted Biden to say that the fault is Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
Biden's delivery disappointed Republican viewers who were sure Biden would stumble, lose his train of thought, and embarrass himself and the country.
It was a good speech delivered unfalteringly with resolve and clarity. I feel sad that more people don’t see the good Biden is doing.
Good job, Peter. I'm so accustomed to dismissing political speeches that I skipped this one. Thanks for revisiting the speech and explaining what I missed.