With one small action, Joe Biden reveals himself as a better leader than Donald Trump ever was

[babylonsister]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/5/2043960/-With-one-small-action-Joe-Biden-reveals-himself-as-a-better-leader-than-Donald-Trump-ever-was


With one small action, Joe Biden reveals himself as a better leader than Donald Trump ever was
Dartagnan
Community
Thursday August 05, 2021 · 1:18 PM EDT


As most of us find out at some point, one of the biggest life lessons involves admitting when you don’t have all the answers. Or admitting you may be mistaken about something, and that maybe, just possibly, someone knows more than you do. This is true even for someone placed at the pinnacle of American power, entrusted by the American people with the grave responsibilities of being president. Not learning this lesson, in fact, can be fatal to your performance in office. President Biden apparently realizes this simple fact. Donald Trump never did.

As reported by Jeff Stein, writing for The Washington Post:

After White House legal advisers found he could not extend a national eviction moratorium, President Biden told Chief of Staff Ron Klain to seek the advice of Harvard law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe about whether an alternative legal basis could be devised for protecting struggling renters across the country, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The private phone call between Klain and Tribe — held Sunday amid a national outcry over the expiring moratorium — set in motion a rapid reversal of the administration’s legal position that it could not extend the eviction ban. Tribe suggested to Klain and White House Counsel Dana Remus that the administration could impose a new and different moratorium, rather than try to extend the existing ban in potential defiance of a warning from Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, the person said. ...

By Tuesday, government attorneys in the White House, Department of Health and Human Services, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention produced a 19-page document to protect the overwhelming majority of renters from eviction until Oct. 3. It was released that afternoon in a remarkable reversal by the White House, which a day earlier had said it did not think it had the authority to extend the ban.

The Biden administration’s abrupt about-face on the eviction moratorium may cause it some momentary pain, as opportunistic, pro-eviction conservatives gleefully jump on the reversal as a sign of “weakness." They’re wrong. It’s actually a sign of leadership in action, one that the right seems to have lost the ability to recognize. But that’s understandable, because actual leadership was sorely lacking in this country for the span of about four years.

snip//

True, President Biden’s reversal of his initial decision to allow the eviction moratorium to expire may have been motivated by his need to keep his caucus together, to assuage the progressive wing in anticipation of possible intra-party storms ahead in passing his infrastructure plan. But regardless of his reasons, he knew he was going to take some heat for it: No president wants to be seen as backtracking. And he could have simply held fast, relying on the conventional interpretation of lifting the moratorium as expressed by the Supreme Court. That’s certainly what he intended to do, at least at the outset, even though he doubtlessly knew that trying anything legally possible to extend it was the morally right thing to do.

Regardless of his reasoning, the bottom line is that he found an argument to extend the moratorium, one that contradicted his prior view and one provided by Larry Tribe, who actually knows more about constitutional law than President Biden. Whether it succeeds or fails (Biden himself acknowledges it may fail, despite his efforts) remains to be seen, but the important thing from a political standpoint is that Biden showed flexibility and a willingness to acknowledge he may not always be right.

That is leadership.

[Enter stage left]

1. K&R

THAT IS LEADERSHIP.

There are many I'd have followed into battle; all of them were leaders.

Leaders worry about their followers first, the mission second, and themselves last.

TFG can't ever be a leader.

[Justice matters.]

13. The orange terrorist worries about himself first, himself second, and vankkka last. n/t

[Cha]

2. Which is a heckava Lot More than

Any of his Constant Critics Do.

[babylonsister]

9. Exactly!!

[NJCher]

3. I wondered what the story was behind this

now I know.

[Hekate]

4. Very, very cool move!

[brer cat]

5. K&R

[NJCher]

6. I'd also add

How could you go wrong with this move? First, you keep people from being thrown out on the street. You take advantage of the funds that have already been provided to the states by saying SPEND IT FOR RENT RELIEF! And finally, you deliver to the progressive side of the party.

[MustLoveBeagles]

7. K&R

[gratuitous]

8. Gee, I hope Justice Boof isn't too put out

You got out-foxed by an old man, Brett boy. How's it taste?

[mountain grammy]

10. I thought the same thing.

[monkeyman1]

11. ol ' kegger probably soaking up the sud ' s now !!!

[Trueblue1968]

12. KICK AND RECOMMEND

[keithbvadu2]

14. Trump does not want to lead or govern. He wants to rule.