After his superb speech, President Biden was asked questions by reporters in the hallway of the Capitol. Some had questions born of Ben Kleinerman’s perspective. Ben praised the end of the speech where Biden called for unity and healing. A reporter asked whether that was inconsistent with the bulk of the speech. How can you ask people to heal and unify after you had skewered the former President? Biden’s response was that before one can heal one has to face up to the wound. The January 6 investigation in Congress, the Vice President’s speech, the President’s speech, the Attorney General’s speech the previous day, and the DOJ investigations and prosecutions are all parts of a national political reckoning.

This vital political reckoning was the subject of a segment on MSNBC with Bill Kristol and Eugene Robinson the night before the speech. It is a terrific elaboration of Jeffrey Isaac’s argument and a further response to Ben Kleinerman. Note that Senator Mitch McConnell, one of Ben’s good guys, is among the hypocrites who opposed a truly non-partisan investigation and has acquiesced in Trump’s big lie politics.

After the speech, numerous GOP leaders made the point that Ben is pushing. Unlike myself, and many of us here, Bill Kristol is a political operative who has been in the trenches, winning and losing for many years. Here is the assessment he tweeted: “I’m cheered up by all the Republicans complaining Biden’s speech was partisan and conservatives whining it was divisive. They must be worried the speech was effective. And that it suggests an effective model going forward.”

To be clear, Ben is not among the worried. He wants Trump and Trump-ism to be defeated. He is just naive.