On the Semiotics of Perception II: Text of the Remarks of President Biden to the Nation

 

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 "In recent weeks, it has become clear to me that I need to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future, all merited a second term. But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition." (President Biden Remarks 24 July 2024)

Mr. Biden addressed the Nation on 24 July 2024, a few days after "the" decision (I note that I do not use the word "his" before the word decision). The transcript, as provided by the New York Times, follows below.  For the usual analysis from those embedded in the system through their legacy press organs see eg here, here, here, here, and here.

The remarks are worth reading in themselves.  For those who think about the discursive power of text (oral and written), the remarks offer a rich elaboration of not just of the perception of a political "self" in the first third of the 21st century in the United States, it also offers a window into the discursive battleground around the concept and practice of democracy. That conflict, in these remarks, centers on its orthodoxy within the US version of liberal democracy, but it extends as well to the fight for the narrative primacy of democracy discourse between the imaginaries of liberal democracy and that of Marxist-Leninism. In an earlier post (On the Semiotics of Perception: The Text of Mr. Netanyahu's Remarks to Congress 24 July 2024, in the Shadow of his Remarks to Congress 2015, 2011, and 1996), I considered the semiotics of perception around the narratives of conflict between collectives.  In this pst Mr. Biden's address allows the opportunity to consider it in intra-collective perception fields.

Within the discursive battleground for democracy within the United States, David From (writing for the Atlantic) came closest to the ancient discursive tropes lurking just beneath the surface. These tropes would have been well known in another era when Americans were educated differently but they remain important as "types" irrespective of the ignorance around their origins in the foundational eras of contemporary political culture in the United States. From linked the binaries embedded in Mr. Biden's remarks with the two great archetypal figures of the period of the Roman Republic with particular resonance to the formative period of the American Republic: one is Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (for whom a city in Ohio is named); the other is Lucius Sergius Catalina (most famous for the democratic rhetoric delivered by Cicero in his orations against Marcus Tullius Cataline). The one the archetype of the individual who willingly walks away from power after a crisis in defense of the solid Republican principles on which the Roman State is grounded; the other hie opposite using the mechanisms of that Republic in an effort to overthrow it. 

Mr. Biden might well see Cincinatus in himself; he sees a bit of Catalina in his political opponents, one of whom is often named. In each instance Mr. Biden indulges in what has become an important element of politics within the American framework--the tendency of political figures to view themselves as objects which embody a significs that in turn produce a necessary interpretation respecting their relationship to the Republic itself. In this case Mr. Biden is the incarnation of Cincinnatus--Mr. Biden is both himself, but also the objectification of a set of principles that represent the best of the Republic, the interpretation of which is essential to a judgment of Mr. Biden's actions, intent, and position within the political constellations of the contemporary factional scene. Mr. Biden's enemies--both within the Democratic Party and beyond it, are manifestations, incarnations, of the anti-Republicanism of Catalina, the consequential interpretation of which must lead inevitably to the judgment of the depth of their threat to the Republic--and further to the need to take measures against them. Mr. Biden may not be Cicero, but his discourse is Ciceronian in the manner of American orators since the 18th century:

When, O Catiline, do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us? When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now? Do not the nightly guards placed on the Palatine Hill—do not the watches posted throughout the city—does not the alarm of the people, and the union of all good men—does not the precaution taken of assembling the senate in this most defensible place—do not the looks and countenances of this venerable body here present, have any effect upon you? Do you not feel that your plans are detected? Do you not see that your conspiracy is already arrested and rendered powerless by the knowledge which every one here possesses of it? (Cicero First Cataline, ¶ 1; translated here).

But it is also imbued with the sensibilities of the virtues of Cincinnatus. To his way of perceiving, Mr. Biden has saved the Republic; it is now time to return to his home. Yet Mr. Biden warns, like Cicero, that the dangers to the Republic, as he sees them, remain. He leaves it to the people, in this case guided by the leaders of his political collective, to avoid the Catalinian traps for the Republic. One ought to remember, as well, at in the end (of the Republic) it was Cicero's hands that were nailed to the doors of the Roman Senate by a faction that as a vanguard of a new version of Republic eventually accepted the Senate's pleadings to assume and retain imperium. 

And here the irony--Mr. Biden's political opponents, of all stripes, also clothe themselves in the signifying garb of Cincinnatus and Cicero. They see in the apparatus around Mr. Biden the very Catalinian conspiracy that Mr. Biden has seen in others.  Perception changes the vectors of judgment.  But they do not change the semiotics of perception within which the liberal democratic imaginaries of the United States continues (at least for the moment) to rationalize its view of itself and the (political) world around it. For some, then, the threat to the Republic is embodied in the actors and policies that have transformed American life since the 1960s. For others the threat lies in its opposite.  One encounters an era in which the semiotics of critical cultural objects now carry multiple and contradictory signification, each insistent on a conclusion completely contrary to the other. On the one side, the threat to the Republic emerges from a perceived conspiracy around Mr. Biden's capacity and thus of the locus of executive authority (JD Vance says Kamala Harris is a ‘threat to Democracy’ because voters won’t decide Dem nomine; and here); on the other, the threat centers on a claque intent on reshaping the Republic in the image of Mr. Trump (eg from the Democratic National Committee: REMINDER: Donald “Dictator on ‘Day One’” Trump Is an Existential Threat To Our Democracy; and here). The point is not either side is "right" or "wrong" but that (1) perception drives judgment; (2) perception is grounded in fundamental assumptions about an ideal against which it is possible to assess something; and (3) that this judgment invokes ancient ordering tropes to help in framing judgment. Mr. Biden reminds us in his Address that these remain critically important tropes that frame the application of perception through the transformation of current actions and actors into and through ancient ordering tropes. (For an example:Is Trump or Biden the true threat to democracy? Voters split along partisan lines: The truth about freedom is that it can mean many things – and, in fact, does mean different things to Democrats than Republicans).

The United States, for some, was founded as a new and more perfected version of the Roman Republic, grounded in an idealized vision of its character and form. That has not changed even as the conscious perception of its Roman connection fades (see here, here, and here) while the tropes of Roman politics grows (here; my view from the time of the contested election of George Bush in 2000 here). One still encounters the archetypes. Nonetheless those discursive types now serve as the framework within which contests for leadership are framed in increasingly apocalyptic terms. One finds the resonance to the Late Republic more insistent; that certainly emerges from the discursive tropes of Mr. Biden's address to the Nation. Mr. Biden may be correct; but the polarities of signification are very much in play.  The question for the nation remains--among the current crop of actors and their claques--who is to play the role of Cincinnatus, who that of Cataline? But perhaps more importantly, who is to play Cicero and the triumvirs?

President Biden delivered remarks from the Oval Office on Wednesday on his decision to abandon his bid for re-election. The following is a transcript of his speech, as recorded by The New York Times.

My fellow Americans, I’m speaking to you tonight from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. In this sacred space, I’m surrounded by portraits of extraordinary American presidents. Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words that guide this nation. George Washington showed us presidents are not kings. Abraham Lincoln implored us to reject malice. Franklin Roosevelt inspired us to reject fear.

I revere this office, but I love my country more. It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it’s more important than any title. I draw strength and find joy in working for the American people. But this sacred task of perfecting our union is not about me, it’s about you. Your families, your futures.

It’s about we the people. And we can never forget that. And I never have. I’ve made it clear that I believe America is at an inflection point. On those rare moments in history, when the decisions we make now determine our fate of our nation and the world for decades to come, America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division.

We have to decide: Do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy. In this moment, we can see those we disagree with not as enemies but as, I mean, fellow Americans — can we do that? Does character in public life still matter? I believe you know the answer to these questions because I know you the American people, and I know this:

We are a great nation because we are a good people. When you elected me to this office, I promised to always level with you, to tell you the truth. And the truth, the sacred cause of this country, is larger than any one of us. Those of us who cherry that cause cherish it so much. The cause of American democracy itself. We must unite to protect it.

In recent weeks, it has become clear to me that I need to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future, all merited a second term. But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition.

So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation. I know there was a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now.

Over the next six months, I will be focused on doing my job as president. That means I will continue to lower costs for hard-working families, grow our economy. I will keep defending our personal freedoms and civil rights, from the right to vote to the right to choose. I will keep calling out hate and extremism, making it clear there is no place, no place in America for political violence or any violence ever, period. I’m going to keep speaking out to protect our kids from gun violence, our planet from climate crisis as an existential threat.

I will keep fighting for my Cancer Moonshot, so we can end cancer as we know it because we can do it. I’m going to call for Supreme Court reform because this is critical to our democracy — Supreme Court reform. You know, I will keep working to ensure American remains strong, secure and the leader of the free world.

I’m the first president of this century to report to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world. We will keep rallying a coalition of proud nations to stop Putin from taking over Ukraine and doing more damage. We’ll keep NATO stronger, and I will make it more powerful and more united than any time in all of our history. I will keep doing the same for our allies in the Pacific. You know, when I came to the office, the conventional wisdom was that China would inevitably pass, surpass the United States.

That’s not the case anymore. And I’m going to keep working to end the war in Gaza, bring home all the hostages and bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war. We are also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world.

You know, we’ve come so far since my inauguration. On that day, I told you as I stood in that winter — we are stood in a winter of peril and winter of possibilities. Peril and possibilities. We are in the group of, we were in the group of the worse pandemic in the century. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. We came together as Americans. We got through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous and more secure.

Today we have the strongest economy in the world, creating nearly 16 million new jobs — a record. Wages are up, inflation continues to come down, the racial wealth gap is the lowest it’s been in 20 years. We are literally rebuilding our entire nation — urban, suburban and rural and tribal communities. Manufacturing has come back to America. We are leading the world again in chips and science and innovation. We finally beat Big Pharma after all these years to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors.

And I’m going to keep fighting to make sure we lower the cost for everyone, not just seniors. More people have health care today in America than ever before. I signed one of the most significant laws helping millions of veterans and their families who were exposed to toxic materials. You know, most significant climate law ever, ever in the history of the world. The first major gun safety law in 30 years.

And today, the violent crime rate is at a 50-year low. We are also securing our border. Border crossings are lower today than when the previous administration left office. I’ve kept my commitment to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States of America. I also kept my commitment to have an administration that looks like America and be a president for all Americans. That’s what I’ve done.

I ran for president four years ago because I believed and still do that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake. That is still the case. America is an idea. An idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant. It’s the most powerful idea in the history of the world. That idea is that we hold these truths to be self-evident.

We are all created equal, endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. We’ve never fully lived up to it — to this sacred idea — but we’ve never walked away from it either. And I do not believe the American people will walk away from it now.

In just a few months, the American people will choose the course of America’s future. I made my choice. I’ve made my views known. I would like to thank our great vice president, Kamala Harris. She is experienced, she is tough, she is capable. She’s been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country.

Now the choice is up to you, the American people. When you make that choice, remember the words of Benjamin Franklin hanging on my wall here in the Oval Office, alongside the busts of Dr. King and Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez.

When Ben Franklin was asked, as he emerged from the convention going on, whether the founders have given America a monarchy or a republic, Franklin’s response was: “A republic, if you can keep it.” A republic, if you can keep it. Whether we keep our republic is now in your hands. My fellow Americans, it’s been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years.

Nowhere else on Earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pa., and in Claymont, Del., one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as the president of the United States, but here I am.

That’s what’s so special about America. We are a nation of promise and possibilities. Of dreamers and doers. Of ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things. I’ve given my heart and my soul to our nation, like so many others. And I’ve been blessed a million times in return with the love and support of the American people. I hope you have some idea how grateful I am to all of you.

The great thing about America is, here kings and dictators do not rule — the people do. History is in your hands. The power’s in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. You just have to keep faith — keep the faith — and remember who we are. We are the United States of America, and there are simply nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together. So let’s act together, preserve our democracy. God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Thank you.