Scott interviews Branko Marcetic about his new book, Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden, which explores the arc of Biden’s decades-long political career. Marcetic explains that Biden has never really had serious ideological commitments, and instead has simply wanted power and prestige since he was a kid. This has led to a life of switching positions on major issues when he perceived that it would be to his benefit, as he has done on the wars in the Middle East, the drug wars at home, welfare-state economic policies, and “humanitarian” interventions abroad. All of this, Marcetic asserts, makes Biden the wrong candidate for today’s Democratic party. He has already faced some scrutiny from his more progressive colleagues, but Scott and Marcetic know this will only intensify if he has to face President Trump in the general election.
Discussed on the show:
- “Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden” (Jacobin)
- Glass-Steagall Act
- “Law enforcement took more stuff from people than burglars did last year” (Washington Post)
- “Mike Bloomberg Exploited Prison Labor to Make 2020 Presidential Campaign Phone Calls” (The Intercept)
- Plan Colombia
- “‘Bully’ Remark Earns Biden a Lesson in Wartime Rhetoric” (The Washington Post)
- “Karl Rove says Biden is only 2020 Democrat who can defeat Trump” (Washington Examiner)
Branko Marcetic is a writer for Jacobin Magazine, a fellow at In These Times, and host of the 1/200 podcast. He is the author of Yesterday’s Man: The Case Against Joe Biden. Follow him on Twitter @BMarchetich.
This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Listen and Think Audio; TheBumperSticker.com; and LibertyStickers.com.
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