His Jan. 6 speech was hyper-partisan when he could have actually moved America toward reconciliation.

Vice President Kamala Harris surely set the tone of what was to come when President Joe Biden stepped up to the podium: She equated the Jan. 6 riot to the 1942 attack on Pearl Harbor and the 2001 destruction of the Twin Towers.

Either a person who is remarkably ignorant of history or blindly partisan could have made such a comparison. But what followed when Biden spoke was a sadly and irretrievably missed opportunity to give meaning to his oft-repeated dream of a united America, free of the stultifying grip of partisan nuttiness.

Our dream, too.

Sure, in the speech go ahead and launch an attack against former President Donald Trump and Republicans. Speak the truth, as he sees it. But, tragically he could have taken a giant step further with words and actions of real reconciliation. It could have been a speech for the ages. One that future generations would study in schools. One that would have made him the Great Uniter.

If I had been his speech writer, here’s what I would have drafted:

Let’s come together. As a first step to demonstrate that I truly mean it, I’ll not just acknowledge the crisis at our Southern border, but I’m going to do something about it. I will not tolerate the millions who refuse to respect our laws, the parents who cruelly ship off their children alone into the unknown and dangerous, the Covid-19 disease they’re bringing in, the secret flights of illegal immigrants flown to our cities in the dark of night, the drug smugglers and the human traffickers. I’m signing an executive order today to restart construction on the wall. I’m beefing up ICE and enforcement actions. I’m going to work with the southern state governors to get their valuable input to build a realistic plan. And I’m going there–to the border–to meet with them.
Beginning today, my administration will work with officials of the previous administration who successfully launched Operation Warp Speed. With them, we will iron out the logistical, production and other problems that are, for example, hurting our efforts to distribute Covid test kits. I’ll also consult with them about how to alleviate the supply chain fiasco. We’ll target regulations that, for example, are holding back the trucking industry.
Speaking of the pandemic, I’ll turn my focus to the development and distribution of therapeutics. Yes, everyone needs to get vaccinated, but we cannot continue to ignore the urgent need to development more effective tools for clinicians to treat infected Americans.
Right after my speech, I’m heading to Chicago to stand with Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public School leaders to open the city’s schools and keep them open. The Chicago Teachers Union needs to hear that they are completely by themselves with their excessive demands. I want to schools open tomorrow!
Withdrawing from Afghanistan as we did, leaving all those good people behind and turning over that struggling nation to brutes and barbarians was wrong. I’ve learned my lesson and I’m directing the Secretary of State to work to rectify–and not to ignore–the damage done to out international credibility. We will avoid war over Taiwan and Ukraine by showing strength, not by cajoling and pleading.
Inflation indeed is a critical problem, eating away at the value of wages and retirement funds. That’s why I’m firmly putting on hold any more trillion-dollar spending plans that will flood America with ever-weaker dollars.
Because all violence is abhorrent, the Justice Department also will make a priority of prosecuting of the extremists who set our cities ablaze in the name of social justice. Bankrupting, hurting and even killing innocent people is not justice.
It’s no banality to say that energy fuels our economy. That requires a balanced approach to energy production–not just renewables but also fossil fuels. I’m restarting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and encouraging, once again, the production of more environmentally, cheaper and more abundant natural gas.

This, of course, is beyond fanciful. For one, I’ve neglected what Republicans would have to do to respond. But Biden could/should have come up with his own ideas that would open doors to reconciliation. By now, he should realize that his chances of forming a successful coalition are better by going across the aisle with moderate Republicans rather than with the stubborn, take-no-prisoners Squad and far Left Democrats.

As I watched the entire Biden speech, my heart sank at the crude and insulting attack no doubt penned by the behind-the-scenes staff who think they actually can win by continuing to run against Trump. It’s a hopeless plan concocted, I suspect, by those political consultants who are disconnected from the realities faced by ordinary Americans.

For certain, Republicans can be just as stubbornly partisan. Post-speech commentators suspected that the speech’s aim was to provoke an irrational response from Trump. In that, Biden succeeded. (Trump’s response is here.)

How ironic. Biden could have made real news and given Americans actual hope in his speech in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall, the scene of a useless riot exactly a year ago. Instead, Jan. 6 will live in memory as two, not one, gigantic Dec. 6 failures.

Related: I’m sick and tired of hearing about Jan.6…from both sides.

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